yvonne cottam
Dartmouth People, Yvonne Cottam
There are certain people in Dartmouth who are known by almost everyone and Yvonne is surely one of them. She has spent most of her life in Dartmouth wearing ‘different hats’ working for the good of the community and although she retired this year from her position as Bursar at Dartmouth Community College she certainly has no intention of resting on her laurels!
Yvonne is very much a ‘local girl’ – her grandparents kept the Forces Tavern. She grew up in Blackawton and attended the local school and then on to Churston Ferrers Grammar School. She remembers the long days travelling to and fro to Churston until her mother pushed the local MP to organise a school bus. Her family moved into Dartmouth when she was 15 and when she left school Yvonne first worked for an estate agent before moving to a job with the Dartmouth Borough Council. Married at 20 years old she had her son and daughter quickly and was a ‘stay at home’ mother. Unfortunately in 1981 she was widowed when her husband died whilst training for Dartmouth’s ‘It’s a Knock Out’ team. Yvonne remembers how the support and camaraderie of the squad got her through a very sad time and for Dartmouth to go on to win the competition she says ‘was just fantastic.’
With her children, then aged 11 and 12 years she had to think about going back to work. Yvonne had always been very sports minded and was teaching keep fit classes, coaching tennis and badminton and running lots of junior sports clubs at the College. So when the Head asked her if she would be interested in a job in Community Education, looking after the evening classes, she accepted and subsequently moved on to become the Principal’s PA and looked after the College finances.
After being widowed for six years, Yvonne met her second husband, Bob, through the National Sports Council. Bob was the South West representative for indoor sports and in 1988 he obtained a three-year contract as Manager of Warwickshire County Cricket Club. So they moved to Birmingham where Yvonne worked at Birmingham University doing a very similar job to the one she had left behind in Dartmouth.
They returned to Dartmouth in 1991 and Yvonne was offered her ‘old job’ back! This of course had changed somewhat with the advent of the ‘computer age’. Her role encompassed budgeting, facilities management and personnel. She was made team leader of the Administration Team, the Examination Officer and joined the Leadership Team.
Her role changed again when the federation with the local primary school took place. Yvonne has very happy memories of the links she forged with a Maori school in Auckland, New Zealand and the exchange visits she has organised between them and the College. She also organised the College Town Days, events held in Royal Avenue Gardens where the Maori students performed during their visit. ‘They sang at the drop of a hat. Such fantastic voices and not afraid to use them’ recalls Yvonne.
I asked Yvonne how she was enjoying her retirement and she said, “I didn’t think I would enjoy it because school was my life. So I tried to make sure I had things to fill my days, to look forward to something each day. We went on holiday for two weeks and then when we got back I started an ‘iMedia’ course at the Community College which has classes spread over three days of the week and I’m learning Spanish. I’ve also been helping out with the National Trust volunteers - chopping down trees and doing some dry stone walling! I run a fitness class in Dartmouth every Tuesday afternoon and am looking at starting one in Dittisham as well. So all in all I’m quite pleased with myself and so is my husband – I don’t think he was looking forward to having me under his feet all the time!!.”
During Yvonne’s last few weeks at the College she received notification from Heart Radio of a trek they were organising along the Great Wall of China in 2010. The ‘Have a Heart’ charity is raising funds for disadvantaged children in the area and Yvonne thought it would be a good way of celebrating her retirement, providing her with a challenge and continuing to help local children. They will be trekking 120km, walking for eight hours a day. Yvonne is currently fundraising and has managed to raise £1,700 towards the £3,000 she has to raise. If anyone would like to make a donation to the charity she has a fundraising page at www.doitforcharity.com/yvonneschinatrek.
First Published December 2009 By The Dart