Exeter

A well known Westcountry journalist and writer has used the power of his pen during the lockdown to raise money for a health charity. In doing so, newspaper columnist Martin Hesp believes he is the first person to write a book filled with stories which focus solely on the coronavirus lockdown and to publish the work while the pandemic continues. “I wrote Tales From The Lockdown in the first 30 days after the nation was told to stay at home,” says Martin, who is Editorial Director of RAW Food and Drink PR. “It is subtitled Six Short Stories of Rural Life Written During the Coronavirus -...

Following updates to government guidance on May 13th that allowed ‘homeware’ retailers to re-open, DFS will be welcoming customers back into its Exeter store from Friday May 29th.

The re-opening of the showroom is part of a phased plan that has already seen DFS re-open three stores in Leicester, Milton Keynes and Bolton on May 22nd. In addition to the Exeter store, a further 86 DFS stores in England will also re-open on May 29th.

The showroom will be operating with extensive new processes and safety measures in place, including: comprehensive staff training to ensure...

Exeter City Football Club is attempting to trace around 100 people who have bought shares in the club over the last century.

The club, which is legally obliged to hold an up-to-date share register at St James Park, is making a concerted effort to track down a number of missing shareholders or the next of kin of those who have passed away.

It is believed the earliest shares date back to the 1930s and may have been passed down through people’s families.

Nick Hawker, chair of Exeter City Supporters’ Trust, said: ‘We are making a real effort to find all the Club’s...

Last year Healthy Homes for Wellbeing, run by Exeter Community Energy (ECOE) launched a Winter Warmth campaign highlighting the issues of fuel poverty and hard to heat homes faced by local residents each and every winter. The campaign generated almost £5000 for the Healthy Homes Hardship Fund, thanks to the generosity of local residents. This money has been used over the past 6 months to support low income and vulnerable households with purchases such as electric heaters, fridges, washing machines, cookers, fuel vouchers and basic repairs.

“With winter now gone, we are starting to...

Exeter Rugby Club chief executive, Tony Rowe OBE, insists there is a ‘real desire’ from within the club and from Premiership Rugby to ensure the 2019/20 season is completed.

Although the table-topping Chiefs have not played a competitive fixture since beating Bath 57-20 at Sandy Park back in early March, Rowe is confident that a return to competitive action is not all that far away.

Rowe’s optimism comes following the announcement earlier this week where the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), Public Health England (PHE), the Department for Health...

Yesterday, it was announced that in the UK all non-essential retail stores in England will be allowed to re-open from 15 June, on the proviso they are ‘COVID secure’. The Prime Minister also confirmed that open air outdoor markets and car showrooms can open from 1 June.

While this easing of lockdown restrictions is undoubtedly good news for retailers and suppliers, most of whose businesses will have been hit hard by being unable to trade as usual for the past two months, reopening under social distancing rules now brings a whole new set of challenges.

The impact lockdown...

Empowering people to intervene when they witness unacceptable behaviour can help to prevent domestic violence and abuse, a new study has found.

Specific training for bystanders makes them “significantly” more confident to take action when they see or hear wrongdoing related to domestic abuse in their community, according to the research.

A total of 81 per cent of participants reported being more likely to intervene when they saw wrongdoing after the training, this increased to 89 per cent four months later.

This is the first academic study to examine a bystander...

A group of local musicians and medics have joined together to produce a charity video.

The eighteen talented performers have recorded a version of Help! by The Beatles.

And they all played their part from the safety of their own homes.

The video is raising money for FORCE Cancer Charity, which has continued to support local people throughout the Coronavirus pandemic.

The project was co-ordinated by Shelley and Ian Poole from the multi award-winning wedding and function band Quite Brazen.

Ian plays guitar and piano and is a sound engineer and music...

People are being encouraged to support local businesses during the coronavirus outbreak.

A new campaign – Stronger Together – has been launched encouraging people, including businesses to buy local and support local businesses. To get the campaign running, people are being encouraged to create and share a short ten-second video clip about a local business they love.

Exeter City Council is backing the campaign and has linked up with a number of organisations and businesses to form the Stronger Exeter taskforce. The campaign comes as the government announced that shops and...

Dental practices may be operating differently at the moment, as non-essential routine check-ups are postponed due to coronoavirus (COVID-19).

So parents of younger children are being asked to pay particular attention to their child’s teeth, to ensure that they continue to have good oral health hygiene.

National Smile Month runs from 18 May until 18 June and Devon Public Health, Libraries Unlimited, Devon’s Childrens’ Centres and Action for Children are raising awareness of oral health hygiene in children and families, in conjunction with the Oral Health Foundation....