We recently held a tea party to celebrate the “graduation” of our Hospiscare Exeter community nurse Rachel Willmott.

Rachel is pictured, wearing pink, with her certificate which she received after studying and spending three years alongside highly experienced senior colleagues. She is now working in her new role as community nurse specialist in the city.

Rachel said: “I love this job. As a team we are able to give specialist advice and support to people who are at the end of their life. Hospiscare community nurses have time and experience and we are able to support families...

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,...

With school summer holidays just around the corner, searches for last minute summer holidays are up by over 50% v last week according to lowcostholidays.

With many holidays now cheaper than last summer, late deals are available for holidaymakers looking for guaranteed sunshine at the beach. Majorca, The Algarve, Lanzarote, Costal Del Sol and Orlando are currently this summer’s top family holiday destinations with Ibiza and Corfu proving most popular for couples and younger groups of friends. More holiday makers have chosen 4 and 5 star hotels for this summer than ever before with...

Mascots from across Devon have come together to compete in the county’s first ‘costumed golfing’ championship.

A dozen mascots took part in the inaugural tournament, held at Ladram Bay Holiday Park’s new Jurassic Adventure Golf course.

It was Woodlands’ Hero who triumphed, progressing through the group stage to beat Pickles the Parrot from Ladram Bay and Cavog of Kents Cavern in the final play-off held over three holes.

Each won their groups against the likes of Devon Air Ambulance’s Ambrose the Paramedic Bear, Buddy Bear from Crealy Adventure Park, Angus from World...

Richard Hammond said it’s the most fun he’s ever had and Jeremy Clarkson said he loved it. No, they are not reminiscing about Top Gear, but instead about test driving a Wildcat from one of the few remaining truly British car brands in the UK. And in an extraordinary step, for the very first time the public are being offered the chance to own a part of the business.

Wildcat, the Plymouth based automotive group that is owned and run by 35-year old Oliver Mitchell - has turned down numerous offers from foreign investors and in-stead, is turning to the public in order to develop two...

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 search is on to find the most dog-friendly places in the South West as the Kennel Club launches its Be Dog Friendly Awards 2015.

The competition, now in its ninth year, is part of the Be Dog Friendly campaign which aims to break down barriers for man’s best friend by encouraging more businesses and public spaces to welcome dogs through their doors.

With over 9 million dogs in the UK, and around one in four households owning a dog, the great British public are always on the lookout for places where their four-legged family members are also welcome, and the Be Dog...

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...

Teignbridge District Council is working on a 10-year strategy for the district, and is asking residents and businesses to help decide the priority issues.

A six-week consultation period gets underway from Tuesday 7 July 2015 and will run until Tuesday 18 August 2015.

The Council Strategy will set the tone for how Teignbridge works over the next decade, its vision, goals and how these will be achieved. It’s important because it helps target resources and services more effectively to meet local needs and shows how Teignbridge’s work benefits local people, businesses and...

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...