DEVON DIAMOND: Lesley Taylor

Lesley Taylor lives with her family in rural North West Devon where her neighbours include over 1000 gnomes at the local Gnome Reserve visitor attraction. As well as completing the London Marathon twice she is a regular at Tamar Lakes Park Run and keen golfer and cyclist.

Lesley has worked for Further Education College Petroc for over 20 years, always on projects and activities that support people who are struggling to get into work or training. Currently, she is Project Manager on two initiatives: the Community Grants Programme, funded by the European Social Fund and the Education and Skills Funding Agency helps small local organisations access funding to support the unemployed; and Empowering Enterprise uses money from the European Social Fund and the National Lottery Community Fund to help disadvantaged 18-24-year-olds get their lives on track. It is through Empowering Enterprise that Lesley has been working with Devon Communities Together who have been measuring the impact of the project and providing insight on community and employer engagement.  For the last 3 years, Lesley and the team at Petroc have been leading a partnership of skilled and experienced organisations who have worked with over 650 of Devon's hardest to reach young people. In that time they have helped over half of them into work, training, or job search and encouraged all participants to understand the support they can gain from becoming active members of their community. Lesley adds: "What I love about my job is getting people and organisations to work together with a joined-up approach, trusting and learning from each other which in the case of Empowering Enterprise has created a partnership in the truest sense of the word. It's never a one-person job, it’s always a team effort."

Why I love Devon

"I Love Devon because if I go to the bottom of my drive, I can turn left and go to the beach or turn right and end up on the moor, which means I can go for a coastal run or a trail run. And that typical Devon weather means I'm quite likely to be treated to all weathers whilst I run - muzzle, wind and rain but also beautiful sunshine. But the thing that I have really appreciated, especially recently, is the community spirit of Devon's rural villages, which has really been on show during this difficult year."

NOMINATE YOUR DEVON DIAMONDS

Each week during our 60th anniversary year (until March 2022) we will be sharing a story, profile or memory from one or more of our 'Devon Diamonds'. Devon Communities Together's Devon Diamonds are people who have played a part in our story since 1961. They could be ex (or current!) employees or trustees, people who have achieved amazing things in their own communities, representatives from partner organisations we've worked with over the years, village hall committee members, Councillors, and more ... the list is endless! 

We plan to create 60 Devon Diamonds throughout the year! If you know of somebody who would make a great Devon Diamond profile, please get in touch by calling 01392 248919 or emailing info@devoncommunities.org.uk.