volunteers

Volunteer opportunities at Exeter Festival of South West Food & Drink

The award-winning Exeter Festival of South West Food & Drink is returning for its 15th consecutive year and is now recruiting volunteer ambassadors.

Festival ambassadors will gain valuable work experience and an exclusive ‘behind the scenes’ insight to one of Exeter’s leading events.

A firm fixture on the food calendar, the Exeter Festival of South West Food & Drink is held in the scenic grounds of Exeter Castle Courtyard and Northernhay Gardens. The festival celebrates local, artisan South West Food & Drink, and features celebrity chefs, cookery demonstrations...

Working Together 2017 conference gets voluntary organisations talking to each other

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Mon, 10/09/2017 - 10:03am

Over 100 representatives of voluntary organisations and community groups attended East Devon District Council’s annual ‘Working Together for the Future of East Devon’ event, held at Knowle, Sidmouth on Friday 29 September 2017.

Councillor Jill Elson, East Devon District Council’s portfolio holder for sustainable homes and communities, who is responsible for organising this occasion, said she was delighted with the high level of attendance from voluntary organisations, community groups and town and parish councils who turned out in force to support this free event. The event broadly...

Volunteers rack up 81 years service

They look like ordinary people - different ages, backgrounds and interests.

What binds them together is that each is an Exeter Mid and East Devon Samaritan volunteer and remarkably they have served a combined 81 years.

Most of the six, who were presented with long service awards at the AGM of the charity’s Exeter branch this week, serve as listeners who respond to the thousands of telephone calls, emails, text messages received by the branch each year.

But most have other roles - some are involved with training new volunteers, one handles IT for the charity’s...

Volunteers needed to help tell Dartmoor’s Wild Stories

Do you want to gain valuable experience volunteering at one of Dartmoor National Park’s award winning Visitor Centres?

Enthusiastic people are sought to become Ambassadors for Dartmoor and help visitors to the National Park discover what makes this place so special.

As a Dartmoor Ambassador you will be based primarily at one of the three National Park Visitor Centres this summer, welcoming and directing visitors as they arrive at the Centres and being on hand to ensure that our visitors have all the information they need to make the most out of their visit.

If you...

Royal recognition for Devon’s top volunteer groups

Five Devon volunteer groups have received the Royal seal of approval and honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2017.

The award, the highest given each year to volunteer groups, sets the benchmark for excellence in volunteering and is equivalent in status to the MBE.

It recognises and celebrates outstanding achievement by groups of volunteers who regularly devote their time to helping and providing opportunity for others in the community and improving the quality of life.

This year’s winners in Devon are:

• Devon and Cornwall Community...

Citizens Advice Exeter marks national Volunteer Week

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Fri, 06/02/2017 - 4:02pm

Volunteers’ Week started on 1st June 2017. The annual event celebrates the fantastic contribution that millions of volunteers make across the UK. It is an opportunity for organisations to publicly recognise the work of their volunteers.

Leading local charity, Citizens Advice Exeter is saying a “big thank you” to their 100 volunteers. The contribution of the charity’s volunteers was recognised last year when they received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

At a time of continuing job insecurity and financial pressures, the invaluable contribution made by volunteers is...

Volunteers needed to help blind community in Devon

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Fri, 06/02/2017 - 4:03am

A national charity is appealing for volunteers to come forward and help the blind people it supports in the Exeter and Plymouth areas.

British Wireless for the Blind Fund (BWBF) provides specially adapted audio equipment to visually impaired people across the UK.

The charity is looking for radio support volunteers, whose role would be to visit people with sight loss in their homes throughout Exeter and Plymouth, install their new radio and teach them how to use it as well as provide on-going support where needed.

The role involves a small amount of admin and there...

A stitch in time for National Volunteers Week

The phrase ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ could not be further from the truth for a group of dedicated National Trust volunteers who have spent 5,200 hours sewing life into old chairs. The group, from Killerton House, has been sewing individual tapestries into 16 chairs since January last year and are coming to the end of the momentous project just as Killerton celebrates National Volunteers Week. This year, the House has been reinterpreted to tell the story of how the Acland family gave away their home for the benefit of the nation and the volunteers have carried the thread of the story by...

Stallholders wanted for Summer Fete

Stallholders are wanted for the Beacon Heath Summer Fete on Saturday June 24 - 12noon until 3pm at St James School.

There will be lots of family entertainment, children’s games and a hot dog stall.

The Beacon Community Centre and the Beacon Nursery will also be opening their doors with lots of family fun.

We want to involve the whole community in celebrating the area in which we live.

We’re looking for stallholders selling jewellery, toys, crafts, food, books, hair accessories, sweets, bags and plants.

So, if you live locally and want to sell your...

Volunteers spring clean Exe Estuary

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Sun, 05/28/2017 - 2:33pm

More than 100 volunteers filled a skip full of rubbish collected from the internationally important Exmouth Local Nature Reserve on Saturday 13 May.

And this year there was a notable reduction in the amount of litter found on the Exe Estuary when compared with previous clean-ups.

Organised by the Exe Estuary Management Partnership, which includes local authorities like Devon County Council, Exeter City Council and Teignbridge and East Devon District Councils, the clean-up ensures that the area is ready for summer visitors and wildlife.

This year’s volunteers...

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