News in Honiton

'A friendly walk and a chat' is on offer to Honiton residents, in an initiative to combat loneliness and boost mental wellbeing.

The mental health team at the Honiton Surgery have been organising fortnightly 'Walking into Wellbeing' events since March, and now they want to spread the word.

Just over a week ago, Honiton's Jake Bonetta became the first Labour candidate elected to East Devon District Council for 20 years, after winning the by-election for the St Michael's seat with an impressive 807 votes. It's being seen as a landmark victory for the local Labour party – but Jake is adamant that his priority is to serve everyone in the community, regardless of their political leanings.

And he said he's looking forward to making the most of his position on the district council to benefit the Honiton community.

OK, so the question 'did you spot them?' was a bit of a con itself. Because all the text messages in this image are scams, sent by fraudsters to try and get the recipients to click on fake links and divulge personal and financial information.

Cyber crime isn't new – email phishing, ransomware attacks and so-called 'romance fraud' (conning people into thinking they're in a relationship with the fraudster, who then asks for money) have all been around for a while. Online fraud involving banks has been made easier for criminals by the large-scale closures of High Street branches, forcing more people to use Internet banking.

We can help you find a new job or start a new career – here's our Job of the Week.

Financial Controller, Honiton

Grant funding of up to £3,000 is being made available to help community groups in Devon whose work brings people together and improves their wellbeing.

The county council has created a special fund offering up to £1,000 for smaller projects and between £1,000 and £3,000 for larger projects that help local people to 'reconnect, rebuild and recover their community-led facilities and/or social activities'.

Extra police will be out in town centres to keep order during England's historic Euro 2020 final this Sunday night.

The Devon and Cornwall force expects pubs and entertainment venues to be busy and for people to meet in groups to watch the big match, kicking off at 8pm on Sunday.

Extra police will be on duty in local town centres tonight as football fans gather to watch England's quarter-final against the Ukraine in the Euros.

Police are asking the public to respect the Covid guidelines, and be aware that officers will be on the lookout for drunken anti-social behaviour.

A ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the unveiling of the Honiton War Memorial is to take place on Wednesday, July 14.

The memorial was built in 1921, and was paid for by public subscription. It is inscribed with the names of 66 local men who were killed during the Great War.

An 'outstanding' teacher from Honiton Primary School has won a silver 'Teacher of the Year' award, and is in the running for a gold award.

Ross Hasler was chosen from thousands of nominations as one of just 102 winners in the 2021 Pearson National Teaching Awards, which are open to every school across the UK and are managed by the Teaching Awards Trust, an independent charity.

Three quarters of adults in Devon have now had their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

More than 750,000 first doses had been given up to 23 May and almost half a million second doses.