SOUTH Western Railway (SWR) is reminding customers to only travel if absolutely necessary on Christmas Eve as strike action and industrial action will mean a severely reduced service that ends by 15:00. Parts of the network will be closed completely on Christmas Eve and customers are urged to check www.southwesternrailway.com/strike for the latest information.
Following the reduced service and early shut down on Christmas Eve, there will then be no service across the SWR network on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. On Tuesday 27 December, SWR will run a severely reduced service, with...
This festive season, families in Exeter will be able to follow an augmented reality story-trail around the city.
As part of local plans to give families a fantastic festive break, InExeter and Visit Exeter have teamed up to provide a free interactive trail for families. Working with High Street Safari, InExeter and Visit Exeter have launched a unique, free trail in Exeter ready for the Christmas holidays.
The Hunt for the Lost Toys trail is an innovative experience that lets families choose what happens in the story as they follow the trail. 10 very odd Christmas...
Homeowners in the South West are being urged to think twice about where they store their Christmas gifts this year.
“People should not be hiding presents in garages and sheds, even if it is only temporary or overnight,” said William McCarter, of rural insurance broker Lycetts.
“It has never been a good idea to store valuable items in outbuildings, but with the cost-of-living crisis and inflated prices, burglars are more determined to exploit any opportunity they can.”
McCarter stressed the importance of carefully checking household insurance policies and of not...
Thanks to The Mortgage Quarter's annual gift appeal and the generosity of the local community, Exeter families in need are set to receive a bumper load of gifts in time for Christmas.
Since 2019, The Mortgage Quarter has run a Christmas toy appeal for a local charity, but this year the company decided to go large and widen the scope. Working in partnership with Exeter CoLab , the donations will benefit seven Exeter-based charities supporting children, domestic abuse survivors, families in temporary accommodation and Ukrainian refugees.
Handling Christmas can be challenging at the best of times, but if you are dealing with it as a divorced or separated parent, it can be especially testing. Self-help separation website, Splitting Up advises parents to be as flexible as possible with holiday arrangements, but what else can you do to manage what can often be a difficult time of year for divorced or separated parents?
Plan early
If you are already divorced, then you may have a Child Arrangement order in place that includes plans for Christmas and other holidays. This may mean you have the children with you...
Award-winning ultra-fast broadband provider, Jurassic Fibre , has today announced that they have pledged their support once again to Hospiscare this Christmas.
The Exeter-based telecoms company, who are on a mission to deliver their full fibre-to-the premises broadband to 500,000 homes and businesses in the South West, will be supporting Hospiscare’s Christmas Tree Recycling fundraiser, for the second year in a row, with a team of volunteers.
The yearly fundraiser aims to collect unwanted Christmas trees from residents in Exeter, Mid and East Devon to recycle in exchange...
To help ensure that the toys you are buying this Christmas are safe Trading Standards has released two short videos.
The videos, about toy safety and buying electrical goods , feature Holly Traynor from the Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service and she gives her top tips and advice on what to look for and what to avoid.
Trading Standards advises that if you are buying new products, you should ensure they display a CE mark, proof that the product has passed EU safety regulations, or the UKCA mark, which is the UK equivalent.
On select dates throughout December, visitors to Castle Drogo on Dartmoor will get to experience a 1920s Christmas party inspired by the festive traditions of the former owner, Julius Drewe and his family.
Open every Friday to Sunday up to 18 Dec and then daily from 19 to 23 December, this is the first Christmas at the castle since the National Trust reached the end of a 9-year conservation project to make it watertight earlier this year.
In the Entrance Hall, guests will be greeted by a 14ft tree, which reaches the top of the impressive Lutyens-designed ceilings. An...
Sidmouth's illuminated trail Connaught@Christmas is getting ready for opening night on Friday December 9 – and snow has arrived right on time!
In fact, it’s not real snow but biodegradable, environmentally friendly snow that looks just like the real thing. And with temperatures set to be chilly for the next few days, it really does set the scene for the start of this festive event. This is where visitors will find Father Christmas, ready for a friendly chat.
The whole site is lit with just LED technology this year to help make the event as environmentally friendly as...
Exeter Community Initiatives (ECI), a charity based in Exeter, has been given 40 free Christmas pantomime tickets by Exeter Northcott Theatre to distribute to local families.
ECI’s Devon Family Resource project, which supports families with children aged 0-18 facing challenges and hardships, will distribute the Robin Hood panto tickets amongst the families it works with.
ECI helps people facing poverty, inequality and homelessness to get their lives back on track by involving them in community projects to improve their mental, emotional and physical wellbeing, increase...
