Making sure unpaid carers across Devon are aware of their legal entitlements is top of the agenda on Carers Rights Day this month, following a report earlier this year that evidenced the daily experiences of hundreds of carers in the county and the toll looking after a partner, family member or friend can take on them.
Westbank Community Health and Care’s Devon Carers service has been supporting unpaid carers for 25 years. The theme of this year’s Carers Right’s Day on Thursday 21 November is ‘recognising your rights’. On that day, Devon Carers is organising an Information Fair at...
Free warm clothes, hygiene banks, community fridges stocked with free food, and hundreds of welcoming groups and events are amongst a wealth of offerings to be found in libraries across Devon and Torbay this winter.
Libraries Unlimited, the charity that runs 54 libraries in the county, is rolling out its Cold Days, Warm Libraries campaign for the third year running. The initiative is aimed at encouraging people into warm, friendly library spaces this Winter not only to help with their fuel bills and the cost of living but to combat isolation.
A new winter season of low-cost ‘Films at the Library’ is being rolled out by Libraries Unlimited across Devon and Torbay.
It’s now the seventh successful season of cosy in-house screenings for the charity, which runs the 54 libraries across the county.
The new season kicks off on Wednesday 6th November and the films on offer include the must-see Barbie movie, children’s favourite Wonka, and the ever-popular The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
Ten libraries will be running the screenings and each film costs just £3 - tickets can be bought online or in person...
An exciting new early years reading programme with stickers to collect has been launched in libraries across Devon and Torbay, aiming to inspire a lifelong love of reading.
Libro’s Friends is an extension of Libraries Unlimited’s hugely successful The Secret Book Quest, which was launched in 2021.
Both programmes have been created as part of Libraries Unlimited’s drive to boost the reading skills of children in the county.
The Secret Book Quest uses a free sticker collection book to set older children a 50-book goal and takes them on a journey through topics...
As the cost of living crisis continues to impact the prices of energy, fuel and commodities, local businesses across Devon, Somerset, Plymouth and Torbay are being urged to make the most of available support to boost their resilience.
The Heart of the South West Growth Hub offers free, impartial, expert business advice, and has a range of programmes and grants available to help support businesses with growth, resilience, trade, marketing, recruitment, and more.
Businesses are being encouraged to get in touch with the Growth Hub team, who offer signposting services and can...
The Heart of the South West LEP (HotSW LEP), Digital Skills Partnership, has launched ten free Digital and Technical bootcamps, providing people in Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay with the opportunity to access free training worth up to £3,000.
The Government-funded #Train4Tomorrow bootcamps will help adults develop digital and technical skills that lead to higher-paid roles within growth sectors, opening up opportunities to move into careers such as cyber security, data science, software development, digital marketing, IT, digital healthcare, welding, engineering and...
Living Coasts, in Torquay, famous for its penguins, has helped inspire a novelist to write a book featuring penguins – published by Penguin.
The novel, by Exmoor-based writer Hazel Prior, is called Away With The Penguins. Living Coasts' Senior Keeper, Jason Keller, helped Hazel with her research into hand-rearing baby penguins.
Away With The Penguins has been described as a life-affirming adventure featuring a cranky older lady and a lot of very engaging penguins. Living Coasts spokesperson Phil Knowling said: “We’re used to people carrying out research here – but it’s...
The world’s number one selling brand in home pregnancy and fertility tests has donated pregnancy kits – for orang utans.
The Clearblue brand helps over 20 million women every year – and now, a couple of broody female Bornean orang utans… Keepers at Paignton Zoo in Devon approached Clearblue because they hope their orang utans will breed this year.
Senior Head Keeper of Mammals Rob Rouse said: “We now have a male who is old enough to breed. As part of the European Endangered species Programme for Bornean orang utans, we’d like them to be trying for babies, but we need to...
The three South West zoos run by regional conservation charity Wild Planet Trust have a defiant message for coronavirus: “It’s business as usual”.
Staff and volunteers are prepared for the impact of coronavirus, but at this time the charity zoos remain open. Zoo spokesperson Phil Knowling said: “We’re monitoring the situation closely and will naturally continue to follow the advice of Public Health England and the Government. We will close if directed or if we no longer have the people to operate safely, but right now WE ARE OPEN!
