Exeter

New customers allowed to join garden waste scheme

People in Exeter can sign up once again for the City Council’s Garden Waste Collection Scheme.

The Council had stopped new customers signing up for the scheme at the beginning of the Coronavirus outbreak. However it has now lifted the suspension and is taking on new customers.

Gardeners can choose either a 140 litre brown bin for £37.15 a year or a 240 litre bin for £48.80. Alternatively a bundle of five biodegradable sacks costs £11.

Things that can be put in the bin are:

  • flowers and plants
  • grass cuttings
  • leaves and bark
  • ...

Picnic at home to celebrate VE Day Anniversary

People in Exeter are being encouraged to have a ‘picnic in their parlour’ on 8 May to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of VE Day.

On Friday 8 March it will be 75 years since the Allied victory in Europe during the Second World War.

There were plans to mark the occasion with an event in the city centre but the Coronavirus outbreak changed this.

Now with people staying home and keeping safe as a result of COVID-19, Exeter City Council is instead encouraging everyone to ‘picnic in their parlour’ to celebrate a day that ended the conflict in Europe and ultimately lead...

Determined supporters vow to Race for Life at home

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Tue, 04/28/2020 - 10:37pm

DETERMINED fundraisers across Devon and Cornwall are set to Race for Life at Home as they refuse to let the fight against cancer falter in these unprecedented times.

Organisers Cancer Research UK have postponed events for this spring and summer to protect the country’s health during the coronavirus outbreak – and this includes the Race for Life events in Exeter, Plymouth, Exeter, Falmouth, Penzance and Stithian’s Showground in Cornwall.

But as the country continues on lockdown, undeterred women and men are already vowing to carry on and complete a Race for Life challenge...

Families urged to check if their children are eligible for free school meals

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Tue, 04/28/2020 - 12:49pm

Families in Devon are being urged to check if their children are eligible for free school meals as the coronavirus crisis creates more hardship across the county.

Nationally applications for Universal Credit have gone up dramatically with initial estimates of an extra 10,000 claims in Devon in the last two weeks of March.

Now Devon County Council is appealing to hard-pressed families to make sure they do not miss out on free food for their children - even if they are not currently in school.

Schools will provide meals for vulnerable children and children of key...

Devon Scrubs: Volunteer army pitching in across Devon to support PPE stocks for health and care staff

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Mon, 04/27/2020 - 5:58pm

A VOLUNTEER army of more than 150 volunteers are working from home across Devon to provide vital PPE back up for local NHS and healthcare front liners after a community fundraising appeal netted more than £2,000 in just one week.

Across Devon, the talented crew of craftspeople are stitching and cutting around the clock to provide essential scrubs, laundry bags, and headbands, as well as printing 3D visors, to help protect key staff in hospitals, care homes and in the community.

Devon Scrubs started out as an appeal called Scrubs For Plymouth on a social media site before...

Devon residents urged to remain vigilant as new COVID-19 scams continue to be identified

Devon, Somerset and Torbay Trading Standards Service is reminding residents to ‘stay home, stay safe and stay scam aware’, as new coronavirus (COVID-19) related scams continue to emerge.

Since the outbreak there has been a rise in scams exploiting the uncertainty surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19). These include medical kits that claim to prevent or cure the disease, counterfeit or unsafe medical supplies, such as hand sanitizer and swabbing kits, and financial scams, including phone calls claiming to be from your bank or mortgage provider.

Trading Standards Officers are...

One More Push! Charity at heart of corona fightback calls for final donations to reach target

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Mon, 04/27/2020 - 12:11pm

One more push! That’s the plea of a charity appealing for £60,000 to continue its work for the elderly and the vulnerable in a Devon community.

The Estuary League of Friends is based in Topsham and delivers social care to that community and those in a wide area nearby reaching parts of Exeter, Clyst St George and Clyst St Mary, and towards Exmouth.

In recent weeks the charity has of course added to its usual work with a huge effort to help those most in need during the Coronavirus crisis.

This has involved organising volunteers to deliver groceries, medicines...

Tech Awards to pay tribute to Covid-19 Heroes

Authored by Program
Posted: Mon, 04/27/2020 - 12:08pm

Heroes who are helping as part of the nation’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic will be honoured at this year’s Tech South West Awards.

Launching with a live online event on Friday May 1, the annual awards cover Bath, Bristol, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire, recognising and celebrating talent, creativity, business success, education, leadership and diversity across the technology sector.

Last year the UK Hydrographic Office in Taunton, Bluefruit Software in Cornwall, University of Plymouth, Rocketmakers in...

Your NHS is here for you: GP practices in Devon provide reassurance they are still open

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Mon, 04/27/2020 - 11:48am

Doctors in Devon are reassuring local people that the NHS is still there for them if they are unwell and need help.

NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens has warned that delays in getting treatment due to coronavirus fears pose a long term risk to people’s health.

The message comes as new findings that four in ten people are too concerned about being a burden on the NHS to seek help from their GP. Clinicians are concerned that some people who would benefit from urgent medical help may not be receiving it. People may be worried about coming to hospitals at this time....

Five tips from project to support people with dementia and carers in COVID-19 lockdown

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Mon, 04/27/2020 - 11:39am

New guidance has been developed as part of a major project to support people with dementia and family carers who are facing isolation and reduced services as a result of COVID-19.

A new leaflet features five simple tips, developed using the latest robust research and with the input of people affected by dementia. The leaflet is part-funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), in a project led by the University of Exeter and the NIHR Older People and Frailty Policy Research Unit, with partners including Alzheimer’s Society, Manchester University, Bradford...

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