Local News

A team of volunteers are preparing to leave their own families on Christmas day to answer Childline calls from children who have nowhere else to turn.

The NSPCC’s Helpline and Childline services operate 365 days a year, with trained counsellors poised to take calls from children, and adults who are concerned about a child’s welfare.

Both helplines are free and confidential to call – and demand can often increase over the festive period, when emotions can be magnified.

Almost 2,000 Childline counselling sessions were delivered over Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and...

On Tuesday 11th December the Devon and Cornwall region of the Lord’s Taverners held their Christmas Lunch at Exeter’s famous Sandy Park. A record-breaking 636 people descended upon the grounds; comprising of local business, organisations and their guests. A lunch of this scale is a first for Exeter.

Through generous sponsorship and donated prizes the lunch raised just over £70,000. That is a fantastic amount and will allow the Lord’s Taverners charity to continue their work of enhancing disabled young people’s lives, through the use of sports such as cricket.

The afternoon...

Patients and staff at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital had a special visitor in the form of Exeter Chiefs yesterday, as members of the team put on their festive jumpers and spread some Christmas cheer around the hospital.

Leading the way was Don Armand, who was joined by team-mates Henry Slade, Moray Low, Matt Kvesic, Ben Moon, Sam Skinner, Elvis Taione, Pete Laverick, Tom O’Flaherty, Ollie Devoto and James McRae.

Armed with gifts and presents for the children and young people on Bramble Ward, the team took on the role of Santa as they spent time handing out the goodies...

Nobody wants their loved ones to suffer. Whether it’s mental health problems, the loss of a partner, or even recovery from an accident, just being there for those you care about can often be enough to have a positive influence. However, sometimes you need to do more than that.

There are a variety of ways that you can help those in need. There are traditional methods, like showing up with a home-cooked meal when you know someone isn’t aware enough to look after their physical needs. There are also technology solutions that could help them to recover from their suffering much more...