Some Today (8 March) is International Women’s Day, a chance for us to celebrate our female colleagues and the role they play in our organisation.

Some 44% of our employees are woman and they undertake a diverse range of roles across the organisation from waste and recycling operatives to heads of department. We also have many women councillors representing our communities across the district.

We have a good representation of women at senior levels of the organisation, including on our senior leadership team.. We ensure equal opportunities for women across the organisation through leadership programmes and an equitable recruitment process, ensuring a consistent and fair approach to pay through our job evaluation scheme. And whilst there is no negative gender pay gap for women at Teignbridge, we will continue to monitor salary balance between genders and report on this annually.

We're also addressing some of the unique challenges women face, and supporting them in the workplace. In the past year, we have developed our menopause guidance, regularly ran a menopause café, and introduced menopause workshops for staff and managers.

…and we are always striving to do more!

Watch our short videos from Councillor Rosie Dawson and Becca Hewitt our Community Safety Officer sharing their thoughts about International Women’s Day and their roles.

Happy International Women’s Day!

In Wednesday's budget Chancellor Jeremy Hunt extended the Household Support Fund for a further six months although no details were provided as to the funding that will come to the council or how it can be spent.

As we have almost used up all our funding for this financial year, we have had to close it to any more applications for support.  Residents who have already applied will not be affected by this decision and should hear from the team shortly.

Using our share of the Household Support Fund has enabled us and our partners to support this year 1503 Teignbridge households, distributing so far £657,569.27.

As soon as we have details of the Household Support Funding for the next six months we will look to reopen the Fund locally as soon as possible.

Making sure we hear from a broad range of Teignbridge businesses is an essential part of our new strategic plan development.  We want to better understand what we can do to improve the business environment and help tackle the challenges businesses anticipate in the coming years.

Please help us by sharing this five minute survey link with your business contacts and encourage them to complete it.

Work has started on a range of major improvements at Stover Country Park as part of the Restoring Stover Park Project.

The scheme includes extending the current visitor centre, creating a new community workshop, re-establishing a section of the historic Serpentine Lake, and silt dredging of Stover Lake.

The Restoring Stover Park Project has been made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and aims to create a better place for people, wildlife and heritage.

Work on these initial elements of the project is expected to be completed this autumn but an extensive activity plan of community engagement is continuing to be delivered throughout the three-year programme.

Ashburton Repair Café is on the lookout for volunteers who have the knowledge and skills to mend items brought to it by local residents

The Café’s goal is to counter the throw away society and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill by repairing more, therefore saving money, materials, energy and helping the planet by reducing CO2.

The Café provides a repair service for broken goods from home.  It receives a lot of toasters, kettles, radios and vacuum cleaners plus many other items like clocks, stereo systems, humidifiers, streamers, lawn mowers.

Volunteers should have a basic curiosity of how things work and the ability to take it apart, diagnose the problem and fix it - in electrics and general repairs. In particular the Café is looking for volunteers with skills in computer hardware, bike repairs, sewing, jewellery and ceramic repairs plus help on reception at its weekly workshop session.

Customers are not charged for repairs although they are asked to pay for the cost of any parts that are needed and make a donation.

While broken items are being repaired, residents can relax and enjoy refreshments in the Café which runs every Wednesday between 3pm and 6pm from its Chuley Road workshop. It also holds monthly sessions at St Andrew’s Church Hall, with the next one being on Saturday 6 April between 10am & 12.30pm

if you have a a broken item in need of repair, take a look at the website and book it in.

The 40th anniversary of No Smoking Day, a time for us to unite and offer encouragement and support to those on their quitting journey, is swiftly approaching on 13 March.

There are over 5.3 million adults in England who still smoke, and smoking remains the single largest preventable cause of death in England. In fact, up to two in three smokers will die as a result of long-term smoking.

Almost every minute of every day someone is admitted to hospital in England with a smoking-related disease and in 2022-23, there were an estimated 400,000 hospital admissions in England due to smoking and one in four hospital patients is a smoker. Despite the clear health risks of smoking, it’s estimated that nearly 50 million cigarettes are smoked every day in England – around nine cigarettes a day per smoker.

However, smoking rates have reduced considerably since the first year of No Smoking Day 40 years ago and this year’s No Smoking Day campaign aims to continue this pattern and encourage people to quit by offering free proven NHS resources and advice.

Be part of the change and help build a smokefree generation. For free support to quit smoking, search smokefree.