Friday 15th August

Friday, 15 August 2025 06:00

Services and acts of remembrance are taking place across Yeovil & South Somerset for VJ Day. An Ilminster café has unveiled a new defibrillator in the town. A room, named in honour of a member of Somerset Council’s Public Health team, has been opened at Yeovil Library...and more.

Services and acts of remembrance are taking place across Yeovil & South Somerset for VJ Day, as the county marks the 80^th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in 1945, which effectively brought the Second World War to an end. The commemoration events include a gathering at the War Memorial in Yeovil town centre organised by the Royal British Legion, the laying of a wreath at the Burma Star garden in Ilminster, followed by a tree planting, music and speeches in the town’s recreation grounds, and a service at Crewkerne Methodist Church.

An Ilminster café has unveiled a new defibrillator in the town, following a successful fundraising appeal that raised well over a thousand pounds for its purchase. The Monks Yard venue says the life-saving device is installed and fully operational in the café’s reception area and will be available whenever they are open. The defibrillator is also registered on www.defibfinder.uk, an online resource showing devices across the country.

Shepton Mallet Prison’s popular ‘Living History Days’ are returning this August bank holiday, with visitors of all ages getting the chance to explore four centuries of history since the now decommissioned prison was opened. The event will feature characters in costume, activities including ‘oakum picking’ and the history of the US military’s use of the prison during the Second World War.

A room, named in honour of a member of Somerset Council’s Public Health team, has been opened at Yeovil Library. The Finnis Room is dedicated to Louise Finnis, who is credited with providing the inspiration and funding for the Wellbeing zones in both the Taunton and Yeovil libraries, and establishing the first collection of wellbeing books in libraries across the county. She sadly died just days after she retired.

And a Yeovil woman is being recognised as a positive role model at this year’s National Diversity Awards. Katie Krzyzanowski has been shortlisted due to the “dedication and difference she has made within the disability community”. Using her Instagram and TikTok accounts, Katie celebrates difference, confronts ‘ableism’ and aims to show others they’re not alone. The winners will be announced in September at a ceremony in Liverpool.

More from News

Friday 22nd August

Six hundred parking spaces could be lost in Yeovil town centre if plans to build new homes on public car parks go ahead. The Environment Agency is to stop maintaining some rivers and streams in Somerset to save money. People in Somerset are being warned about a scam involving fake communications from the tax authorities...and more
Thursday 21st August

Yeovil MP, Adam Dance, says families and hospital staff should be given more information about re-opening maternity services at Yeovil Hospital. Yeovil’s renal unit on the Lynx West Trading Estate has been told it must improve on safety. Organisers of a Live Aid concert held in Yeovil 40 years ago are trying to contact the bands that played at the event for a reunion...and more.
Wednesday 20th August

The NHS says twenty-six thousand people in the South West signed up to stop smoking in the past twelve months. A teenager from Yeovil has raised more than four thousand pounds for a new dialysis machine at Bristol Children's Hospital. Yeovil Town take on Brackley Town in a National League fixture this evening, kick off at Huish Park is 7.45...and more
Tuesday 19th August

Families struggling to pay for their children to have breakfast over the summer holidays are being offered free breakfast bags at a church in Chard. Police are appealing for information after a sentimental gold pocket watch was stolen in North Petherton. A Bridgwater man sets off today on a 200-mile cycle ride to Barnstaple and Exeter, raising money for Kidney Research UK...and more.
Monday 18th August

Police are investigating a suspected arson attack in Yeovil. Women in Street and Glastonbury are being encouraged to take part in a scheme to highlight unsafe areas to walk alone. A Nottinghamshire man, on a pub-crawl around Britain to help boost the pub trade, is currently visiting pubs in Somerset...and more.
Thursday 14th August

Yeovil residents are being asked whether they would pay for part of the Octagon Theatre refurbishment. Spending on buses in Somerset is the lowest per head in the region, according to the county's bus partnership. A Yeovil fraudster has been jailed for almost three years...and more.
Wednesday 13th August

A coroner has raised concerns after the death of a newborn baby at Yeovil District Hospital. Revised plans for the construction of up to 360 homes in Ilminster will be put forward in the autumn. Somerset’s Local Community Networks are marking the start of their third year in the county...and more.
Tuesday 12th August

A new 'family style' children's home for vulnerable children has opened in Somerset. Railway services between Yeovil and Exeter will run less frequently and at a slower speed from this week. A Crewkerne man has been given a one-year driving ban for drug driving. Chard Town Council says the public toilets near Sainsbury’s have been deep cleaned in preparation for re-opening them...and more.