Local News

Devon Wildlife Trust said it had been ‘delighted’ by the kind contributions received to its fundraising appeal to purchase Bystock Pools nature reserve. The popular wildlife haven and beauty spot, between Exmouth and East Budleigh, was put up for sale by the landowner in spring 2015, having been leased to Devon Wildlife Trust as a nature reserve since the 1970s. The Exeter-based conservation charity launched an appeal in June to try to raise £45,000 to help meet the purchase price of the land. By the beginning of July, more than £36,000 had been received in donations from local residents,...

Children in the South West waiting to be adopted are to be found stable, loving homes more quickly, thanks to brand new online maps which will help would-be-adopters find the child to complete their forever family.

So far in 2014-15, 280 children in the South West have been placed in the permanent home they desperately needed, as a direct result of the government’s reforms to speed up the adoption system.

However, the latest figures show that 340 children are still waiting to be matched with new parents, with many having spent months in care despite adopters being readily...

The Devon Tourism Partnership*, which promotes Devon under the 'Visit Devon' brand, is currently determining the future direction of the county’s promotion, domestically and internationally, and looking for businesses to tell them where they’d like their efforts concentrated. Local businesses have until Friday 17th July to complete the survey.

Activity is funded from partners’ own budgets, with no additional income available from central government, so spend has to be carefully considered.

Victoria Hatfield, Chair of Visit Devon, said: “Visit Devon is a strong and valuable...

Today Bradley Simmons, Ofsted’s Director for the South West, confirmed some of the biggest changes to education inspection since the inception of the inspectorate more than two decades ago.

Speaking to more than 200 headteachers, college principals and early years professionals at the City Centre Marriott, Bradley praised education leaders in transforming education standards and set out how changes to Ofsted inspection will support further improvement in the system.

The event is one of eight conferences around England designed to share the details of the new inspection...