National charity Heart Research UK is to fund three new research projects to investigate how COVID-19 affects the heart and circulatory system – an investment of over half a million pounds. Research has shown that people with cardiovascular conditions, including high blood pressure, have a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19. COVID-19 can also cause ‘new’ damage to the heart and blood vessels in people who have no pre-existing disease. Heart Research UK’s new grant scheme was designed to fund pioneering research to investigate these links and improve outcomes for patients suffering...
Early stage start-ups, innovators and tech entrepreneurs are invited to apply for Pitchfest, a pitching competition run as part of South West Innovation Expo on 14th October 2021 at Sandy Park, Exeter. Successful applicants will have the chance to present their start-up or innovation to an audience of investors, business leaders and other entrepreneurs.
Pitchfest offers start-up companies 5-minute slots to present their business as well as a free exhibition stand providing them with additional opportunities to meet and network with SW Innovation Expo delegates.
During June, NHS doctors from Pinhoe and Broadclyst Medical Practice have opted to leave their cars at home in favour of using Co Bike e-bikes for home visits and travel between practices.
Dr Emily Hay, GP registrar and Dr Harry Edwards, GP, together with eight other doctors from the surgery, are keen to look at alternative, carbon neutral ways to travel. With home visits on the rise and journeys often short, the practical and sustainable solution is to travel by bike.
The GPs therefore approached Co Bikes about conducting a trial with surgery staff. Because the bikes...
New figures suggest that there are now more than 130,000 people in Devon who are carers, the figure having risen by half again because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Worryingly though, just 21,000 of that number – roughly only one in every six – are accessing vital information and support that is available to them.
This week is Carers Week, and Devon County Council, NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Devon Carers are shining a light on it to encourage people who are carers for friends and family to recognise themselves as unpaid carers, and to come forward...
Thousands of meal boxes have again been delivered to families with young children this half term holiday week, in an initiative to help those who are struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.
Devon County Council first ran ‘The Goodie Box’ initiative during the Easter holidays, with incredible success. The boxes included ingredients and simple recipe ideas, and they were delivered to families’ front doors. Families loved them.
The council has done it again this holiday, and the boxes have included fresh and store cupboard ingredients for dhal curry and flatbreads;...
Three months after revealing plans to expand and develop a secondary site, Fix Auto Mid Devon owner Louise Woolacott and her daughters Erika and Alena opened the doors to Fix Auto Newton Abbot on 1st June.
The 6,000sq ft state-of-the-art repair centre has been designed and developed to complement their existing site and further cement the network’s position in the South West. When volumes allow, the new venue will have the capacity to repair more than 25 vehicles a week.
In order to maximise the workspace and ensure enough area for 18 work bays, they have installed two...
The NHS in Devon is reminding people how vital it is to have both doses of the Covid-19 vaccination to get the best protection from the virus and circulating variants; including the so called Indian and Kent variants.
The number of people in Devon not attending their second appointment has risen in recent weeks.
People in eligible groups are being reminded to:
Book their second vaccination if it wasn’t booked at the time of the first.
Attend both appointments.
If they have had a second dose elsewhere please cancel the
Travis Perkins, the UK’s largest supplier of building materials to the building and construction industry, has recruited 10 people from the surrounding area to fill part time and full-time roles ahead of opening its new branch in Exeter in August, bringing the total number of roles to 25.
The 10 new jobs that have been created include a branch apprentice, a Benchmarx kitchen designer, a yard manager, a tool hire driver and fitter, a HGV Driver and five yard sales positions.
Branch manager Dan Haggerty said “The increased demand for building supplies and the construction...
Community champion Amy Millington kicks off fund raising for South West
Poundland’s South West community champion for its newly launched charitable foundation today (1 June) opened up a 30-day window for children’s sports organisations across the region to apply for grants.
The new Poundland Foundation brings all the retailer’s charity fundraising under one banner, including a commitment to invest £825,000 in communities over the next 12 months.
This first grant window opens at 9.00am today (1 June) and community groups will have the opportunity to apply for one of 250...
Grant & Stone Group, the largest independent builders’ merchant in Southern England, is pleased to announce that it has acquired Devondale Electrical Distributors (Devondale), expanding its network of specialist electrical wholesalers and complementing the recent acquisitions of builders’ and plumbers’ merchants in the South West of England.
Established in 1981, Devondale is the largest independent electrical wholesaler in the South West. Operating from nine branches across Somerset and Devon, it provides an extensive range of electrical and ancillary products to electricians...
