A Devon conservation charity is coming to the aid of a native species under threat from its bolder American cousins.
The Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust, based at Paignton Zoo, has teamed up with the Environment Agency and Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust to help the white-clawed crayfish.
The white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) is one of the largest freshwater invertebrates in the UK but is under threat of extinction in the wild because of the introduced American signal crayfish, which out-competes its British counterpart for food and carries...
Members of a local gym teamed up to help Paignton Zoo’s orang utans.
A group from Winners 2000 Fitness in Paignton worked in heavy mud to build a new climbing frame on one of the islands used by the great apes.
Emily Rogers from Paignton Zoo said: “They made light work of the huge task. There were more than twenty large wooden poles that needed erecting on the island and the team worked amazingly well together in very difficult conditions.”
The 16, who gave up their free time to help the charity, conquered the task three hours ahead of schedule. As a thank you they...
Almost 200 members of the public have signed up to be a part of this sponsored sleep out on Saturday 15th March at The Guildhall Shopping Centre, Exeter.
Event organiser, Sophie Hodge, says “we are overwhelmed by the support of the community. So many people have come together to make a difference in the lives of homeless young people and I just want to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to each of them.”
Radio Exe are the media sponsors, helping to host the event on the night. Thomas Westcott and Gilbert Stephens have sponsored Sleep Easy and Barclays,...
This year Living Coasts, Torquay’s coastal zoo and aquarium, is celebrating fish in all their forms. Fantastic Fish is a year-long event promoting sustainable fishing and a greater awareness of just how great fish are. There will be fish trails, fish talks and fish arts and crafts.
Clare Rugg, operations manager at the charity, said: “Some fish species are part of the collection - others are food! Fish are amazing, vital, beautiful and useful.”
The Living Coasts aquarium has a collection of fish from local waters, from the mangrove regions of the world and a collection of...
Men and women in the South West are being called on to clear out their cupboards, dig through their drawers and donate any unwanted items to TK Maxx’s fundraising campaign for Cancer Research UK - Give Up Clothes for Good.
Give Up Clothes for Good is the UK’s largest and longest running charity clothing collection partnership. Since 2004 the campaign has raised £13.5 million for Cancer Research UK, with over £9 million for research into children's cancers.
People are being urged to drop off their unwanted clothing, accessories and quality homeware in the special boxes...
Youth charity The Prince’s Trust is urging more unemployed young people in the South West to embrace their inner entrepreneur and explore the option of self-employment thanks to financial backing from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The Prince’s Trust Enterprise Programme, which helps jobless young people to start up in business, has already created more than £3.1 million in social value for the South West alone, according to research published by the charity last year .
Supported with investment from ERDF, from now until June 2015, over 1,300 more young...
Several businesses are supporting Exeter YMCA’s biggest fundraising event, Sleep Easy 2014, by donating prizes.
Sleep Easy involves members of the public spending a night under the stars to raise awareness and funds for Exeter YMCA’s work of supporting homeless young people.
Last year over 180 people took part, raising over £30,000, and Exeter YMCA hope Sleep Easy 2014 will outdo last year’s success.
To spur the participants on in their fundraising, prizes have been donated for the top fundraisers.
Amongst the prizes available are a £60 voucher at Go Ape, a...
Members of the public, schools, clubs, pubs and workplaces across Devon are being asked to show their support for brain tumour patients and their families on Friday 7 March, Bandanas for Brain Tumours Day.
By wearing a bandana and donating £1 or more to the South West's brain tumour charity Hammer Out, people can help fund its Devon support group which meets monthly in Exeter and enable the charity to offer vital support to those in the region facing a brain tumour diagnosis.
Hammer Out, which is running the day in conjunction with The Brain Tumour Charity, also hopes that...
Two Devon brothers have gone to Paris in search of love – but there’s a sting in the tail.
The two are venomous stingrays from Living Coasts, Torquay’s coastal zoo.
The boys – with the unpromising names of Spotty and Sheldon - have moved to an aquarium in the French capital located right next to the world-famous Eiffel Tower.
They travelled first class all the way. Clare Rugg, Living Coasts Operations Manager, explained: “We had to buy special equipment such as polystyrene fish transport boxes, heavy duty water bags and heat pads. A bag was filled with water from...
The 64 volunteer riders from emergency couriers Devon Freewheelers were over the moon when one of TV’s Emergency Bikers agreed to become the charity’s first patron.
Paramedic biker for the West Midlands Ambulance Service Mark Hayes, a familiar face to viewers of the Channel 5 series, took the decision to endorse the charity after visiting its headquarters and riding out with some of the team.
Devon Freewheelers CEO, Daniel Lavery said: “We’d been tweeting Mark for a while, and he decided to check us out. He was recently supplied with a new paramedic motorcycle and thought a...
