charity

The matriarch of Paignton Zoo died at the age of 49. Born in 1970, she came to Paignton Zoo in 1977 and for many years lived with female Asian elephant Gay. Duchess collapsed in her enclosure on Sunday 14th July and had to be put to sleep.

Zoo spokesperson Phil Knowling said: “The enormous, immediate and heartfelt public response prompted us to think about how we should remember her. Duchess was here for over 40 years; she was the matriarch of Paignton Zoo.

“We’ve decided to commission a memorial artwork. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of people encountered Duchess...

LOVE Devon has been officially launched as the new trading arm of the independent community development charity Devon Communities Together following a successful two-year campaign.

LOVE Devon was set up in 2017 to raise awareness of the work of Devon Communities Together which makes a significant and positive impact on the lives of many people living in the county. From rural and coastal communities to more urban areas, it provides support across a wide variety of areas including delivering affordable housing for people who want to stay in their home villages, supporting local...

Brave runner and fundraiser, Alice Carlo, has been inspired by the experience of her father to take on the Bournemouth Half Marathon.

Alice, who is currently studying at the University of Bournemouth, tells us, “In 2014 my Dad suffered from a severe stroke, causing him to be partially paralysed and leaving him with little speech, hearing or site. He now receives support from the team at Headway Devon’s centre in Exeter on a weekly basis where he is able to socialise and take part in activities. He also receives help with speech and movement which has improved incredible amounts...

A programme which has seen 500 young people take part in activities, ranging from a residential stay in Cornwall to developing a social action project, has received huge support from the Exeter business community.

The National Citizen Service (NCS) scheme is delivered in Exeter by the CITY Community Trust. For just £50 the young people, who are aged between 15 and 17, sign up to the programme, which includes a week in Cornwall, life skills classes at Bicton College and in the final two weeks, the planning and delivery of a social action project.

Danny Harris, of CITY...

Organisers of the Exeter’s Great West Run have pledged that this year’s event will not use any plastic bottles, thanks to an exciting new partnership with South West Water and Packed Meal Prep.

The half marathon, which is in its 35th year and attracts approximately 4,000 entries, will take place on 13 October, and smaller ‘Activate’ events (2.5km and 5km) which take place the day before, usually give runners plastic bottles of water both during and after the event.

This year, South West Water will provide the organisers Runjoy with a number of large 1000 litre containers of...

Local colleagues at Tesco in Exeter will be inviting customers to don their dancing shoes and show off their moves as part of a UK-wide fundraiser this weekend for the supermarket’s three national health charity partners - Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK.

Visitors to the Exeter Vale Extra store this weekend will be treated to some epic dance performances, or they can show everyone their own moves on a specially created dance floor, providing plenty of selfie opportunities! Customers will also be able to join Tesco colleagues and charity...

A five-year-old girl from Exeter and two ten-year-old girls from Tavistock have won the top prizes in this year’s art and writing competitions held by the Devon branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE Devon).

The charity received the highest ever number of entries from primary schools in Devon, many of whom took part for the first time, including several in Exeter and Plymouth.

After careful deliberation, the top prize in the Key Stage 1 category of the art competition went to 5-year-old Florence Farnell from Bowhill Primary School in Exeter. Her charming...

On June 12 Devon Art Society will be participating in the annual Babbacombe Rotary Fayre. There will be numerous attractive paintings displayed on the railings on Babbacombe Downs. You will be able to admire classical themes such as floral, still-life, figurative and landscape as well as seascape subject matters and some abstracts too. The Devon Art Society has a long tradition of exhibiting and selling high quality paintings at affordable prices. For many years DAS has helped the Rotary Club to raise money for charity. Many members take the opportunity to sketch or paint. Visitors are...

In 2016, Di & Sammi Rosser took part in the Twilight Walk simply because it sounded like a fun event and they felt that Hospiscare was a charity worth supporting. They could never have imagined two years later they would be walking in memory, having placed a photo of their much loved husband and dad Jeff on their memory star and displaying it, with so many others, within the special memory tent at The Maer, Exmouth.

“Behind our smiles and excitement about taking part in last year’s Twilight Walk is a terrible sadness and grief at the loss of a loving husband and dad to cancer...