We know how hard teachers and support staff in ours schools are working every day and the pressures they are under.
This week we wanted to let the lovely team at Witheridge Church of England Academy know that they are appreciated and valued ♥♥♥
What better way to start the week than with a basket of goodies! We hope the tea, coffees, chocolate and treats show the staff at our lovely village school how awesome we think they are and what a great job they are doing.
   On Tuesday 25th April 2023, we will be extending our current hosepipe ban to cover most of Devon. From this date, you will not be permitted to use a hosepipe for non-essential use. Please note, if you are a registered Blue Badge holder, you are exempt from these restrictions. To find out if your property is included within the Hosepipe ban area, please visit our online postcode checker here. Our region remains in drought Since last summer, our region has been in drought. Low rainfall and high demand have stopped our reservoirs from recovering to levels we would usually see going into the summer. Roadford Lake, our main reservoir in Devon, remains around 27% lower than this time last year, despite the recent rain. To see our latest reservoir levels, please visit our website here. To ensure that we can continue to deliver high quality water to all our customers, it is necessary to introduce this ban now to help reduce demand over the coming months. Managing our water resources together We have been working hard to manage our water resources to ensure we have a safe and resilient supply of water for all our customers. Our teams have been out finding and fixing leaks whilst we have also been looking at new water resources – from disused quarries to desalination plants. We know there is still more to be done and we are working hard to do all we can. To find out more about what we’re doing, please find out more here. We also appreciate your efforts to help Save Every Drop and we continue to offer everyday tips and support to save water at home, across local businesses, and for visitors to Devon and Cornwall. We are also offering free water saving devices – find out more here. Thank you, Laura Flowerdew Chief Customer and Digital Officer South West Water |
| 20-04-2023 08:45 AM BST |
 Due to the upcoming bank holidays, North Devon Council is reminding residents to check their bin collection dates by visiting their website. There will be no waste or recycling collections on Monday 1 May (early May bank holiday) or Monday 8 May (bank holiday for the Coronation of King Charles III). Instead, these collections will be made one day later on Tuesday 2 May or Tuesday 9 May. All waste and recycling collections in the week commencing Monday 1 May and Monday 8 May will take place one day later that week, running from Tuesday 2 to Saturday 6 May and from Tuesday 9 May to Saturday 13 May and returning to normal on Monday 15 May. Service Manager for Waste and Recycling, Paul Burton, says: “This year, we have the bonus of an extra bank holiday as part of the celebrations for the King’s Coronation which means we have two bank holidays in a row. To avoid confusion, we are sticking to our usual bank holiday schedule which simply runs one day later than everyone’s usual collection days. “If you’re in any doubt about your collection dates over the bank holidays, you can check our website at any time. Residents are being reminded to display their bins, bags and containers at the kerbside by 6am on the day or evening before their collection to avoid being missed. For information on what goes in your bin, box and bag, residents can visit the council’s helpful webpage. To stay up-to-date with council news, residents can follow their social media channels and sign up for their email bulletins. |
We have been busy preparing to launch this year’s Community Councillor Grant (CCG) scheme which has been agreed for 2023 to 2027.
… again giving each of our 42 Councillors £1000 to distribute to local projects!
We hope to launch the fund mid-May so keep checking our website and get your application submitted: Community Councillor Grants (CCG)
Please feel free to give us a call on 01271 388253 to discuss any projects.
The Learning Through Landscapes Trust’s Local School Nature Grants programme aims to promote outdoor learning among young children by awarding early years providers and schools in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) with a budget of up to £500 for outdoor resources and training.
Please note that they do not provide cash grants. Successful applicants will be expected to purchase products from the Local School Nature Grants product catalogue.
Successful applicants will also be supported by a 2-hour training session. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate how children are actively involved in making decisions about projects that also engage with local communities. Applications that can incorporate these elements into their application are likely to be prioritised for grant support.
Awards can be used to purchase outdoor materials from the Local School Nature Fund catalogue such as bee and insect hotels, bird boxes, gardening tools, outdoor clothing for children and adults, such as wellington boots, and Wildlife watching kits, including outdoor cameras.
Applications must come from early-years groups or schools. Applications from Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), ‘Friends of’ groups and governors are not eligible.
Further information, guidance and an application form can be found on the Learning Through Landscapes website. Or email enquiries@ltl.org.uk
The next application deadline is Friday 28th April 2023. Further deadlines for 2023 are scheduled for: 9th June, 8th September, and 10th November.
This is an open-access capital fund targeted at non-national Accredited museums and local authorities based in England to apply for funding to undertake vital infrastructure and urgent maintenance backlogs which are beyond the scope of day-to-day maintenance budgets.
The grant range is between £50,000 and £5 million. The deadline for expressions of interest is 21 April 2023.
For further details, and to register your expression of interest, visit: Museum Estate and Development Fund – Arts Council England
Grants of up to £1,000, are available to registered charities in Devon that are enabling mentally and/or physically disabled children and young adults enjoy a better quality of life.
Its objectives are to help children and young adults aged 18 and below who are from deprived backgrounds and/or who are mentally and/or physically disabled to enjoy a better quality of life by making grants for providing or paying for items, services or facilities.
Please note that the Foundation does not maintain a website. Further information is, however, available on the Charity Commission website.
Benefact Trust’s Building Improvement Grants programme provides essential support to protect and enhance churches and Christian charity buildings, ensuring their continued use, viability, and the safeguarding of their heritage.
The programme is open to applications from churches, cathedrals, denominational bodies and Christian charities.
Under Building Improvement Grants, they are able to support direct capital costs relating to the following types of work:
All applicants will be expected to have secured funding for at least 30% of their total project costs before making an application.
Full details of how to apply are on the Benefact Trust website.
The bespoke hand-built shed, featuring designs by Ilfracombe Junior school children and brought to life by local artist Faye Allison, is the latest toy library to be installed as part of local environmental charity Plastic Free North Devon’s Visitor Campaign.
The aim of the toy libraries is to provide a resource for families to be part of a ‘circular economy’ when it comes to beach toys – rather than families buying buckets, spades, and polystyrene body-boards for their holidays and them being abandoned on our beaches, sent to landfill, or just sitting unused at the back of cupboards. Families can borrow beach toys for their holiday and then bring them back at the end of their stay, ready for another family to use.
This latest Toy Library is the third installed with funding from the Welcome Back Fund through North Devon Council (fourth in total) benefitting visitors and locals in North Devon beachside locations to protect our coastline.
The toy libraries are just one way that the Visitor Campaign seeks to harness the collective power of local businesses and community to educate and empower visitors to protect and care for the amazing nature right here on our doorstep.
The campaign includes resources and ideas for businesses to use to inspire behavioural change, a newly released Sustainable Housekeeping Toolkit for cleaners, property managers and business owners, and a discount on the Protect our Playground sustainable wooden belly-boards for all Visitor Campaign sign ups.
Visit plasticfreenorthdevon.org/plastic-free-holidays for more information.
We started the New Year with a “Bring a Friend” party and from this gained one new Guide and a few new Brownies. The dark nights have meant we have been able to do some star gazing and complete skills builders and activities based on that theme such as Night Sky Observers, Skills in Space, Spaced out and Blackhole Break out. We celebrated Chinese New Year and the Year of the Rabbit by making Rabbit Glitter Globes and playing Chinese Whispers.
A number of the Brownies and the Guides joined in a Division Thinking Day event in Tiverton in February and on the 8th March, International Women’s Day Girlguiding UK had a rebranding and our new logo is at the top of this article.
We are looking forward to the lighter nights and having some fun outside in the summer term.
We meet on Tuesday evenings during term time, from 6.30pm to 8 pm at the School. If you have a daughter who is turning 7 soon or is already 7 or over and would like to join us please go to https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/information-for-parents/register-a-child/ and register.
If you have some free time and would like to join us as a volunteer please go to https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/get-involved/become-a-volunteer/register-to-volunteer/
If you were a Rainbow, Brownie, Guide, Ranger and a re aged 18 to 30 you might like to have a look at Inspire and see what Guiding can offer you. https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/what-we-do/inspire/
Dogs in North Devon Dogs are wonderful for people’s physical health and emotional well-being. We’re lucky to have plenty of beautiful open spaces to enjoy with our four-legged friends here in North Devon, however, while the majority of dog owners are responsible, there is unfortunately an irresponsible minority! In today’s bulletin, we will be reminding dog owners of their responsibilities… Microchipping, collars and lost dogs  Collars In 1992 it was made a legal requirement that any dog in a public place must wear a collar with the name and address (including postcode) of the owner engraved or written on it, or engraved on a tag. And although there is no legal requirement for a dog to have a collar and tag on private property, every year hundreds of dogs sadly go missing from homes and gardens! In April 2016, it became compulsory for every dog to have an up-to-date microchip. Microchips A microchip is a small electronic chip, around the size of a grain of rice, which is implanted under the dog’s skin and contains a unique number that can be read by a scanner. The dog owner’s contact details relating to each number are logged on a central database, so should the dog ever go missing or be stolen it can be scanned by the authorities and returned to his owner swiftly and safely. Dogs over eight weeks old must be microchipped and the details must be kept up to date. You can be fined up to £500 if your dog isn’t microchipped. Unfortunately microchips sometimes fail so it’s a good idea to ask your vet, during your pets annual checkups, if the chip is still in working order. Watch our video to find out more. Lost dogs If you have lost your dog, please phone us (during office hours on 01271 388870, or on 01271 388240 out of hours) – to see if the dog has been picked up by our dog warden. We post pictures of lost dogs on our Facebook page, so it’s worth checking there too. Please be aware, that once we have found the owner of a dog, the owner may be liable for fines, fees and charges – including: statutory fine – £25 administration charge – £6 plus VAT boarding (for each period of 24 hours or part there of) – £20 any required veterinary costs, for example if the dog is injured other relevant fee Please do the responsible thing and make sure you dog is microchipped and has a collar to avoid these fees. It will also make our lives easier when trying to reunite them with you! To report a stray or lost dog to us, please visit our website. More information on microchipping, stray and lost dogs. Dog fouling and dog bins  As an authority, we recognise that the vast majority of dog owners are responsible and respectful to their local community. However, we do receive regular complaints from residents about dog fouling and the behaviour of some dogs, and we we are obliged to act upon these complaints. If you are in charge of a dog, whether you are the owner or not, you must by law clean up after the dog has fouled in any public access area. This includes car parks, grass verges, recreation and sports grounds, parks, river walks, pavements and footpaths, gutters and carriageways, beaches. Failure to do so can result in a fixed penalty of £80 or a maximum fine of £1,000. Call it out, call it in, clear it up Help us tackle dog fouling by following these three simple steps: Call it out – If you see someone fail to pick up after their dog, call them up on it. Do it politely, perhaps by offering them a spare bag. Don’t put yourself at risk. Call it in – Report dog fouling to us online or give us a call on 01271 388870. It can help us catch and prosecute the culprits and also builds up a picture of where the problem areas are, so we know where to patrol. Report a dog fouling incident Clear it up – If you aren’t willing or able to call it out or call it in, if you have a spare poo bag then helping to remove the problem is a really positive contribution, no one will step in it and it keeps standards high, which helps prevent further dog fouling.  Dog bins Although we as a council don’t have a statutory duty to provide dog litter bins or empty them, we do offer a number of dog bins across North Devon. These are emptied on a regular basis. If you’re looking for one, please visit our website: Find dog litter bins Did you know, as well as using dog poop bins, you can also use any public litter bin to dispose of your dogs waste? Help keep North Devon clean and tidy when out walking your canine companion! More information on dog fouling and bins Dogs controls  Whilst the majority of dog owners are responsible, unfortunately a minority still fail to pick up dog waste and allow their pets to run out of control. Please see our ‘Dogs Public Space Protection Order’ page for full details. The order contains a number of measures to enable us to address this irresponsible behaviour – including requirements for: owners to pick up after their dog owners to place any out of control dog on a lead if requested dogs to be on a lead in a public cemetery dogs not to be present on any formal sports pitch or enclosed children’s play area between 1 October and 31 March, dogs not to be present on or near land used as a High Tide Roosting Sites for overwintering birds between 1 May and 30 September, dogs not to be present on Croyde or Combe Martin beaches dogs to be on a lead in certain locations in Braunton Burrows at certain times of year Dog owners who do not adhere to these controls could attract a Fixed Penalty Notice of £100, or prosecution. Watch our video of one of our Neighbourhood Officers talk about the dogs PSPO. More information on dog controls Let’s make a difference together!  Don’t forget the power of our local communities! We currently work with partners and community groups to combat issues in targeted areas. If you would like to get involved and keep North Devon beautiful, we welcome any approach for collaboration. Follow us on Twitter @NDCWardens and Facebook @northdevoncouncil and share our posts to help spread the word. Don’t forget, if you see us out and about, feel free to come and say hello. Thanks for taking the time to read this bulletin, we hope you found it interesting. If you’re looking for more information dogs in North Devon, please don’t hesitate to visit our website. |
| 06-04-2023 02:31 PM BST |
 Recognising the King’s and the Royal Family’s support for the environment and green causes, North Devon and Torridge Councils have teamed up with local charity Plastic Free North Devon to produce some ‘top tips’ to help event organisers ensure a celebration that doesn’t damage the earth. Suitable for any size of gathering, from afternoon tea with the neighbours to a party for the whole community, the tips offer a handy guide to reducing and eliminating single-use plastic, preventing litter, increasing recycling, and supporting local shops. The tips are aimed at jogging people’s memory into thinking about such things as how they might collect any food waste or providing recycle collection points at an event and how the disposal of any materials collected might be handled. Purchasing drinks in cans as opposed to plastic, or getting people to bring their own cups, and using alternatives to plastic straws are further examples of easy ways to help the environment without affecting people’s fun and enjoyment. CEO of Plastic Free North Devon, Claire Moodie, says: “We know that people in North Devon are concerned about their local environment, and keen to take action to protect it and the planet. These top tips offer a simple way to host a celebration for the King and keep it green with just a little preparation and planning. We’re delighted to be working again with North Devon and Torridge Councils to help residents and businesses be more sustainable.” Sustainability and Climate Officer at North Devon and Torridge Councils, Donna Sibley, says: “Both North Devon and Torridge Councils are justifiably proud of our recycling rates through our kerbside collection schemes, and work with residents to keep black bin waste as low as possible. We’re hoping our communities will rise to the challenge of making different choices and showing the rest of the country what a green Coronation looks like. The tips will help people with ideas on how they can cut the amount of plastic and general waste that might otherwise be generated and suggest ways of managing and promoting recycling.” The tips to help you reduce plastic waste at your event along with a list of organised events can be found at www.torridge.gov.uk/coronation2023 and northdevon.gov.uk/coronation2023 |
 Easter Waste and Recycling CollectionsWith the Easter bank holiday weekend fast approaching, we are reminding residents to check when their waste and recycling is due for collection by visiting our website. There will be no waste or recycling collections on Good Friday (7 April). Collections due that day will be made on Saturday 8 April instead.All waste and recycling collections in the week commencing Monday 10 April will take place one day later that week, (running from Tuesday 11 to Saturday 15 April) and return to normal on Monday 17 April. Lots of homes will have more cardboard and foil than usual, thanks to a visit from the Easter bunny. Please continue recycling by disposing of your additional waste in the correct containers.Cardboard and brown paper needs to go in your brown bags, and plastics (except black) and scrunched up foil can be placed in your green or black recycling box. If you’re unsure on what goes in your bins, boxes and bags, please visit our website.Please remember to display your waste and recycling by 6am on the day or night before your collection. To stay with our news, please follow our social media channels. Have a happy Easter everyone!  © North Devon Council 2018 |
Local clubs and organizations within the Parish of Witheridge and immediately adjacent parishes may apply for financial support from the Knights of Witheridge. The Knights will also exceptionally entertain requests from individuals.
Applications should be made on the form provided on the Knights of Witheridge website or by clicking the three dots “…” in the toolbar below followed by “Download PDF File”. Alternatively, hard copies of the form may be obtained from the Witheridge Newsagents. Completed forms should returned to the Newsagents or sent by e-mail to witheridgeknights@gmail.com by the next closing date of Thursday 27th April 2023, after which time no further application forms will be accepted.
Should you be successful with your application for funding we will inform you in writing after all applications have been considered.
An application is subject to the following conditions.
If you intend purchasing equipment with the funds received from us then please be specific and state name, type, model number etc. as we reserve the right to purchase it on your behalf rather than giving you the necessary funding direct.
The funding offered is on the understanding that we receive a letter from you confirming that you have received it so that we can maintain an accurate record for auditing purposes in the future.
We would also appreciate a mention in your annual report, Witheridge Online, or in the Witheridge Voice (ideally all three!) stating that the Knights of Witheridge had donated funds to your organization. This will assist us immensely in advertising our presence, hopefully ensuring that local people will attend our future activities in the knowledge that money raised will be returned to organizations within the parish.
If you are unsuccessful in obtaining funds from us on this occasion, then please do not feel slighted in any way as we only have a limited amount for distribution.
You can use your Arrow keys on a computer or click the left/right arrows to browse through this electronic version of the Witheridge Voice. There’s also a great little toolbar where you can change to full screen, show page thumbnails, view two pages at once and more…