Siobhan Strode
Torrington Rural
I am mum of 2 boys who’s passionate about social justice, a town councillor, a co-opted governor and I work as a qualified teacher & freelance writer.
After being involved in lots of local fundraising and campaigning, much of which involved my committee role on Friends of Torrington Bluecoat – but also leading the Fair Funding For All Schools campaign – I decided to take the step into local politics.
As a teacher, as a parent and also as a governor of Great Torrington Bluecoat Primary School I am passionate about education and family services. I want to give the families in Devon a say in services that our area offers, and I would like to use my expertise in Early Years to develop the area’s facilities.
I am also very interested in improving the housing issues that are so prevalent in North Devon. Even before the election was called I was setting up a localĀ “Better Housing” campaign through my Unite membership, and have been holding community picnics across North Devon to find out where our priorities need to lie. It is really key that we fight for residents and help them to have better housing – whether that means support for letting applications or sorting out incompetent landlords via more stringent processes, or fighting our corner when new builds are brought to the planning forum.
I have been lobbying and fighting for the SOHS campaign, and believe that we really do need to work hard to save our NHS – particularly our cottage hospital beds in Torrington.