charity

Step One Charity Appoints New CEO

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Mon, 01/23/2023 - 10:21am

Devon based charity, Step One, is delighted to confirm Ben Greaves as their new CEO following a recruitment process during which he impressed both service managers and trustees with his strong leadership skills and positive, practical attitude towards delivering our mission to support people with disabilities and mental health issues. Ben will start in January 2023. Ben brings 20 years’ experience from various leadership roles in the British Army, recently leading a team of 500 people across 6 sites in the UK and in 12 countries globally as a Commanding Officer and, as a result, has a...

Westbank's Kidzone Childcare Manager Lucy Elliott with one of the toddlers

Devon preschool graded ‘Good’ in its first year of operation

A small, friendly preschool near Exeter that welcomed its first intake of young children last spring has already received a good grade.

In a recent Ofsted inspection, the Kidzone at Exminster - operated by local charity Westbank Community Health and Care - was described as a ‘Good Provider’.

The charity’s preschool for Over 2s opened its doors at the end of April 2022, with just three children attending over three days. Since then, it has quadrupled its numbers and extended its opening hours. The facility now looks after 12 young children over five days and has recently...

Man vs Fridge running Exeter half marathon for charity

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Wed, 01/18/2023 - 3:21pm

Sam Hammond, 30, is a man on a mission – with his fridge! The Royal Marine from Redruth is no stranger to running around the country with white goods strapped to his back to raise money for SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity. On the 11th February he will be running the Exeter Half marathon - with his fridge.

Sam said: “ I have been doing this for a while to raise money for charity and I just wanted to take it to the next level. I’m going to begin with the Exeter Half and then move on to the Brighton Half, with a view to breaking the full marathon Guinness World Record of running...

Childrens Charity Brainwave Raises £40,000 to fund a new therapist

Brainwave has announced that they achieved their target of raising an additional £40,000, to support with the costs of a full-time therapist for a year.

The charity has been blown away by the generosity of supporters across the UK, who despite the cost-of-living crisis have still dug deep to support them during their 40th anniversary year.

The funds raised will enable them to support more children with disabilities across the UK during 2023.

Keith Sinclair, CEO of Brainwave said: “Forty years of achieving life changing outcomes for children with disabilities and...

South West recycling firm donates £5,000 to Dartmoor Zoo’s Amur Leopard enclosure

Independent commercial waste management and recycling firm DCW has donated £5,000 to Dartmoor Zoological Society in support of the charity’s efforts to bring Amur Leopards to Devon.

The funds will go towards building a modern, state-of-the-art enclosure for the critically endangered Amur Leopard, ensuring that the world’s most vulnerable big cat species can thrive and breed.

Dartmoor Zoological Society is currently fundraising for the new enclosure with a total of £30,000 needed to complete the development. It will be located between the wolves and the lion enclosure at the...

The Big Exeter Sleep Out 2023

Local charity Julian House is thrilled to announce that their annual Big Exeter Sleep-Out event will be returning yet again, following incredible support from the community in previous years.

Julian House is a charity organisation that supports the most vulnerable people in society, including those who are homeless. The charity operates more than 40 different projects, accommodation sites and social enterprises across South-West England, supporting more than 1600 individuals a year.

The event will take place at St James Park Football Stadium, Exeter, on the 17th of March...

Devon Tesco shoppers part of record year of giving to food banks and charities

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Wed, 12/28/2022 - 12:43pm

Devon Tesco shoppers have been their most generous ever in support of foodbanks and local charities, helping to make it a record-breaking year.

The total amount of food donated by Tesco shoppers to the Trussell Trust and FareShare during 2022 was equivalent of 12.5 million meals – 271,589 of which came from Devon.

The donations to the Trussell Trust help food banks to provide emergency food parcels to people in crisis, while donations to FareShare support frontline community charities. Tesco has also topped up all customer donations during the collection by 20% in cash,...

Pub, Exminster, Exeter, Royal Oak

Exminster pub puts on a right royal Christmas spread for local charity Westbank

Exminster public house The Royal Oak provided a festive community lunch for up to fifty guests as part of its year-long commitment to Devon charity Westbank Community Health and Care.

The pub will be supporting Westbank throughout 2023 after choosing the local organisation as its Charity of the Year.

The pub closed its kitchen to the public to lay on a complimentary two-course lunch for some of Westbank’s regular users and volunteers - and the festive fare went down a treat.

Pauline Dinnis, who was driven to the venue by Westbank volunteer Mark, said: “I’m...

Local homebuilder donates £2,500 to local homelessness charity

Local homebuilder Barratt David Wilson Homes Exeter division has donated a heart-warming £2,500 to St Petrock’s Exeter, a local charity that fights homelessness across Exeter and Devon.

The Barratt Developments Community Fund initiative looks to support those causes which have a positive impact within their local communities. As well as the donation Barratt David Wilson Homes staff were also able to volunteer in the St Petrock’s kitchens. St Petrock’s first opened their doors over 25 years ago and have since been providing crucial support and outreach to the most vulnerable...

Choir’s carol concerts raise thousands for local charity Dream-A-Way

Authored by Sharon Goble
Posted: Tue, 12/20/2022 - 12:38pm

Two carol concerts by Exeter Philharmonic Choir have raised almost three thousand pounds for local charity Dream-A-Way, which helps make holiday dreams come true for Devon children and adults with disabilities or life-affecting health conditions.

The generosity of concertgoers at Exeter Cathedral on 13 and 14 December raised a total of £2,913, a sum that representatives of Exeter-based Dream-A-Way were delighted to receive.

Exeter Philharmonic Choir has a proud tradition of raising funds for local charities through its Christmas carol concerts, made possible with the...

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