Social and Other Community Groups
AIR - Additional needs Information Resource
Facebook Community Group
We are a new Facebook community, set up for parents, grandparents and carers of children with additional needs, with or without a diagnosis in the Cornwall and Devon area.
We aim to provide a single place where you can get support, information, strategies and advice on benefits and grants.
You can advertise local groups, arrange coffee mornings and contribute ideas to help our community thrive.
Bloodwise Okehampton FRG (formerly Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research)
This is a small group consisting of family & dedicated helpers who fund raise to help beat blood cancers.We hold book sales, coffee mornings & attend community tabletop sales.
Citizens Advice Torridge, North, Mid and West Devon
Citizens Advice Torridge, North, Mid and West Devon is a local Charity that provides free, independent, confidential and impartial advice on all subjects to members of the local community that require it. We aim to ensure that no-one suffers through lack of knowledge of the rights, responsibilities and services available to them, or through any inability to express their needs effectively. A limited number of assessment appointments are available on a strictly first come first served basis. After your assessment interview, you may require a further interview which may or may not be on the same day.
Opening times: Tuesday 10:00-15:00, Wednesday: 10:00-15:00 and Friday: 10:00-15:00. The office will be closed on all public bank holidays and weekends.
Ockment Centre, Okehampton EX20 1AR
North Dartmoor Search & Rescue Team
The North Dartmoor Search & Rescue Team (NDSRT) is based in Okehampton. As a Mountain Rescue team it provides a search and rescue service for missing and injured persons on Dartmoor as well as the surrounding rural areas. Currently there are about 40 members in the team. All are volunteers who give their time 24/7 to help those in distress. The NDSRT is a charity and relies on public donation to operate.
Okehampton District Community Transport Group
We are a community led service (Registered Charity: 1024617), committed to providing access to transport for the local community - especially for people who find it physically difficult to use conventional public transport, the elderly and those who are rurally isolated. Our Community Car Scheme is provided with volunteer drivers. We provide a Ring & Ride bus service across our district and arrange varied trips throughout the year using our minibuses.
Okehampton Fairtrade Group
Okehampton has been a Fairtrade Town for seven years now, the Fairtrade Group worked to gather the evidence to achieve this and now continues to promote Fairtrade in the town so that the status can be maintained. We are a small steering group with supporters who help with promotional events eg serving Fairtrade Hot Chocolate at Edwardian Evening or organising a stand at the Okehampton Show. Annually we organise and support special events for Fairtrade Fortnight in the Spring eg Fair and Local Coffee Mornings and Schools' Fairtrade conferences. We are proud that our Fairtrade Town status has been acknowledged with Fairtrade Town signs as you come into Okehampton from Exeter, Tavistock and Hatherleigh.
Okehampton Street Pastors
We are volunteers from the local churches who patrol the streets late at night and help, listen to and care for those out and about enjoying the night-time economy. We are completely non-judgemental in our approach, and we find we are very much welcomed on the streets by both the authorities and members of the public as our presence serves to diffuse tensions, reduce anti-social behaviour and bring peace to the streets.
Okehampton United Charity
Okehampton United Charity & Okehampton Educational Foundation are charities based in Okehampton and can make grants to any group or individual residing within Okehampton Town and Okehampton Hamlets (Brightley, Southcott, Meldon and Stockley). If you would like to apply for a grant or find out more information, please contact the Clerk or visit the website.
The activities of the charity include:
• Awarding grants to local groups and organisations.
• Providing two almshouses which are available to residents of the area of benefit who are in need, hardship or distress.
• Managing three allotment sites in Okehampton with a total of seventy plots let to residents of the area of benefit.
• Managing its remaining land holdings in the area of benefit which includes the footpath Ball Hill.
Okement Rivers Improvement Group
We are a group of volunteers who meet on the last Saturday of the month to manage the river banks, clear litter and coppice. We maintain public areas by the rivers, tidy footpaths and monitor river quality.
We meet on the last Saturday of the month by the recycling bins in Waitrose car park at 10 am and finish at 12 noon.
RAF Association
The RAF Association, the charity which supports the RAF family is looking for caring people to join its team of trained volunteers as a caseworker in Okehampton.
If you are interested in finding out more about this opportunity to help someone in your local community, please get in touch.
Simmons Homes Charity
Simmons Homes manages 13 almshouses in Okehampton. Five in the stunning surrounds of Simmons Park and 8 in Simmons Close. The Almshouses are available to residents of Okehampton and Hamlets who are in need. A board of seven trustees manage the charity and are contactable through the Clerk on the details above.
SSAFA The Armed Forces Charity
Our support covers both regulars and reserves in the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the British Army and the Royal Air Force and their families, including anyone who has completed National Service. SSAFA helps the armed forces community in a number of ways, though our focus is on providing direct support to individuals in need of physical or emotional care.
Contact Telephone no. Assistance 0800 260 6767
Volunteer with SSAFA 0748 317 0351
Website www.ssafa.org.uk
West Devon Community and Voluntary Services
We support local community and voluntary organisations and individuals wanting to volunteer.
We provide advice, offer businesses planning and funding searches for voluntary and community groups, training courses and have equipment available to lend. We support groups by helping them have a voice at a local and county level and act as the hub for networking voluntary and community organisations.
Wren Music
Wren Music is a Devon based arts organisation with headquarters in Okehampton and it is all about music and people. The music is people's music, folk music in all its forms: traditional, vernacular, popular and ethnic. The people are all ages and abilities in a range of community and learning settings. Wren Music is a company of skilled, experienced and highly qualified professional musicians of international repute. In addition to their artistic talent they also bring the qualities required by skilled educationalists. Our twin charitable objects are concerned with excellence in the minority genre of folk music and the promotion of social and musical inclusion. Our programme holds these two ideas in balance from promotions of concerts and events featuring professional artists, participatory musical ensembles for all ages and targeted projects with excluded groups.