Philippa Davies

2 months ago | westcountryvoices.co.uk | Philippa Davies

The irony meter must be peaking like one of South West Water’s storm overflow monitors. Former East Devon Conservative MP Simon Jupp, who was an outspoken critic of the utility firm, has taken a job with its parent company, Pennon, advising on community engagement. During his time as an MP Mr Jupp did plenty of mud-slinging at South West Water, usually over the frequent reports of sewage spills in his constituency’s coastal towns.

2 months ago | westcountryvoices.co.uk | Philippa Davies

“Wherever it is found, hunger highlights the fault lines of inequality that run through that society.”In our society, that could indicate the effects of political austerity measures, including the latest benefit cuts. On a global level, it could point to the people in the world’s poorest nations whose crops are being destroyed by the climate crisis. Hunger affects the powerless.

Mar 28, 2025 | westcountryvoices.co.uk | Philippa Davies

Celebration lunches, chocolates and a glass of fizz will be on the menu this Sunday, 30 March, as families get together for Mothering Sunday. But for one group of women in Plymouth, the table will be bare – except for leaflets, stickers and other material demanding an end to child hunger and poverty. Six local women are taking part in a 24-hour hunger strike as part of the Mother’s Manifesto campaign. They and their supporters will be at Plymouth Sundial between 11am and 4pm.

Feb 28, 2025 | westcountryvoices.co.uk | Philippa Davies

“We watched as the beaches emptied, and the car parks emptied, and there was a sense of ‘this cannot keep happening’.”It was the worst possible time for yet another serious sewage pollution incident in Exmouth. On Wednesday, 14 August 2024 – right in the middle of the summer tourist season – a sewage pipe burst near the town’s main pumping station, leaking waste into a stream and then into the sea.

Feb 19, 2025 | westcountryvoices.co.uk | Philippa Davies

The stark and ancient beauty of Dartmoor is world-renowned. Its power to stir a deep emotional connection in people was evidenced by the thousands who converged on the moor in January 2023, fighting for their right to roam freely across those wild landscapes and camp under those wide starry skies. Now a new festival – taking place in May this year – will explore and celebrate Dartmoor’s history and mythology, the art and music it inspires and the spirit it awakens in people.