News in Sidmouth

A Sidmouth man is on the final day of a gruelling challenge, having clocked-up serious mileage on foot everyday for 60 days straight.

30-year-old father of two, Zaq Bevan, came up with the brutally tough and relentless running schedule as a way of showing support for NHS workers in the midst of a health crisis.

Calls have been made for a similar level of resources to be made available to education as was to the NHS to help children recover from the price they have had to pay as a result of school closures.

School capacity is severely restricted by guidelines on social distancing and separating out existing classes into smaller groups of up to 15 pupils from much larger class sizes, and some of Devon's schools are already at full capacity as a result of coronavirus restrictions.

We are delighted to announce we will be reopening the work hub for the Sid Valley from Monday, 29 June.

We can't wait to welcome back our members, and to meet new ones (all appropriately socially distanced, of course!)

In an effort to help our readers who have lost their jobs due to the Coronavirus pandemic we have compiled a list of jobs currently hiring in and around Sidmouth to give you a helping hand in your job hunt!

Female Care Support Worker – Sidford

The makers of Sidmouth Port Royal Rum are celebrating this week after winning a Silver medal at the Taste of the West Awards.

The rum, made by Sidmouth Distillery based at The Dairy Shop, is infused with a blend of locally harvested seaweeds giving it a unique smokey/peaty flavour.

Sidmouth Town Council has moved to clarify recent proposals regarding pedestrian safety in the town.

The Council was invited by Devon County Council Highways to take advantage of new legislation which supports and encourages towns to take measures to help shoppers with safe access to their high streets, whilst maintaining social distancing requirements.

Flu jabs are likely to be rolled out earlier than usual this winter in a bid to ensure that any coronavirus 'second peak' doesn't coincide with flu season.

Dr Virgina Pearson, Director of Public Health Devon, told the Devon County Council Health and Adult Care scrutiny committee on Tuesday that immunisation ahead of this winter would also likely see more people vaccinated.

Scammers are taking advantage of the Government's new Test and Trace programme, with the latest target being local care homes.

Devon County Council has flagged up the scam to help prevent Sidmouth residents and local care homes from falling foul of fraudsters.

East Devon councillors are being recommended to reinstate the StreetScene agency budget to enable the district's beaches, parks and streets to be kept clean, and to consider reopening more public toilets.

In an attempt to make budget savings to close the budget deficit from COVID-19 response, the StreetScene seasonal budget of £131,000 was earmarked not to be used this summer by the council

There have been no new coronavirus cases in East Devon for more than a week and no new cases have been recorded across Devon and Cornwall for two successive days.

It is the first time since March 12 that two days in a row have passed without a new case being recorded across the two counties.