Meet the Team
Marie
Marie
Jill
Jill
Louise
Louise
Louise is passionate about community engagement and facilitating access to the outdoors. She joined NDVS during lockdown to support the voluntary and community sector, leveraging her background in education, training, and outdoor education. Louise has worked as a teacher in Bristol, a county advisor for outdoor and environmental education, and co-founded an outdoor education business on Exmoor. She holds qualifications in AAT accounting, outdoor management development, child psychology, counselling, first aid, safeguarding, and mental health first aid.
At NDVS, Louise supports local organisations by linking groups and individuals, attending One Community meetings, offering training, and setting up events and forums. She manages the North Devon and Torridge Administration for Devon Connect, helping organisations publicize activities and recruit volunteers. Additionally, she assists groups with the Quality Mark, organisational health checks, and developing policies for safe, effective, and responsive services.
Pepi
Pepi
Anna
Anna
Anna originally joined NDVS in December 2022 as the Trainee Finance Officer, where she was able to fine-tune her skills learned from the AAT Accounting qualification that she undertook at Petroc. Since being employed with NDVS, she has now gained further expertise and knowledge which has allowed her to continue to develop, and has now successfully moved into the role of Finance & HR Officer.
Sammy
Sammy
Mary
Mary
Emily
Emily
Emily has worked in the charity and statutory sector in some of the most deprived and challenging communities in the UK. Here she learned that often the best solutions could be found in compassionate community interventions that treat people as individuals. Emily studied Youth Work and Systemic Practice at East London and Nottingham University She also has training and experience in delivering trauma approaches and commissioning services. Emily lives in South Molton with her son Frankie who is at primary school; dog Dora and cat Bella. She enjoys being in nature, travel and wild swimming.
Jess
Jess
Hi I’m Jess, Community Developer for Lynton and Lynmouth,. These rural villages often can have a sense of isolation due to their location. I aim to bridge the gap between organisations and services being offered to residents from outside the area. I love to celebrate the strong community ethos of this wonderful place too. Outside of my role at NDVS, you’ll find me outside in nature as much as possible, enjoying the beautiful landscape of North Devon.
Paul
Paul
Kim
Kim
North Devon Voluntary Services’ Trustees
Meet the trustees behind the North Devon Voluntary Services
Bill
Bill
Bill retired in 2021 after a career spanning manufacturing and charity roles. Moving to North Devon in the late 1980’s as a Chartered Engineer, Bill initially worked with a local manufacturing facility, and then moved into charitable work as a Director of a local multi-service charity. The last 10 years of Bill’s salaried life were spent working in homeless and housing services, with a focus on service development to support vulnerable people. Bill has served as a trustee for a small number of local concerns, and has been an active supporter of the local voluntary sector for over twenty years. He is an active community volunteer, and hIs passion is to help create the environment for sustainable, quality driven, services that support people to live fulfilling lives.
Mark
Mark
Mark was a founder, Director and Chairman of various, highly innovative technology companies in the telematics space in the UK, Scandinavia and Southern Africa. After selling the last of these businesses to the RAC, he retired and moved to North Devon in 2019. An accountant by training and s strategic planner by practice, he has more recently used his experience to help those affected by the chronic housing shortage in the area, being on the board of the Braunton Community Land Trust and on the organising committee of the North Devon and Torridge Housing Crisis Group. He is a keen walker, loves swimming and live music and is a passionate rugby union fan.
David
David
Diane
Diane
My background is in social work, and I moved to North Devon in 2001 to work for Action for Children delivering Children’s Centre programmes. Early on, I connected with the North Devon Voluntary Service and admired their dedication to supporting vulnerable groups. I became a Trustee in 2002 and have since worked alongside fellow trustees and staff to adapt to changing social policies, funding shifts, and local needs. Though challenging at times, I find the work rewarding and am proud to be part of an organization with integrity and strong values.
Clare
Clare
Clare has previously worked in retail management and for 10 years worked within the voluntary sector for organisations such as Victim Support, Torridge Voluntary Services, Age UK and Devon Voluntary Action (DeVA), as well as North Devon Voluntary Services. She currently works for Devon and Cornwall Police within the Citizens in Policing team and has recently led the organisation to achieve the Investing in Volunteers accreditation. Whilst the role of Trustee is new to her, she looks forward to supporting the team at NDVS and her fellow trustees, as well as gaining new skills and understanding of the voluntary sector.
Jon
Jon
Jon was a Software Engineer and Project Manager. Most of his career was spent in mainland Europe at a NATO international technology research and development centre. Since retiring to glorious North Devon in 2007, he has volunteered in various roles for several local small charities, mainly providing IT analysis and support. In 2008 he trained as a Generalist Adviser at Barnstaple Citizens Advice, held several positions there, but now has a particular interest as a Research and Campaigns Coordinator, focusing on social policy, as well as his normal advising duties. He is interested in human rights in their broadest sense. He joined NDVS in 2008 as an IT support volunteer, was asked to join the trustees a little later and became the chair of the trustees in 2014.
Don
Don
I am now retired: In my working life I was a Monitoring Officer of a District Council responsible for the legal standards and ethics of the Council and its decision-making processes. I was also the Returning Officer responsible for all elections within the district. The third arm of my role was to support the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in its work. In retirement, I have travelled extensively; served as a trustee of the Barnstaple and North Devon Museum Trust and served as a volunteer with a charity assisting people to return to work.
HOSTED PROJECTS & STAFF
Tim
Tim
Tim has worked with Community Transport in Devon since 2005. His roles have included transport coordinator, minibus and volunteer car driver before taking on his current role. He works to support Community Transport in Devon, especially Community Car Schemes and helping otherwise excluded people find the services they need. As a passionate supporter of the value of volunteers he regularly volunteers as a local photographer and is also as a MiDAS Minibus Driver Assessor, a role he has held since 1997.
Claire
Claire
Claire has had a long history in working within the voluntary sector, having worked for 10 years within homelessness support, Claire offered practical support and guidance, and liaising with voluntary and statutory agencies to produce support plans for those with complex needs, as well as providing emergency accommodation and managing a team of volunteers to run a weekly soup kitchen. In her role within Devon Access to Services, Claire helps to provide a gateway to advice, representation and signposting, working closely alongside community car schemes across Devon.
Mel
Mel
Mel is one of seven Home Energy Advisers at 361 Energy, a Barnstaple-based community interest company offering energy-saving advice for 12 years. Trained in Domestic Energy, Fuel Poverty, and Fuel Debt Advice, Mel works on the ‘Warmer Homes’ project, helping residents with tasks like checking energy bills, switching tariffs, and contacting suppliers. Mel also registers people with medical needs on the Priority Service Register and helps them access social water and broadband tariffs. Visiting homes, Mel provides impartial advice to reduce energy costs, tackle condensation, and improve energy efficiency, working with agencies like the NHS, Citizens Advice, and Devon & Somerset Fire Service.
Andrea
Andrea
Andrea is the Live Well in Braunton Community Developer. She has a wealth of experience in the voluntary sector having worked on several contracts over 25 years supporting-Young Carers, Carers, Substance Misuse, people with Long Term Health Conditions and other vulnerable groups. Andrea’s role in Community Development, is to connect individuals, groups and organisations to each other and where appropriate fill the gaps. Bringing services and groups to the local community to support self-care and hopefully have a positive effect on individuals health.
Janine
Janine
Janine comes primarily from a retail background and has worked in numerous sectors within it. She has run her own business as a seamstress for over a decade creating handcrafted keepsake teddy bears from sentimental clothing. Janine’s passion lie in health & wellbeing and through her work life has managed to combine both her interest in this and her creative skills. She is also an avid mountain biker. She has a great love of working with people and will be utilising these skills for Live Well in Braunton as Volunteer coordinator, admin and marketing support and will be the point of contact for any of these areas.
Annie
Annie
I moved to beautiful North Devon in 2021 with my husband and our 2 dogs. I have 2 grown-up children living independently in London and Birmingham. I have a varied background in both business and within the charity sector, which has given me the opportunity to work alongside many interesting people, from all walks of life. I love nothing more than working with different people from different backgrounds, so my role as a Well-being Coordinator at Caen Medical Centre is just perfect for me, supporting and
signposting patients to local groups and services which will help to enrich their lives and
bring them more joy. Braunton has a wealth of local groups and community resources which are updated regularly in the Live Well In Braunton directory, a great little bible for the local community and a fabulous tool for ourselves as a well-being team.
Kate
Kate
I’m excited to be working as a social prescriber in Braunton. My role is supporting patients to manage long term health challenges through connecting with the many social, voluntary and statutory services in the locality and by developing new life style changes. Before this I worked for 25 years in education as a teacher and a special educational needs coordinator (SENDCO) which I loved. I have three grown up children and I enjoy swimming and playing tennis and of course getting out and about in the beautiful countryside of North Devon!
Ailsa
Ailsa
The Wellbeing Connectors work with patients by signposting them to local community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support that are appropriate for their needs. Having worked in retail for many years and qualified as a counsellor recently this was a great role to step into. Out of work I love reading and spending time with family and friends.
Jess
Jess
Jamie
