Make Good Things Happen

Welcome To Be Buckfastleigh

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This Week's Newsletter

Activities and information for 15 March 2024

Details HERE.

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Hello Easter Bridgetown

Details HERE.

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Life at Riverford

Opportunities for work at Riverford. With a free lunch!

Details here.

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Kyne Focus Groups

Helping kids get a better future.

More details HERE.

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Hello Easter Bovey Tracey

More details HERE.

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Who we are

Be Buckfastleigh is a Community Interest Company set up to tackle health, social and economic inequalities in Buckfastleigh and other small rural places. In 2023 we changed our name to Better Places to reflect the work we do across a cluster of communities across south Devon. We aim to  make thriving and inclusive communities for everyone, especially those in most need of support. 

Our team is:


Bekki Erikson – programme delivery manager;

Emma Blackmore – activity co-ordination and delivery Buckfastleigh;

Rachel Bastyan – project co-ordination and delivery;

Claire Allford – Bridgetown Alive project delivery;

Lisa Robillard – Bovey Help Hub project delivery.


Our Directors are Dr. Su Maddock (Chair), Ed Whitelaw and Pam Barrett.

What We Do

We provide a range of free activities, services and support which connect people to each other, to their community, and to nature and the environment. We run Little Lambs early years, Hello Summer, Be Wild, Be Active, the Buckfastleigh Social Supermarket, Saturday Socials, SEN Parents Carers Cafe and a whole host of projects across Buckfastleigh, Bridgetown, Bovey Tracey, and in Princetown and South Brent too.

We also help upskill other local groups with a range of advice, such as choosing the right organisational structure, applying for grants, using social media, safeguarding and other key governance matters

Our rural communities struggle to access their share of services and support provided by government, national and regional organisations and the charity sector. We help bridge that gap by creating organisational capacity to enable rural people to access things like Household Support Grant and Holiday Activity and Food funding, COVID vaccination clinics, energy efficiency advice, training and skills, input into consultations etc. We also use our voice to develop a better understanding of issues affecting rural communities and identify opportunities for developing better and fairer approaches.
We make good things happen!

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Please have a look at the film below to see some of the ways we are trying to make things better!