Parents’ plea over closure of Dorchester SEND pre-school

Parents’ plea over closure of Dorchester SEND pre-school

Ros Tappenden andFiona ClampinDorsetLucy CapesLucy and Joel Capes say the closure of the pre-school will have a huge impact on their livesParents of children with special educational needs and disabilities attending a specialist pre-school in Dorset have launched a petition to stop it from closing.The Dorchester Opportunity Group, which has been running for more than 30 years, has announced it will close in December.The charity's trustees said the service was no longer financially viable and, despite discussions with Dorset Council, they had not found a way forward.The council said it was working closely with the nursery "to explore options for extending provision and ensuring continuity of care for every child affected".But Joel and Lucy Capes, whose son attends the pre-school, say Ms Capes would be forced to give up work if the facility closes.She said: "It's a fantastic place for him to have a gateway into education."For us, with the severity of his disability, there is nowhere for us to send him come Christmas."I will very likely have to hand in my notice and leave my job to be able to care for him 24/7."It's going to force us into situations where we're going to have to start claiming benefits."Mr Capes…

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Seal entangled in fishing net on west Cornwall beach saved

Seal entangled in fishing net on west Cornwall beach saved

Marine medics have saved the life of a young seal after it became entangled in discarded fishing net which snagged on a mussel bed in shallow water.The grey seal was caught in a mass of net which became caught on the mussel bed, anchoring it down and risking the mammal's life at a beach in west Cornwall on Sunday. British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) said had the tide been coming in, the water would have drowned it.A team of BDMLR volunteers freed the seal before the tide turned and found it had minimal injuries, leading the charity's director Dan Jarvis to call it "an incredibly lucky seal" which he hoped would go on to live "a happy and healthy life".Mr Jarvis said: "Fortunately it had been a recent entanglement so there was just a strangulation impression of the net having been really tight around its neck area."He said after the seal had been set free the team had weighed the armful of net it had been tangled in and found it to weigh 35oz (1kg).The net has been sent to the Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority to see if it could find out more information about the net, including…

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Rob Baxter says Exeter yet to begin contract talks with players

Exeter boss Rob Baxter has said he has not yet started formal negotiations with players approaching the end of their contracts.England centre Henry Slade is the highest-profile Exeter player whose contract runs out next summer, along with the likes of Josh Hodge and Olly Woodburn.The Chiefs have a win, a draw and a loss from their first three Prem games of the season, as they aim to improve on their worst-ever top flight campaign last season."We didn't have a good season last season, there's no ulterior motive behind the fact, I want to see how we go," Baxter said."I want to see what the form of the squad is, whether we've got the formation of the squad correct, all those type of things."I think we're in the process of moving forward to rebuild a group of players that can be very successful together and I'm not going to just rush into re-signing everyone who's here now because I want to see how we go and where our growth still remains and I'm very comfortable with that." Source link

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Bath lock Ewan Richards praised for progress by Johann van Graan

Bath lock Ewan Richards praised for progress by Johann van Graan

"Ewan's worked so hard over the last two years and used his opportunities in the Premiership Cup, but he really took his opportunities against Leicester," added Van Graan."What really impresses me is that he is fast, but [on Saturday] he spent 80 minutes at lock, something which can sometimes make your legs heavy."I'm really happy for Ewan and how we finished the game, but my bigger message is that I am happy for the group."We're a group of people that are absolutely loving what we're doing, and we're doing it with a smile on our faces."Generally in life, when people are happy they improve at their faster rate than people that are unhappy, and this is a happy group."Bath are the only club with a 100% winning record after three Prem matches this season and are top of the table, with Saturday's opponents Leicester seventh. Source link

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Cornwall Council to sell 37 modular units for homeless

Cornwall Council to sell 37 modular units for homeless

Lee TrewhelaLocal Democracy Reporting ServiceCornwall CouncilThe council bought the units in response to housing pressures during and after the Covid pandemicCornwall Council is set to sell nearly half of a modular home system designed to provide accommodation for single homeless people.The authority said it was looking to sell 37 of its 79 SoloHaus units, adding it would cost about £9m to set them up - a figure which would increase if it had to purchase land.The council bought the units in 2021, in response to housing pressures during and after the Covid pandemic, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.Councillor Peter La Broy, cabinet member for housing, said: "At a time when we are continuing to experience considerable pressures on council budgets, we have a responsibility to our residents to ensure that we're spending our money wisely."Cornwall CouncilThe cost associated with building a new site is almost £244,000 per SoloHaus unit, the council saidThe units were designed to provide longer term accommodation as part of the government's "everyone in" initiative during the pandemic.It meant local authorities had a duty to provide emergency accommodation to anyone sleeping rough. The units require planning permission and building regulations, as well as heating, drainage and utility…

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Cyclist beats Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar in uphill race

Cyclist beats Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar in uphill race

Eben Morrish-CroadSomersetAndraz CorelAndrew Feather from Bath was the only rider out of 1,189 cyclists to beat PogačarA 40-year-old cyclist has beaten the four-time Tour de France winner and current world champion in an uphill charity race.Andrew Feather from Bath was the only rider out of 1,189 to beat Tadej Pogačar in a 15km climb in his home country of Slovenia.All the amateur riders were given a six-minute head start by Pogačar, who some commentators believe is the greatest rider to compete in the sport, in the Pogi Challenge charity ride.Mr Feather said: "I love climbing hills and to ride up against the best cyclists in the world - I mean you're never really going to get that chance again so I just thought I'll do it."Mr Feather said it was "amazing to go up against" PogačarThe Pogi Challenge charity ride started with a non-timed 9.1km warm-up, before participants competed in the timed climb. Mr Feather finished the race ahead of Pogačar with a time difference of around three minutes across the 45-minute race. He said that it was "amazing to go up against" Pogačar, and added that it was "fantastic to be able to shake his hand at the end."Fund from…

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Matt Cannon: Cornish Pirates wait to learn extent of forward’s knee injury

Matt Cannon: Cornish Pirates wait to learn extent of forward’s knee injury

Cornish Pirates are awaiting the results of tests on what they fear is a "significant" knee injury suffered by forward Matt Cannon.The 23-year-old was hurt in the 26-21 defeat at Ampthill and is awaiting scans to discover the seriousness of the injury.Cannon is in his second season on loan at the club from Champ rivals Ealing.He has started both Pirates' matches this season, having featured 22 times last season."It's likely to be a pretty significant injury unfortunately, Matt's a big part of what we do in his second season with us," Pirates coach Joe Walsh told BBC Radio Cornwall."He took a knock in a collision, took a shoulder to the knee. We're awaiting results, he hasn't had any scans yet. We're just waiting on the results of those scans to see where he's at."We're obviously disappointed for him that something like this would happen so early on in the season."But we'll take good care of him, I'm sure Ealing will have a part to play in his recovery, and we'll just be ready for his return whenever that is and just contribute the best we can to his rehab and his recovery." Source link

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Truro City: FA Cup loss to AFC Totton down to missed chances – John Askey

Truro City: FA Cup loss to AFC Totton down to missed chances – John Askey

Truro City manager John Askey says his side's missed chances are to blame after they were knocked out of the FA Cup on penalties by AFC Totton.National League South Totton won 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in their fourth round qualifying replay to book a first round tie at Macclesfield. The Tinners went behind when Tony Lee pounced on a defensive error to put Totton 1-0 up after 14 minutes.But Totton played most of the game with 10 men when former Torquay midfielder Joe Oastler was sent off for a second booking just before half-time.Truro levelled thanks to a Lirak Hasani header after an hour, but despite having chance after chance Truro failed to make a breakthrough in normal time, or 30 minutes of extra time.The tie went to penalties, with Truro defender Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain missing with the score in the shootout at 3-2 as the visitors went on to convert all five of their spot kicks. "We'll never have a better opportunity to get into the first round," Askey told BBC Radio Cornwall."The goal that we gave away was a poor goal that gave them a lift, but after that, we've had loads of possession, 35 shots at…

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Devon rail link ‘could give £1bn economic boost’ if restored

Devon rail link ‘could give £1bn economic boost’ if restored

The possible reintroduction of a train service between between Barnstaple and Bideford could generate up to £1bn for the local economy, according to a rail group.The Northern Devon Rail Development Partnership is looking at extending the current Tarka line between Exeter and Barnstaple back into Bideford, with a half-hourly service and other improvements to produce the economic benefits by 2040.Roger Blake, of Railfuture, which leads the partnership, said any plans would first "look at restoring the original route along the Tarka Trail", but with guarantees a continuous trail must remain for walkers and cyclists.If approved, any construction would take at least three years to complete.Mr Blake, who acknowledged there were many hurdles to overcome and it was more a long-term strategy, said the trail and the railway "would have to adapt"."At Fremington Quay, the railway would have to move and not go through the quay by constructing a bit of new railway inland as a bypass," he said.The group insisted there was a "huge appetite" to start a feasibility study into the restoration of the Barnstaple to Bideford line, and the re-introduction of the Exeter to Okehampton line had proved how successful it could be.Mr Blake said the next stages were…

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Men kick driver’s car in road rage incident near Cornwall school

Men kick driver’s car in road rage incident near Cornwall school

Police have appealed for witnesses after two men kicked and damaged a driver's car door in a road rage incident near a school in Cornwall.Devon and Cornwall Police said the incident happened on the A3047 in Redruth at the traffic lights opposite Redruth School on 8 October at about 21:00 BST.The force said two men, in a suspected white BMW, attempted to drive the motorist off the road before damaging a car door. Police have asked any witnesses to contact them. Source link

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