SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity has donated 60 hampers to local members of the Armed Forces community in need this Christmas.

The SSAFA Devon branch has donated 60 hampers and 28 gift cards across the county to those in need this Christmas across the local area.

On Tuesday 10th December, the charity hosted a hamper presentation at the Exeter Guildhall where the Lord Mayor Councillor Peter Holland presented ten hampers to local beneficiaries.

Corporate supporters were also in attendance on the day, including Fraser and Wheeler Estate Agents, Gilbert Stephens LLP...

Exmouth Lifeboat Station has received a £4,000 grant from Tesco to support it in its lifesaving work.

The station was established more than 200 years ago, with a new station and boathouse created in 2010. The crews have been awarded seven medals for gallantry.

Exmouth’s fundraising branch of the RNLI received the funding from Tesco’s Bags of Help scheme, enabling it to continue saving lives at sea.

Ben Black, fundraising manager, said: “We’re very grateful to Tesco for this money. We rely on donations so we can continue saving lives at sea 365 days a year.

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Exeter City picked up their third straight win in Sky Bet League Two with a 1-0 win over Salford City.

Ryan Bowman scored the only goal of the game, midway through the first half, and it is a victory that keeps the Grecians in second going into a busy festive fixture period.

Matt Taylor made four changes to his starting line-up from the team that had lost on Tuesday night in an Emirates FA Cup replay at Hartlepool United. Into the side came Alex Fisher, Nigel Atangana, Randell Williams and Dean Moxey, while Nicky Ajose was fit enough again for a place on the bench.

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Tesco will begin providing sunflower lanyards at all of its stores. The move is one of several to promote disability inclusion for customers and colleagues in 2020. Tesco has become a signatory to the Valuable 500 group of companies and pledged to create another 27 Changing Places toilets next year.

The sunflower lanyard acts as a discreet sign that the wearer has a hidden disability and could require additional assistance. Tesco colleagues will be able to offer help such as speaking face-to-face to allow lip reading, packing bags and taking them to the customers' cars or reading...

Stagecoach South West brought Christmas cheer to children this week when its Santa bus visited Children’s Hospice South West in North Devon.

Gary the Rabbit and the Stagecoach elves visited the charity’s Little Bridge House hospice near Barnstaple to hand out festive treats including goody bags and art and craft supplies for the sensory playroom.

Little Bridge House provides respite, palliative, end-of-life and bereavement support for nearly 200 children with life-limiting conditions and their families. Parents can take a break from being primary carers for a few days and...

Election staff had to deal with a particularly prickly ‘voter’ in Exeter yesterday.

A hedgehog turned up unexpectedly at a polling station in the city whilst voting for the General Election was taking place.

The hedgehog appeared at the polling station at the Sea Cadets premises in Haven Banks.

Poll Clerk Maggie Keenan said the visitor caused quite a stir amongst voters, climbing the steps and walking past a teller.

“He casually strolled in and members of the public were very intrigued with him and took lots of pictures,” said Maggie.

The hedgehog...

At the start of the season Rob Baxter made no secret of the fact that conquering Europe would be a key objective for his Exeter Chiefs side this season.

Having proved their worth for a number of years domestically in the Gallagher Premiership, the Heineken Champions Cup has proved more troublesome for the Devonians, who have made it to the knock-out stages only once in the past.

Three rounds into this year’s competition, the Chiefs are certainly living up to Baxter’s pre-tournament pledge. Three successive victories over La Rochelle, Glasgow Warriors and Sale Sharks - two...

Christmas party season is well underway at The Volunteer Inn in Ottery St Mary, but this year diners aren’t getting their traditional Christmas crackers.

Instead, landlord and landlady Mike and Jacqui Down have come up with an environmentally friendly alternative; a paper Christmas bag containing a joke, a paper hat, plus some homemade chocolate ‘bark’, all prettily wrapped in tissue paper and personalised.

Mike said: “We feel that Christmas crackers are really wasteful - the majority of the toys are made from plastic and are thrown away almost immediately.

“We...

If animal training makes you think of tricks and shows, think again. Top zoos use training to improve animal welfare, reduce the need for risky general anaesthetics and to keep both animals and people safe.

For example, bird keeper Sam Gray has trained Alfie Junior the Southern cassowary – as tall as a person and part bird, part dinosaur – to follow a target, which means she can get him in his house easily and safely. For reptile keeper Tom Wilkinson, training Pierre the mangrove monitor lizard to walk calmly into his crate means you don’t need to catch him up – a procedure that...

The University of Exeter is pleased to announce that Professor Lisa Roberts will be taking up the post of Vice-Chancellor in September 2020 following the retirement of Professor Sir Steve Smith.

Lisa joins Exeter from the University of Leeds where she holds the position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation. In this role, Lisa leads on the development and delivery of the university’s research and innovation strategy and has led a step change in the income, quality, and impact of world-leading research carried out at Leeds, including the recruitment and development of...