Dart Freemasons Lodge have recently presented a cheque for £500 to the Dart Trekkers, a recently formed organisation in Dartmouth. It was established some 4 years ago by Terri Walker when, due to funding problems the local academy decided not to send a team to the Ten Tors Race on Dartmoor.
The group meet at Townstal Community Hall and are instructed in survival techniques including map reading, these are practiced regularly by visits to Dartmoor. Chris Tucker, the Worshipful Master of Dart Lodge said,” this is the type of group that we like to support, it creates in young people...
Doctors in Devon are providing essential advice to people across the county on how to choose the right service for them if they feel unwell over the New Year period.
Devon’s NHS leaders are asking people to do what they can to prevent themselves becoming unwell and make sensible to decisions when it comes to choosing the right NHS service if they need help.
All parts of the NHS system are very busy in Devon at this time of year.
If it’s not an emergency or life-threatening condition, help the NHS to help you by choosing the right service for your needs:
Devon’s residents are being urged to hang on to their broken possessions over the Christmas holidays so they can be fixed at what promises will be the largest repair café ever held.
The Big Fix 2020 will be held on Saturday February 15, and will see up to 109 repair cafes across the UK being held simultaneously.
The national event is being coordinated by Devon County Council and follows the success of The Big Fix last year when volunteers broke the record for the number of items repaired at a single repair café.
Both events are examples of Devon County Council’s...
Three women whose relatives were involved in the Battle of the River Plate had a chance meeting at a recent exhibition.
The ladies - pictured above - were visiting an exhibition at Exeter Guildhall to mark the 80th Anniversary of HMS Exeter's involvement in the Battle of the River Plate in the South Atlantic during the Second World War.
Whilst watching a film as part of the exhibition they got talking. They soon realised that their relatives had been involved in the Battle.
Claire Higginson (pictured left) is the great granddaughter of Charles Cloke, the leading...
Amid warnings that new cases of flu could peak over the busy Christmas period, the parents of a nine-year-old boy from Devon who died from the illness in January last year, are calling on parents to vaccinate their children.
The request follows the release of data from Public Health England (PHE), showing that GP consultations across the country for Influenza-like illness have risen in the last few weeks.
In Devon, community clinics are being scheduled for school age children, who missed their initial school appointment for a nasal flu spray. Parents who would like to book...
An active GP and professor of general practice and primary care at the University of Exeter Medical School has been honoured with an MBE in the New Year’s 2020 Honours List.
John Campbell, Professor of General Practice and Primary Care, has been awarded the honour, presented for his outstanding contributions to primary care of patients and improving GP services.
John, who is also Associate Dean for Research (Research Excellence Framework), said: “I’m extremely honoured and humbled to be receiving this award for my work in primary care. Through my work, I’m committed to the...
Ongoing repairs to Shaldon Bridge are expected to be completed during a final overnight closure planned early in the New Year. The bridge is due to be closed from 11:30pm on Wednesday 8 January to carry out the repairs to the structure. The bridge is scheduled to re-open by 7am the following morning (Thursday 9 January). The scheme is repairing holes in the concrete foundations of two bridge piers. Concrete will be poured into the foundations during the overnight closure, with final preparations being carried out after the Christmas break. The work will protect the concrete piles and...
Members of a volunteer search and rescue team have been handed £1,000 to help fund vital kit needed to carry out water rescues.
Exmoor Search and Rescue Team based in South Molton, Devon, has been handed the cash through Persimmon Homes South West’s Community Champions scheme.
Treasurer Derrick Reid explained: “As a team that cares about its community we have increased our skill set into water rescue primarily in flooding and swift water scenarios. However, working in these harsh environments has an impact on equipment. We are therefore looking to replace a number of our...
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) is urging people only to call 999 this Christmas if someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk.
Demand for the ambulance service is likely to peak over the next two weeks when staff are expecting to respond to more than 3,000 calls a day.
Paramedics and Control Room staff warn that unnecessary calls over the festive period could delay responses to those patients most in need of emergency help.
The Trust has launched its ‘12 Days of Christmas’ campaign, encouraging people to use the...
New evidence potentially left by Dartmoor’s earliest farming communities 5,500 years ago has been uncovered by archaeologists at two of the moor's most enigmatic sites. A series of previously unknown features including postholes and circular structures have been discovered at the tor enclosure sites of White Tor and Dewerstone. One of the most exciting discoveries at Dewerstone (pictured) is the recovery of charcoal suitable for radiocarbon dating. Results are awaited but, if proved, could conclusively show people occupied these sites in the early Neolithic period - around 3,500BC....
