Devon

Royal Mail's stamp design competition honours heroes of the pandemic

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Mon, 04/26/2021 - 2:34pm

Dear Editor,

I hope parents will encourage their children to take part in Royal Mail’s stamp design competition, to honour the heroes of the pandemic. The competition is open to children, aged 4 to 14. Eight designs will be chosen to become stamps which will be on sale across the UK. Children may choose to illustrate frontline workers in health or social care. They may want to celebrate other key workers who have kept the country going, such as refuse collectors, cleaners, teachers, supermarket workers, public transport staff, delivery drivers or, indeed, postmen and postwomen....

Co Bikes open new electric bike station in St Thomas, Exeter

Co Bikes heads across river with their latest electric bike station

New electric bike station opens in St Thomas

Co Bikes continues the roll out of its electric bike stations with its newest location in Cowick Street, close to St Thomas train station. This marks the sustainable travel business’s 18th installation and the first west of the river in Exeter, thanks to the support of Devon County Council.

St Thomas is the fifth new Co Bikes station launched this year. Other sites launched in 2021 include Princesshay Shopping Centre, IKEA, Sidwell Street and Exeter College’s Future Skills Centre near Exeter Airport. Further new sites will be announced...

Sidmouth Folk Festival

Announcing A Celebration of Sidmouth Folk Festival this summer

Organisers of The Sidmouth Folk Festival have revealed the first details of a week-long event that will bring an exciting blend of music, dance and family entertainment back to the Devon seaside town this summer.

Billed as A Celebration of Sidmouth Folk Festival and taking place between July 30 and August 6, the aim is to offer everyone an authentic taste of the festival they know and love, while remaining vigilant around ongoing Covid-19 concerns and restrictions.

The line-up will include live headline performances by festival patrons Show of Hands, the brilliant Eliza...

Net Zero Heroes

Celebrating Exeter’s Net Zero Heroes

Exeter City Futures has launched a brand new initiative, called Net Zero Heroes which aims to celebrate local individuals, families and groups of people who are taking action on the climate and helping to deliver the city’s Net Zero Exeter 2030 Plan. Net Zero Heroes has been launched for #EarthDay – a global awareness campaign to drive positive action for the planet.

Throughout the pandemic, residents, families and workers have come together as a community, changing their habits, buying local, pooling resources and supporting the more vulnerable members of the community....

Valeport achieves Made In Britain status

Marine tech firm achieves Made In Britain status

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Thu, 04/22/2021 - 11:44am

Valeport, a global leader in underwater measuring equipment, has achieved the internationally recognised Made In Britain accreditation for its range of innovative marine solutions that are developed, designed and manufactured at its UK headquarters in Totnes, Devon.

The independent, family-owned business, which employees more than 90 people from state-of-the art facilities on the River Dart, designs and supplies precision sensors and probes to a worldwide customer base that includes: environmental, energy, construction, dredging, engineering, scientific research and military...

Devon manufacturers wanted

Devon manufacturers wanted as Barometer aims to uncover if COVID-19 has changed industry working practices forever

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Wed, 04/21/2021 - 10:12pm
SME manufacturers in Devon urged to take part in survey

The largest survey of small to medium-sized (SME) manufacturing companies in Devon has been launched today to record trends in performance and confidence levels across the sector, whilst also exploring how firms are supporting their staff as a result of COVID-19.

The Manufacturing Barometer, which is organised by SWMAS (the South West Manufacturing Advisory Service) and the Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP), is looking to understand how the pandemic has accelerated new working practices that may have unearthed potential...

Dance in your pants to help men with cancer!

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Tue, 04/20/2021 - 11:49pm

A South West charity is calling on people in Devon to dance, sing and play music in their pants to raise money to help local men with testicular cancer.

It’s the “Men In Pants” campaign from It’s in the Bag Cancer Support. The campaign is running throughout April, which is Testicular Cancer Awareness Month.

Supporters, known as “Testicle Defenders”, post a video of themselves doing the special Men In Pants dance, or singing/playing the Men In Pants song, or both, and donate £3 to the charity.

They’re hoping to make the 30-second dance into the next viral craze...

Shazam co-founder to deliver keynote at flagship South West tech conference

Organisers of SW Innovation Expo have announced Dhiraj Mukherjee, Co-Founder of Shazam and experienced investor in tech start-ups, as the keynote speaker of the region’s flagship technology and business event. SW Innovation Expo will be held at Sandy Park, Exeter on 14th October 2021 bringing together innovators, entrepreneurs and investors for panel discussions, an interactive technology expo, Pitchfest competition and networking opportunities.

Dhiraj Mukherjee is the Co-founder of Shazam Entertainment, the world’s first mobile phone-based music recognition service and is...

Muck on country roads caused by vehicles carrying liquid digestate to ADs (photo: Devon CPRE)

Massive lagoon and expansion of industrial anaerobic digesters has to stop

Authored by Sharon Goble
Posted: Tue, 04/20/2021 - 11:41am

Devon CPRE believes the expansion of anaerobic digesters (ADs) has to be curtailed to protect rural communities and the countryside, as fourteen villages and hamlets join forces to protest against development plans for an industrial-scale lagoon near Upton Pyne. This facility will act as a massive storage and distribution centre west of Exeter for liquid digestate, a by-product of ADs.

Devon CPRE, the leading campaigner for the protection of Devon's rural environment, says that the AD sector in the county is out of control. The result is a rise in pollution incidents, damage to...

Phonics with Robot Reg

Phonics with Robot Reg classes set to reopen

Parents can breathe a sigh of relief next week as baby and children’s classes finally reopen after the most recent lockdown.

But as well as having to adapt to the new Covid social distancing restrictions Exeter and Exmouth’s Phonics with Robot Reg classes will also look a bit different.

Instead of just focussing on the children the classes will also be supporting the parents.

Local class leader Jessica Jenner explained: “So much has changed in the last 13 months and we have realised that our classes do more than teach the foundations of reading and writing....

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