Whos who
Based at Plymouth College of Art, Plymouth
Contact details: mvella@plymouthart.ac.uk 01752 203011
Alan Lemin - Strand 5 Plymouth
(Based at Plymouth College of Art)
Alan has been in art and design education all of his adult life and has a background in interior design and decoration which he taught for many years in North Devon and Plymouth. He works at the Plymouth College of Art in the current position as Head of Educational Partnerships.
He has been involved with the Aimhigher scheme for many years and lead on the many and diverse projects in which Plymouth College of Art have been successfully engaged.
Alan is currently appointed by the Local Authority as “Diploma Lead” for the new Creative and Media Diploma on an annual one day secondment. The role involves working with a fantastic LA 14-19 team which includes four other Leads of differing Diploma lines.
He has a passion for surfing and lives in Cornwall only minutes from the beach, so tends to surf all year round when the conditions are right, also plays tennis for South East Cornwall and plays and coaches volleyball.
Contact Alan:
01752203417
alemin@plymouthart.ac.uk
Rosie Gibson - Educational Partnerships Co-ordinator (Plymouth)
Rosie started in this post October 2008, having just completed a house move from Maidstone, Kent. Having graduated from Exeter in 2002, a return to the green West Country was a pleasing change from the grey streets of the South East.
Her degree is in Drama, but has had a life-long passion for all creative activity. After graduating, she worked in theatre as a stage manager and technical operator; in education as a learning facilitator; in mental health as an art and crafts group facilitator; in design as website builder, to name but a few positions. She became involved in community arts in 2003 as she was fed up of the lack of culture in her home town. Since then, she has done a variety of freelance work on behalf of local authorities, including coordinating community arts projects for parents and for young people. Additionally, organised artist showcases and piloting a project called Lab Nights.
She is looking forward to contributing to people’s aspirations and educational opportunities in the South West through working on Aimhigher, being part of the Plymouth Art College staff and working on her own projects.
Contact Rosie:
Yvonne Kirkland - Strand 5 Cornwall
(Based at Cornwall College Camborne)
Since moving to Cornwall 4 years ago Yvonne has worked within FE as an Administrator for Adult Learner’s studying GCE and GCSE qualifications as Distance Learners. She was able to use her own teaching skills by working as a Distance Learning tutor for GCSE English students. She combined this with tutoring disadvantaged outreach groups for Adults providing Basic Skills in Literacy. Many have gone on to enter Cornwall College and achieve the level 1 and 2 National Certificate Basic Skills in Literacy awards.
Her initial experience working with disadvantaged groups and disabled people was within the environment of social housing. Whilst working in this field it became apparent that many tenants had limited literacy skills and that disabled people have other barriers to overcome.
She has achieved a BA honours Degree in Arts & Humanities in 1996 further to taking an Access course as a route into Higher Education. She feels an affinity with the Aimhigher Programme as she too began the journey into Higher Education with very few qualifications and two young children to care for.
Contact Yvonne:
01209617751
Doug Morrish - Strand 5 North Devon and North Cornwall
(Based at North Devon College)
Doug comes from a youth & community work background where he trained and worked for the Devon County Council Youth Service for some years.
He joined North Devon College in 2001 in the capacity of Student Support team leader. In that time the team developed from 1.5 workers to 6. It was quite a challenge to develop a youth work team in an educational establishment taking into account the boundaries, ethics and confidentiality youth workers adhere to, the support service is now embedded in college life, and approximately 1500 young people access the service each year.
Through the work we do, we have built up excellent working relationships with many external agencies that work with and support young people, therefore would be well placed to be involved in “Aimhigher”. He feels passionately that all young people should have access to education on all levels and looks forward to making a contribution to the development of the programme in North Devon & North Cornwall.
Contact Doug:
01271338100
Claire MacNeil - Strand 5 Project Worker (North Devon)
Claire has recently been appointed as the North Devon College Strand 5 Project worker, a role that she is very excited about. Work history includes work with looked after children, young people living on inner city estates, young offenders and under graduate university students. She is trained in creative ways of working with different groups to help them to better communicate their needs and ideas and work in ways that are empowering to participants. Claire was brought up in London and has recently relocated to Devon.
She is looking forward to working in partnership with different youth providers to develop some amazing and appropriate pieces of work under the Aimhigher Strand 5 aims and objectives. She is keen to meet with other Aimhigher workers and community representatives to spring things into action.
Contact Claire:
cMacNeil@ndevon.ac.uk
John Demeger - Strand 5 Torbay
(Based at South Devon College, Paignton)
John has an arts background, following a student career at Canterbury and London and then running departments at a comprehensive school and at a large adult college in West London.
He moved to Torbay in 2002, and managed the Adult & Community Learning contract for Torbay Council, which transferred with its staff to South Devon College in 2004, one of the first Local Authorities to pass over its adult learning provision to a different provider as allowed through the Learning & Skills Act 2000.
At Torbay, the ACL service has expanded its provision to include the most disadvantaged and vulnerable learners through ESF/Co-financed grants, including close partnership working with the Voluntary and Community Sector. I enjoys the possibilities that Aimhigher presents and promoting the widening horizons and ambitions of local citizens.
Contact John:
01803540608
Caroline Kendall - Strand 5 Torbay
(Based at South Devon College)
Caroline has worked for the APP for Strand 5 since Sept 2006 and joined the Strand 7 Vocational Pathways team in Sept 08. She is based at South Devon College but also work with Bicton College and the Devon & Cornwall Training Provider Network (DCTPN).
She lived in Holland for 20 years and up until 2004 worked in the catering trade having owned and managed a vegetarian restaurant for 6 years. Coming back to live in England gave her the opportunity to change careers and work on two consecutive co-financed ESF/LSC ‘access to learning’ projects before coming to work for Aimhigher.
Over the last 6 years she has gained a variety of new skills such as an NVQ 4 in Advice & Guidance, spent 15months as a Training Officer with hospitality & catering apprentices, taught cookery as part-time adult tutor for adults with disabilities for three years and has worked with looked after young people for two years as ‘cookie’ in a residential care home.
Her teenage children mostly need use her as a taxi service these days so in her spare time she sings and enjoys amateur dramatics.
Contact Caroline:
01803 540615
Caroline.Kendall@southdevon.ac.uk
