Online comedy night to raise money for Devon charities

On Sunday 7th June at 7.30pm #BellyLaughsatHome will land on the screens of Devon’s residents, with money being raised for Devon Air Ambulance , Daisi and FareShare South West.

Belly Laughs is a comedy night established by comedian Mark Olver from Bristol and was designed to help independent restaurants increase trade through typically quiet months, as well as raise money for charity. In light of the current pandemic, it has evolved and only last month the event went online with a Bristol #BellyLaughsatHome event raising over £35,000.

Mark Olver, Belly Laughs Founder,...

Chiefs have 'real desire' to finish season - Rowe

Exeter Rugby Club chief executive, Tony Rowe OBE, insists there is a ‘real desire’ from within the club and from Premiership Rugby to ensure the 2019/20 season is completed.

Although the table-topping Chiefs have not played a competitive fixture since beating Bath 57-20 at Sandy Park back in early March, Rowe is confident that a return to competitive action is not all that far away.

Rowe’s optimism comes following the announcement earlier this week where the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), Public Health England (PHE), the Department for Health...

Student and teacher using Sparx on tablet computer

Sparx welcomes Tim Oates CBE to its Advisory Board

Authored by AmySutton
Posted: Wed, 05/27/2020 - 12:49pm

Sparx , the socially focused learning technology company, has today announced the appointment of Tim Oates CBE as the latest member of its Advisory Board.

Tim has had a 30-year career dedicated to educational research and is currently the Group Director of Assessment Research and Development at Cambridge Assessment. Prior to this, he was Head of Research and Statistics at the Qualifications and Curriculum Agency. He was awarded a CBE for services to education in 2015.

Tim’s expertise and experience in educational research, and his passion for evidence-based pedagogy, will...

The five key risks COVID-19 has brought to your business and what to do about them

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Wed, 05/27/2020 - 12:01pm

Yesterday, it was announced that in the UK all non-essential retail stores in England will be allowed to re-open from 15 June, on the proviso they are ‘COVID secure’. The Prime Minister also confirmed that open air outdoor markets and car showrooms can open from 1 June.

While this easing of lockdown restrictions is undoubtedly good news for retailers and suppliers, most of whose businesses will have been hit hard by being unable to trade as usual for the past two months, reopening under social distancing rules now brings a whole new set of challenges.

The impact lockdown...

Training bystanders to intervene will help to prevent domestic violence and abuse, study shows

Empowering people to intervene when they witness unacceptable behaviour can help to prevent domestic violence and abuse, a new study has found.

Specific training for bystanders makes them “significantly” more confident to take action when they see or hear wrongdoing related to domestic abuse in their community, according to the research.

A total of 81 per cent of participants reported being more likely to intervene when they saw wrongdoing after the training, this increased to 89 per cent four months later.

This is the first academic study to examine a bystander...

Performers on charity single Help!

Musicians and medics record stay-at-home charity single

A group of local musicians and medics have joined together to produce a charity video.

The eighteen talented performers have recorded a version of Help! by The Beatles.

And they all played their part from the safety of their own homes.

The video is raising money for FORCE Cancer Charity, which has continued to support local people throughout the Coronavirus pandemic.

The project was co-ordinated by Shelley and Ian Poole from the multi award-winning wedding and function band Quite Brazen.

Ian plays guitar and piano and is a sound engineer and music...

Stronger Together campaign launched to back local businesses

People are being encouraged to support local businesses during the coronavirus outbreak.

A new campaign – Stronger Together – has been launched encouraging people, including businesses to buy local and support local businesses. To get the campaign running, people are being encouraged to create and share a short ten-second video clip about a local business they love.

Exeter City Council is backing the campaign and has linked up with a number of organisations and businesses to form the Stronger Exeter taskforce. The campaign comes as the government announced that shops and...

Can your builder still work during lockdown?

The government has published a document for construction workers containing guidelines on how to undertake work during the Covid-19 lockdown. Homeowners are also allowed to arrange for renovation or improvement work for their homes under the new guidelines.

According to a survey carried out by Which Magazine , 6% of people surveyed had an urgent issue that they needed a tradesperson to fix at the end of March, but 73% (three-quarters) of them could not find anybody to do the work.

With the coronavirus lockdown, it has become doubly-difficult and more stressful to get...

Applying for a UTR number

Authored by David Banks
Posted: Wed, 05/27/2020 - 6:36am

Filing tax returns is one of the simplest, yet most crucial obligations which if neglected or improperly done, can land one into some financial hot water with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) department. Nevertheless, since the HMRC has no stomach for letting its subjects slip into tax-related penalties, they have made available an online account where you can register and successfully fulfill your tax obligations.

What is a UTR number?

A Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) number is a ten-digit unique identifier code of a self-assessing taxpayer (individual or business...

How to keep your family together during lockdown

The lockdown imposed by the UK Government to reduce the spread of COVID-19 has kept many families together in their homes, but being physically close doesn’t mean that your relationships remain strong.

With anxiety rising and tensions high, it’s understandable that many families are finding their relationships strained as a result of the current, scary situation.

Families fights are incredibly stressful, which is why I’ve put together a list of tips to help you keep your family together so that you come out of the lockdown with stronger bonds, not weaker ones.

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