Community News April 2023

Community News pages 50 - 55

Police pledge to tackle violence against women and girls.

Devon and Cornwall Police has pledged its ongoing commitment to tackle violence against women and girls, after the publication of the first national ‘NPCC report’ into police performance.

A range of measures have been put in place, focussing on ‘building trust and confidence in communities; relentless perpetrator pursuit and creating safer spaces for women and girls’.

“We are committed to ensuring our counties are a safe place and have worked on a range of initiatives as part of our commitment to keep woman and girls safe from harm,” said Deputy Chief Constable Jim Colwell.

It follows the publication of the first national National Police Chiefs’ Council study into force performances. The document also identified 20 allegations of misconduct towards women and girls by officers and staff at Devon and Cornwall Police.

“It is vital that we focus on our own internal culture, professional standards and behaviour to ensure that our communities have trust and confidence in us. There is no place for misogynistic or inappropriate behaviour in our force and we’re determined to route this out,” added DCC Colwell.

South Molton incident - appeal for dog walker to come forward

Police are appealing for witnesses after a young girl was allegedly chased down New Road in South Molton by ‘two young males’.

Officers investigating a report of affray say it took place between 3pm and 3.30pm on Sunday, March 5th in the stretch between Southley Road and Dart Park.

The males said to be involved were possibly in their young teens according to police. They are keen speak to a female walking a dog who intervened and shouted at the two boys to stop. They ran off towards the park.

If you witnessed the incident, have any information or CCTV/dashcam footage please contact the police via their website or call 101 quoting reference 50230052294: devon-cornwall.police.uk

Tiverton station re-opens

The public enquiry office at Tiverton Police Station has officially be reopened, aiming to ‘improve face to face access to officers’.

Tripp is top dog!

In the February edition of Molton Monthly we reported how Lorenz and Bridget Heil in South Molton had been fostering a puppy ‘Tripp’, starting out his life as a guide dog.

They’ve been in touch to say that he has now left them, and is doing well at the south west training centre for the Guide Dogs charity. “Tripp is enjoying his training and is now very familiar with the guiding harness and has started doing parts of his walk wearing it, locating things for me such as the cash point and the pedestrian crossing box. There isn’t much Tripp wont do for food!” said trainer Samantha Jarvis.

Lorenz and Bridget volunteered as ‘Puppy Raisers’ for the charity, and an appeal has been launched to find new homes for pups.

For more information on becoming a Puppy Raiser with Guide Dogs go to: guidedogs.org.uk/how-you-can-help/ volunteering-for-guide-dogs

Tripp, training in South Molton

Photo by Karolina Andreasova

Hospice donation

Staff at Mole Valley Farmers store in South Molton have proudly presented a cheque for £966.92 to the team at North Devon Hospice (pictured right).

The money was raised during the festive season from visits to Santa’s Grotto in the store, and collection tins at the check-outs.

Boy in tent - one last camp out

13 year old West Buckland School student Max Woosey, who has camped out in a tent for three years, is ending his charity challenge and coming back inside - having raised more than £700,000 for North Devon Hospice.

The schoolboy has announced he will hold a final celebratory camp-out festival on Saturday, April 1st at Broomhill Estate near Barnstaple - see the advert opposite for details of how to take part.

Advertising space donated by Molton Monthly

Have you got a Taw tale?

A storytelling and poetry project ‘Going on Taw’ is being launched. Courage Copse Creatives were presented with a cheque for £1,620 by South West Water on the riverbank at Umberleigh in March to help fund the initiative (pictured right)

Going on Taw will travel the length of the River Taw in Devon, from source to sea. It will gather stories from those who use or depend on the river and seven community groups geographically linked to it. The funding from South West Water will support the delivery of workshops to local primary schools, enabling 100 pupils to engage in citizen science activities and creative writing.

The stories will be used to create a live professional performance, seven podcasts,

a short film and a 7-week exhibition at Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon in summer 2024. Going on Taw also received funding and support from Arts Council England, Devon Community Foundation, Libraries Unlimited, Westcountry River Trust, Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon Development Trust, Tarka County Trust and the Fox and Hounds Hotel, Eggesford.

If you have any stories or personal reflections about the River Taw, Courage Copse Creatives would love to hear them. Email your stories to Katy at: office@couragecopse.co.uk

Mapping Exmoor trees

Exmoor National Park have mapped the tree canopy within our landscape and the number of non-woodland trees in the area. The project found around 1.5 million trees in hedges and 500,000 in fields across Exmoor.

The study showed that while great work has been done so far planting trees, more are needed to replace those suffering from disease or climatic stress.

South Molton Community Garden news

by Rebecca Blackman

We’ve managed some team days in the last month, but sessions have been shorter due to weather, yet we have still achieved quite a lot. It’s been great to see a bigger team helping on Thursdays. We’re planning more team days at weekends this year, so hopefully we’ll see even more gardeners.

The raspberries have been pruned, along with the dogwood and the kiwi. We also spent a little bit of time re-defining the paths between the raspberry plants to help us access the fruits when we pick them. We have once again spotted frogspawn in the pond this year. This is always very exciting and a sure sign of spring being just around the corner.

We welcome new members! All ages and abilities are welcome. No gardening experience necessary. If you’d like to join us, please come along on a Thursday afternoon at 2pm, weather permitting. The garden is situated at the top of the Sheep Fair Field. Alternatively, please email for more information: somocogarden@gmail.com

Preparing the raspberry bushes