Devon

On 25th June 2015, 825 Lush shops across the world will kick off a two week campaign for general acceptance and equality of LGBT Rights across the world as human rights.

Shops will be asking their customers “What if your love was illegal?” and encouraging them to post selfies with the campaign’s fundraising product - a gold soap scented with Lush’s Love fragrance - telling the world why they think #GayIsOK.

By purchasing the aptly named Love soap (£4.00 for a 120g bar), you are supporting grassroots LGBT groups fighting daily for equality all over the world. The #GayIsOK...

To mark this year’s Deafblind Awareness Week, Roger Mulholland a young deafblind man is leading a sensory walk around the quay and river in Exeter on Tuesday 23 June.

Roger who is deaf and registered blind, is a regular volunteer at Café 55 a unique café in central Exeter staffed by disabled people and run by national deafblind charity Sense.

The 28-year-old from Tiverton who received the Duke of Edinburg Gold Award in 2012 and was named ‘Deafblind Person of the Year’ in 2011 was born deafblind. He has also learning difficulties and a heart condition and communicates using...

A global survey by deal experts at Travelzoo has revealed that Brits and Germans are as bad as each other, with a third of respondents admitting to making the early morning towel run to reserve a sunbed on the beach or by the pool. Travelzoo’s ‘honesty survey’ asked over 9,500 adults across the UK, US, China, Canada and Germany to own up to their worst holiday habits. The research revealed that two in every three Americans admitted to urinating in the pool or the sea, closely followed by half of Canadians and 46 per cent of Brits. Americans are also the biggest culprits when it comes to...

Cyclists are being asked to take “Moor care” when out and about in Dartmoor National Park this summer with the launch of a cyclists code of conduct.

The National Park has seen a steady increase in the popularity of cycling, both “off road” along moorland bridleways and designated trails, as well as a boom in road cycling across Dartmoor.

The leaflet provides guidance on cycling on moorland roads, narrow lanes, “off-road” routes, including public bridleways and designated trails, and stresses the importance of riding considerately, respecting farming operations and other...

The inaugural Wonder Fields Festival will be coming to fields in Devon from 17-19 July 2015.

The festival is taking place at Great Fulford, Dunsford near Exeter, but this is no Glastonbury Festival!

Hosting just 500 fun-loving folk from across the South-West and beyond, Wonder Fields aims to bring the spirit of imagination, fun and of course wonder, to the countryside, with the event featuring 60 music acts, a children’s area, spa, crafts and wild food foraging amongst many other activities.

Multi-genre music includes acts such as Bristol-based heavy weights Dub...

One of the largest - and smelliest - blooms on the planet is opening at Paignton Zoo Environmental Park.

The flower of the Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) can be up to 3 metres high and 3 metres in circumference. And the smell? Curator of Plants and Gardens Giles Palmer said: “Imagine you have the smell of rotting meat in a tin can and you open that can on the hottest, most humid day of the year!”

Experts think the plant could flower within the week.

The plant - from the rainforests of Sumatra and a member of the Arum family - is classed as Vulnerable on the...

Two in five (41%) landlords in the South West admit that they struggle to keep up with changes in law relating to letting property a week before a new deadline that could leave them with heavy fines for missing.

There are already over 50 Acts of Parliament and more than 70 sets of regulations that govern the private-rented sector (PRS).

The new deadline – 23rd June – imposed as part of the Deregulation Act, affects landlords and agents in England and Wales who still hold a deposit on a tenancy that began before 6 April 2007 – when Tenancy Deposit Protection (TDP) laws were...

Weekly rep returns to the Manor Pavilion Theatre in Sidmouth next week, when The Summer Rep Season 2015 opens with a new production of Noel Corward’s Hay Fever from Thursday 25 June to Wednesday 1 July 2015.

The Summer Rep Season sees one company of actors present a season of twelve classic revivals throughout summer, with a new production each week until the end of September.

Season producer Paul Taylor-Mills said today: “This is my third year producing the Summer Rep Season at the Manor Pavilion Theatre, and this is by far the most ambitious. Audiences can expect West End...

The Government must make an immediate decision to proceed with badger cull roll out this year or risk losing the trust of the farmers who helped to elect them, say industry leaders in the South West.

Implementing a 25-year bovine TB eradication plan, including badger cull roll out, was one of the Conservatives’ manifesto pledges, but despite winning a majority in the general election ministers have so far hesitated about giving further cull areas the go ahead.

This has led to concerns that a key policy for many rural constituencies might fall victim to post-election...