DEVON DIAMOND: Nicola Frost

Our 29th Devon Diamond is Nicola Frost.

Nicola was brought up in Crediton and moved back to the town in 2015 with her husband and children. "The community here is extremely important to me: I’m Chair of Governors at my old primary school and a rather sporadic contributor to Sustainable Crediton."

Nicola is a social anthropologist by training, so she's always been professionally interested in what makes communities tick, and especially how community organisations can transform the lives of local people. Nicola began life as an Indonesian specialist, but the same principles apply the world over!

Her current role as Knowledge Guru for Devon Community Foundation allows her to understand this better from all angles. Nicola says: "As grantmakers, we are keen to learn what we can about what makes communities thrive, so we can best support them. But we also need to understand the challenges in detail, so my job involves a lot of research – everything from looking at statistics to talking to people."

Recently, Nicola has been involved in some partnership working with Devon County Council to improve their understanding of the problem of food insecurity in Devon.

Nicola is also keen to support the organisations that make Devon such a wonderful place to live on a slightly broader scale. Over the last couple of years, she has worked with Devon Communities Together CEO Nora Corkery on a set of reports, Roads to Renewal, that set out our, and other colleagues’ vision of how the voluntary sector and the public sector can work together effectively to transform lives. "Finding workable ways of doing this is a challenge, but I’m very happy to continue collaborating with DCT to continue the conversation!"

Why I love Devon

"Devon is home, and it’s beautiful countryside and coastline, for sure, but for me, most of all it’s people working together in strong communities."

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.