The biggest fundraising event on FORCE Cancer Charity’s calendar will reach a significant milestone next year – The Nello cycle ride will be 20. In honour of its Italian connections, the 2019 ride on Sunday June 30 has been dubbed Il Ventesimo (The Twentieth).
Since the first Nello Century Cycle Challenge in 2000, the ride has raised more than £900,000 for FORCE, which works locally to support anyone affected by cancer, face-to-face and close to home.
It has grown from attracting a field of 90 cyclists in that first year to demand for 2019 expected to outstrip the 1,500...
The Donkey Sanctuary has scooped two awards in the Primary Times’ 2018 Reader Star Awards. The attraction won the Favourite Family Attraction (Half Day) and Free Local Family Event categories, as voted by readers of the publication.
Parents of children aged 4 to 11 years took part in the Primary Times survey and voted for their favourite local family friendly places and people. The Donkey Sanctuary is a big hit with Primary Times’ readers with its wide range of events, free entry and free parking, tempting local families to return again and again.
Your essential guide to What’s On in and around Exeter this weekend (30 November – 2 December):
THEATRE
The Elvis Years Friday, Exmouth Pavilion It’s time to get well and truly in the Christmas spirit as smash-hit musical production The Elvis Years brings its very special seasonal twist to theatres across the UK in December 2018. Experience an Elvis-style Christmas like never before in an evening packed with solid-gold Elvis classics, plus all the moments that make Christmas the most wonderful time of the year. https://www.ledleisure.co.uk/exmouth-pavilion
There is a new team of entrepreneurs topping the 2018 Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW) £50 Challenge leaderboard.
Financial experts at Prydis clearly have all the right skills when it comes to maximising investments – a team from the Exeter branch has turned £50 into £6,765 for the charity, which provides respite for families of children with life-limiting conditions throughout the South West.
The team is the latest to take up the CHSW corporate challenge, beating this year’s previous best set by Exeter engineering firm WSP.
Three ambulance services have announced plans to form an alliance to improve efficiency and benefit patient care. Between them, South Western, South East Coast and West Midlands Ambulance Service handle more than 2.5 million 999 calls every year. The three Trusts plan to form an alliance that will see them working even more closely together to deliver efficiency savings to invest in front line services. The alliance expects to deliver savings through initiatives such as the joint procurement of supplies, including equipment and fuel. In addition, the three will work collaboratively to...
North Devon club goers will be enjoying an early Christmas present – thanks to Stagecoach
The bus company has announced it will be operating night services between Bideford, Barnstaple and Braunton at weekends until December 29.
The new N21 route will run every 30 minutes from midnight until 4am on Fridays and Saturdays.
Stagecoach operations director Paul Clark said: “We had heard from a number of sources in North Devon that there is a real issue when the clubs turn out with the shear volume of people trying to get home.
Exeter College is the Best FE College in the South West for exceptional employer satisfaction, according to official figures.
The college is positioned in the top spot regionally and second out of circa 200 FE colleges nationally, scoring 99% - very close to a near perfect 100% - for employer satisfaction.
This exceptional achievement is well above the national figure of 85.2% for employer satisfaction for FE colleges, according to figures released by the Department for Education (DfE) in its 2018 survey of employers.
Police in Devon will be patrolling key locations and events over the festive period and the New Year with support from armed officers.
Officers will be visibly carrying long-armed weapons to help offer further security and reassurance during this busy time of the year.
Head of Alliance Specialist Operations Superintendent Nikki Leaper said: “Similar to last year, police – including our armed officers – will be patrolling busy festive locations and events to offer a high-visibility level of protection to our public.
“I want to reassure the public that there is no...
Ottery St Mary's 'Samosa Lady' Tina Chauhan-Challis is making 500 samosas from scratch in just 24 hours in an attempt to set a record.
The cooking marathon starts at 6pm during Ottery's late night shopping event on November 30 and Tina is aiming to finish her 500th samosa at 6pm the following day.
She said: "I'm not undertaking this lightly - it's a tough challenge but I'm determined to set the record."
After the event, Tina's samosas will be on sale for £3 each. All proceeds will be donated to a good cause in the town. Tina will need lots of support and is...
Fish at Living Coasts in Torquay have been observed performing a mating behaviour that zookeepers think has never before been recorded. Animal experts filmed female four-eyed fish (Anableps anableps) rocking from side-to-side; this appeared to attract the male to come and mate.
Sharp-eyed aquarists Tom Fielding and Sam Worthington noted and eventually videoed the curious behaviour. Clare Rugg, curator of the Devon coastal zoo, has a theory: “One possibility is that the movement of the female fish is releasing pheromones into the water to signal that she is ready for mating. She...
