Marc Astley, a well-known local journalist and news editor, is the latest trustee to join the board of Westbank Community Health and Care and says he’s on a mission to spread the word about the work of this fantastic, community charity.
As an experienced media professional and a former editor of the Exeter Express & Echo newspaper, Marc is well-placed to do this. His achievements include co-founding the UK Daily Ltd, a stable of 10 online news and feature platforms including The Exeter Daily. He also set up the successful Exeter-based PR and Marketing Agency, Astley Media,...
The expanding pre-school within Westbank’s centre at Exminster has recently developed its facilities with a view to providing high quality, individually tailored education to more 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds in the area.
The ‘Kidzone’ at Farmhouse Rise in Exminster offers a large, bright room with an amazing view over the Exminster marshes towards Woodbury. The outdoor space has recently been extended to give the children plenty of room to ride bikes and scooters and run around and will have free-flow play inside and out.
An OFSTED registered pre-school, Kidzone encourages 2...
Exminster-based Westbank Community Health and Care has reached more people in the local community thanks to a year of fantastic support from a village pub.
Staff at The Royal Oak in Exminster partnered with Westbank throughout 2023, providing hospitality and donations totalling an incredible £2,525. In December 2022 and 2023, publicans Mel Bowden and Scott Reddin kindly hosted 3-course festive lunches to the value of £1,100 for 50 of the charity’s clients. They also organised several fundraising activities, including a raffle, a donation bucket and the sale of star decorations on...
Resurfacing will be carried out next month on the A379 through Exminster.
The four-week scheme is planned to be undertaken in two phases.
Work between the A379 Sannerville Way junction and Reddaway Drive by Exminster Garage will start on Monday 5 February and will continue until Friday 16 February. Access from the Swan’s Nest roundabout into Exminster from the South will be maintained during this phase, and the road will be fully open over the weekend of Saturday 10 February and Sunday 11 February.
From Monday 19 February until Friday 1 March, resurfacing will...
The run-up to Christmas has been busy for local health and wellbeing charity Westbank Community Health and Care, with a full calendar of events for members of its community and its team.
The festive celebrations got off to a heartwarming start when Year 2 children from Exeter Pre-Prep School visited Westbank’s Day Centre at Exminster to sing a melody of Christmas songs for regular clients.
The following day, the Royal Oak in Exminster kindly hosted a 3-course meal for fifty of Westbank’s clients to mark the end of a year of fantastic support from the pub.
Westbank Community Health and Care is celebrating the first cohort of newbie cooks to have completed Foundation Courses in basic kitchen skills at the charity’s recently opened Community Cookery School.
The purpose-built teaching facility at Exminster, near Exeter, opened its doors to beginner cooks this autumn, offering free eight-week workshops to people of all ages who want to learn how to cook simple, nutritious, affordable meals.
A well-attended launch party allowed guests, including sponsors, to see the bespoke teaching kitchen in use. The event marked the completion...
Devon Carers, a free service by Westbank Community Health and Care, is this month celebrating 25 years of supporting unpaid carers across the county and is planning several events throughout the coming year as part of its landmark anniversary.
The charity provides a wide range of support services to those who look after family members or friends because they are ill, frail, or have a disability, mental health or substance misuse problem.
Over the last two and a half decades, Westbank’s Devon Carers has grown to be one of the largest charitable organisations in the UK...
A Tesco shopper in Exminster has chosen to give £5,000 to St Peter's Church of England Aided School, Exeter as part of its Stronger Starts campaign.
Shoppers in 100 large Tesco stores were given the chance to take part in a lucky dip to find specially created gold versions of its iconic blue voting token worth £500,000 in grants to local good causes.
St Peter's Church of England Aided School, a co-educational secondary school for students aged 11-16, was one of three local establishments available to vote for in the Exminster Express store to receive the £5,000 Golden...
A five-year-old boy from Exminster has come to the rescue after charity shop staff reported the theft of a giant toy giraffe from its shop window.
Little Theo heard how ‘Danny’ the giraffe was to be raffled off to raise funds at the Cancer Research UK shop in Exeter for Stand Up To Cancer, but thieves had stolen him one Saturday morning.
Theo, who attends Exminster Primary school, was so moved to help staff after his beloved grandmother Margaret died from cancer two years ago. He got in touch to donate his own special giraffe to the charity shop in Sidwell Street in...
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...
