Walking for Health scheme receives new support for the New Year

Taw Torridge Volunteer Services (TTVS) and Transform Ilfracombe have come together with the North Devon UNESCO Biosphere Service to coordinate Walking for Health groups in North Devon and Torridge. Walking for Health is a national scheme that uses the national environment to help people confront and prevent health problems such as obesity, stress and mental health conditions, and aid recovery from illness. Led by Natural England, it provides support for local, volunteer-led walking groups to offer a range of walks for people of varying abilities. As Jenny Fish from TTVS explains, "Health and exercise are at the forefront of our thoughts immediately after the excesses of Christmas and New Year, so what better time to encourage people to get involved with Walking for Health." Devon County Council's Cabinet Member for Environmental and Regulatory Services, Cllr Roger Croad, agrees; "Research shows that access to the natural environment is good for us. We are lucky in north Devon to have a Biosphere Reserve with a high quality environment that is internationally recognised, so a scheme like this that uses our natural environment to confront health problems and other diseases is to be welcomed. Devon County Council is pleased to have provided the resources for the Biosphere Reserve team to bring in the voluntary sector to support provision in northern Devon." "Using the voluntary sector's community links and experience will make sure that walking for health opportunities reach those that really need them. This is what big society is all about!" There are Walking for Health Groups currently operating in Bideford and Holsworthy in Torridge, and South Molton, Barnstaple, Ilfracombe and Combe Martin in North Devon and all can benefit from this support. Transform and TTVS have received 18 month's grant funding from the North Devon AONB and Biosphere Service to enable the Groups to grow and reach more new walkers, and to set up new groups where there is demand.
To learn more about Walking for Health in North Devon and Torridge contact Transform (01271 867131) and TTVS (01805 625614) respectively. All the Group's walks programmes can be found at  www.wfh.naturalengland.org.uk/walkfinder

Snow on Snow -Time to pack an Emergency Kit

Make Time for Winter,that's the message from the Highways Agency. You never know when you might need an Emergency Pack! It’s easy; just gather together the items below and pack in the car at the start of the winter season, leaving you concentrate on more immediate matters, like how you are going to get there…
Your emergency kit should include:
• Ice scraper and de-icer
• Torch and spare batteries
• Warm clothes and a blanket
• Boots
• First aid kit
• Jump leads
• Mobile phone charger
• Food and a warm drink in a vacuum flask
• A shovel
• Reflective warning sign
• Road atlas
• Sunglasses (the glare off snow can be dazzling)
Don’t forget to take any personal medication too

For more handy tips when driving this winter visit www.highways.gov.uk/winter

Make time for Winter

Dartmoor ponies put to good use on charity's reserve near Torrington

Devon Wildlife Trust (DWT) has delivered five Dartmoor ponies to its Stapleton Mire nature reserve, near Torrington in north Devon with the aim of improving management of the site and giving the ponies a home for winter. The ponies are on loan from Mitchelcombe Farm near Holne on Dartmoor and will spend the next few months on the nine hectare Culm grassland site, one of DWT's many reserves in this part of the county. John French from Mitchelcombe Farm said: "We run a small business training our Dartmoor Heritage ponies for a future as safe children's ponies or driving ponies (http://www.mitchelcombefarm.co.uk/ ). Getting involved in vital schemes such as this enables us to over-winter our ponies off farm as they are growing up, whilst at the same time doing an important job for nature conservation. We hope they will settle in quickly here and do a great job for Devon Wildlife Trust. " The relationship has been brokered by Simon Berry who is Devon Wildlife Trust's Grazing Links Officer. Simon said: "This is just the latest in a series of livestock moves which we have successfully completed this year as part of our landscape scale Working Wetlands project. Stapleton Mire is a great site and home to a range of rare species but this habitat requires light grazing to keep it in tip-top condition. These five new ponies should have a great time and there is plenty of shelter for them in the woodland should the weather turn cold. We are always looking for more Culm grassland sites in need of grazing so people should feel free to get in touch if they need DWT's help."

The ponies arrived at their new home thanks to the support of Exeter based car dealership Vospers. The company has loaned a brand new Ford Ranger 4x4 for Mr Berry to use for delivering livestock and machinery. Rob Marchant from Vospers said: "Vospers is a company which is proud to support DWT.

We are pleased to be part of such great work supporting the Dartmoor Heritage Trust through DWT's Working Wetlands project."

Working Wetlands has been supported by the South West Water, Tubney Charitable Trust, The Environment Agency, Devon County Council, Devon Waste Management, GrantScape and Natural England.