Lara Porter has been appointed to the operational and development role by the Upper Eskdale Development Group (UEDG).
The valley has been Lara’s home and work place for 20 years, and she has raised her three children in the area.
Previously Lara was involved in the day to day management of Tanlawhill estate and cottages for a number of years, and during this time she did her Masters degree in Organic Farming, and worked with organic farmers to set up a region wide network to improve the marketing, communication, buying and selling of produce.
Lara has also worked for Dumfries and Galloway Council in a variety of roles — she was a community development worker and one of her tasks was conducting community consultations and assisting in the asset transfer of the old Eskdalemuir primary school to the Upper Eskdale Development Group.
More recently she has been working for the council as a senior customer service advisor and assistant registrar, supervising Gretna Registration Office, Library and Customer Services and Langholm Town Hall Customer Service, registration, and library. She especially enjoyed conducting weddings.
Chairwoman of the Upper Eskdale Development Group Victoria Long said: “We welcome Lara to the hub and look forward to working with her in the development and delivery of existing and new activities.
“She hopes to explore ways of increasing the effectiveness and sustainability of the hub as a community resource, providing opportunities in a rurally isolated area to improve local peoples health and wellbeing.
UEDG is very grateful for the support of this position by the National Lottery Community Fund, The Robertson Trust and Muirhall Windfarm.”
The local and wider community is invited to visit the hub on Thursday afternoons, beginning next week and running until the end of next month.
Lara will host ‘meet and greet’ sessions so she can get to know the community, and find out what their wants, needs and ideas are for the hub.
