Local News Thursday 3rd August

Thursday, 3 August 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Current and former smokers in Somerset are being offered free NHS lung checks. The death has been announced of a former long-serving Somerset councillor, Derek Yeomans. £800 has been donated to St Margaret’s Hospice by Chard United Football Club in memory of a former player. Yeovil Freewheelers blood bikes are holding a charity bike ride this weekend ...and more

Current and former smokers in Somerset are being given lung checks as part of the NHS's Targeted Lung Health Check Programme. More than three thousand-seven-hundred people used the service in the last twelve months, from which seventeen lung cancers were detected, mainly at an early stage. The programme is on offer to current and former smokers aged fifty-five to seventy-four.

The death has been announced of former long-serving Somerset councillor, Derek Yeomans. Mr Yeomans served as a member of the former South Somerset District Council and Somerset County Council representing Langport and Curry Rival for more than twenty years and was also a long-serving member of Curry Rivel Parish Council, where he lived.

A Yeovil farmer has come to the aid of a Berkshire family who had appealed for standing corn to display at their mother's funeral. She was evacuated to Long Load during the Second World War and fell in love with Somerset after living in the County for five years. Local farmer, Chris Baker, heard the appeal and says he’ll be sending standing corn grown in Yeovil to the family to include in the floral tributes at their mother’s funeral.

Yeovil Freewheelers blood bikes are holding a charity bike ride this weekend. The Freewheelers, who are based at Yeovil Hospital, transport medical items between hospitals in the South West for the NHS as a free service and need to raise around ninety thousand pounds every year to fund their activities. On Saturday they’ll be joined by around one hundred other bikers on a journey starting at Cartgate in Yeovil, travelling through Axminster, Lyme Regis, Weymouth and Dorchester before finishing in West Camel, collecting donations on the way.

£800 has been donated to St Margaret’s Hospice by Chard United Football Club. The money was raised in memory of former Chard player Alex Ives who died last year aged thirty-two and was provided with end-of-life care by St Margaret’s.

More from News

Friday 13th March

The first of the new medium lift helicopters being built by Leonardo in Yeovil for the RAF will be delivered in 2031. Somerset Council has launched a public consultation on planned new charges at its two hundred public car parks. More women in Somerset are said to be taking up walking football... and more
Thursday 12th March

A Yeovil headteacher says he’s concerned about plans to stop giving school holiday food vouchers to families on low incomes. The owner of Yeovil Town is calling on fans to be patient as he continues his overhaul of the National League side. A high voltage fault is being blamed for plunging 1700 homes into darkness in the Ilminster area... and more
Wednesday 11th March

Plans have been submitted to convert two properties in Yeovil into houses of multiple occupation. A new court date has been announced for a Yeovil man charged with attempted murder. An engineer who has worked at the Leonardo factory in Yeovil for 40-years has won a top industry award... and more
Tuesday 10th March

Police say a fire at the former Oscar Mayer food factory in Chard was started deliberately. Yeovil College says it would have been adversely affected had Leonardo not won the contract to build new medium-lift helicopters. A seven-foot dragon will be visiting towns and villages in our area during the next few weeks to promote Somerset Day... and more
Monday 9th March

Two Wildcat helicopters from 815 Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton have arrived in Cyprus to help protect RAF Akrotiri from further Iranian drone strikes. New figures show that 40 people were killed on Avon and Somerset’s roads in the last 12-months. A Somerset man has been recalling the day 60-years ago when he was a passenger on the last train on the Somerset and Dorset Railway... and more
Friday 6th March

Defence Minister Luke Pollard has been explaining why it took the government so long to confirm a contract for the Leonardo in Yeovil to build new medium lift helicopters for the RAF. Police are investigating a break in at a pet shop in Ilminster. Somerset Council is to stop using red ink on council tax reminder letters... and more
Thursday 5th March

Two military helicopters from RNAS Yeovilton are being sent to Cyprus to help bolster UK’s defences amid the US-Israel war with Iran. Yeovil Town Council is seeking legal advice over the closure of the hyper acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. Flood warnings have been lifted on the Somerset Levels... and more
Wednesday 4th March

A man has died in a fire in Wincanton. Somerset Council is planning further cuts of twenty-one million pounds to help balance its books. A campaign to raise £30,000 for a minibus has been launched in Chard... and more