Devon

102-year-old Exeter woman beats Covid

102-year-old Exeter woman beats Covid

An Exeter care home resident has celebrated her 102nd birthday after surviving Covid.

Muriel Dunford, who lives at The Old Rectory, contracted the virus in January of this year, but remained asymptomatic and after recovering, was able to enjoy her special day with staff and residents at the home.

Rachel Fullard-Bell, Home Administrator at the Old Rectory, said: “Muriel has lived with us for three years and everyone here is extremely fond of her. She is always so positive and has developed some lovely relationships with everyone here in the home. When she contracted Covid...

New handbook to help prescribe nature for mental health and wellbeing

New handbook to help prescribe nature for mental health and wellbeing

Understanding how the power of nature can help people improve their mental health and overcome conditions such as depression, anxiety and stress has been boosted thanks to a new handbook.

The resource, from researchers at the University of Exeter, provides guidance and best practice for organisations providing Nature on Prescription, helping them to develop beneficial, safe and sustainable services.

Nature on Prescription is one form of social prescribing through which people can self-refer or be referred by a health or social care professional to engage proactively with...

LiveWest donates 30 laptops to Queen Elizabeth's School in Crediton

Housing Association’s Gift to Support Digital Access for Community

Housing Association LiveWest has donated thirty laptops to Queen Elizabeth’s School in Crediton.

Rupert Poole, Principal of Queen Elizabeth’s School, said: “QE is very grateful for the generous donation of laptops from LiveWest and it will help our students immensely.

Clearly everyone has been through a challenging year, a year where the importance of developing students’ IT skills and ensuring good internet access has been highlighted.

This donation will not only ensure greater online access for our...

New survey reveals insights into Brits’ driving etiquette

Do you know the rules of the road? New survey reveals insights into Brits’ driving etiquette

Authored by Ellie Green
Posted: Wed, 05/26/2021 - 11:49am

A new survey from ATS Euromaster has revealed how in-the-know British motorists are regarding driving etiquette.

The study polled 2,000 motorists in the UK to find out whether age, gender and location play a role in their driving knowledge.

55-64s have the best driving etiquette

According to the survey conducted in February 2021, younger generation drivers are the most likely to answer incorrectly when asked basic driving knowledge questions.

Nearly half of motorists aged 18-44 think splashing a pedestrian is acceptable, while a third of the same age group think...

New life saving water safety equipment installed at Exeter Quay

New life saving water safety equipment installed at Exeter Quay

Six new potentially lifesaving throw line boards and reach poles have been installed at locations around Exeter Quay with the aim to reduce drownings around the area.

Between 2015 and 2019, confirmed fatality statistics show that ten lives have been lost on Exeter's waterways.

Nationally, around half of people who drown had no intention of being in water – they may have been walking, running, or jump in the water after their dog. There is also an increased likelihood after drinking alcohol. According to the latest national data, double the number of people drowned after...

Road verges provide opportunity for wildflowers, bees and trees

Road verges provide opportunity for wildflowers, bees and trees

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Tue, 05/25/2021 - 2:51pm

Road verges cover 1.2% of land in Great Britain – an area the size of Dorset – and could be managed to help wildlife, new research shows .

University of Exeter researchers used Google Earth and Google Street View to estimate that verges account for 2,579 km2 (almost 1,000 square miles) of land.

About 27% of these verges are frequently mown, 41% is wilder grassland, 19% is woodland and the rest is scrub.

There are "significant opportunities" to improve verges by reducing mowing and planting trees, the researchers say.

"Our key message is that there's a...

Choir recitals make virtual return to Exeter Cathedral

Choir recitals make virtual return to Exeter Cathedral as cross-channel project helps ‘share the wonder’

Virtual reality devices at heritage sites in France and the UK have been adapted so tourists can ‘visit’ an attraction in lockdown – and in the case of Exeter Cathedral even listen to the choir sing.

The VISTA AR project, led by the University of Exeter Business School and part of the EU’s Interreg France (Channel) England programme, has worked closely with Exeter Cathedral, Château de Fougères in Brittany and others to develop digital devices that create new kinds of visitor experiences using augmented and virtual reality.

These include tablet-based audio-visual tours,...

Advice on second doses for over 50s and other eligible groups

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Tue, 05/25/2021 - 11:55am

Second doses of the Covid-19 vaccination are being brought forward for people aged over 50, frontline health and social care workers and people who are in at-risk groups (cohorts 1-9) . This follows the government announcement last week reducing the time between doses for those groups from 12 to around 8 weeks. This is to ensure people across the UK have the strongest possible protection from the virus at an earlier opportunity.

People in cohorts 1-9, who have an appointment before 25 May, should attend as planned.

Those with later appointments will be contacted to make...

Salvage Hunters are looking for people from Devon to take part in new series

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Mon, 05/24/2021 - 11:47pm

Salvage Hunters, the well-loved and most watched Quest TV and Discovery Network show, is on the hunt for new locations in Devon to feature in the upcoming series.

We follow decorative antiques expert Drew Pritchard as he travels around various locations in the UK and abroad on his quest to find and buy unusual objects with an interesting history.

Drew really visits everywhere - beautiful estates, old family businesses, barns and attic’s stuffed full of unwanted things, museums, factories, collectors and iconic religious sites buying all sorts along the way – from...

Exeter children urged to write poems to tackle food bank stigma

CHILDREN in Exeter are being called to pen a short poem about hunger and what it means to them, as part of a national competition run by anti-poverty charity the Trussell Trust, which supports a network of food banks across the UK.

The charity is calling on youngsters, aged nine and under, to create and draw a hungry character and tell its story in the form of a short poem – as part of its Bye Bye Hunger competition.

The top twenty entries will be published in a poetry book and one star prize winner will see their character brought to life in the Trussell Trust campaign...

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