Career profile: Programme Manager, Foundation Team

What does a Programme Manager do?

As a Programme Manager based within the Foundation Team a lot of my time is dedicated to managing and developing some of the relationships Eden has with external contacts and partners. These can range from individuals to large organisations at a local, national or international level, but are mainly in the area of social enterprise. Activities can vary from arranging and hosting visits and spending time with our contacts whilst they are on site, to liaising with Eden colleagues on their behalf, to developing new ideas and exploring the potential for additional activities. There are always new approaches and initiatives to consider and the variety and scope make it a very interesting and rewarding role.

Some examples of programmes I am currently involved with include EARTH University in Costa Rica, whose students we have hosted on placements for the last five years. We are developing exchange visits and other collaborative activities with the University in areas of mutual benefit. I am also the main Eden point of contact for a local walking group who visit on a weekly basis. They suffer from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and come to Eden to enjoy a health walk and some gentle exercise, which have been proven to help their condition.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I love the variety and the reach of my role, particularly as we are so outward facing. It is fascinating who you can come into contact with and where things lead. Yesterday, for example, the Chief Executive of a web based communications company came down and did a presentation for us. I find it really useful to know what is going on out there and what might be available to Eden to help spread our message further afield.

What do you like most about working for Eden?

Eden is an innovative place full of interesting people and there is always something exciting going on. We have broken new ground in some areas and it is great to be a part of that and to lead initiatives, develop new ideas and show the world what is possible. We have a brilliant group of people here and a lot of them come from surprisingly different backgrounds with a wealth of experience to share.

I also enjoy meeting people and walking around the site because it can change so much from day to day. It is nice to go out and about and see what is happening, and just be a part of Eden. When you’re busy, you can sometimes forget what a great place it is here, so I like to go out and remind myself from time to time.

Tell us a bit about your background prior to joining Eden…

I originally moved to Cornwall 22 years ago and spent 15 years working for a manufacturing company that was part of Lucas Industries. I worked for the Engineering and Operations Managers initially, before progressing to the role of Site Administrator arranging visits and meetings, travel, transport and those sorts of things. Sadly, the owners had to close the site and we were all made redundant.

After being made redundant I went travelling for a while. When I came back I registered as a temp and Eden was my first assignment. I came here initially for four weeks, but my contract kept being extended as assistance was needed in other Teams. There were two of us temping here from the same agency and we were both here for about 18 months when we had the opportunity to apply for permanent positions and luckily both of us were successful. Eden is a great place because there are opportunities for people on a range of different contracts, who might not want to leave. I was so happy that my temp contract was renewed - I could not imagine working anywhere else now, because it would be so dull in comparison!