The Diocese of Truro has appointed three part-time Project Support Officers (PSOs) to assist deaneries as they implement their deanery plans.

Jo Dean, Jane Yeoman and Steve Robinson joined in early March following the departures of Ginette Kenny and Alan Wallace. These roles are funded by the national church.

The PSOs will work with the implementation teams and much of their work will be around taking the aspirations of the plans and focusing on what is needed to be successful.

Jo Dean will be covering St Austell, Carnmarth North, Bodmin and Trigg Minor. Jo previously worked within the heritage, charity, environmental, arts and business fields. Jo said: “I very much look forward to working with everyone. My aim is to support deaneries to achieve their aspiration, sharing the journey through collaboration, support, and respect.”

Jane Yeoman will work with the deaneries of East Wivelshire, Pydar and West Wivelshire.

Prior to joining the diocese, Jane worked with Transformation Cornwall, an ecumenical charity strengthening faith based social action in Cornwall. During Covid, Jane worked alongside a number of the Cornish Foodbanks providing networking and infrastructure support as well as developing south west and national strategy with The Trussell Trust, the Independent Food Aid Network, Cornwall Council and a number of incredible Cornish charities and grassroot organisations supporting people experiencing food insecurity.

Steve Robinson will be helping to support Stratton, Trigg Major and Kerrier deaneries. Steve may be familiar to many as he was previously the Rector of St Illogan Parish for ten years and centrally involved in the On The Way process and deanery plan. Steve has a background in Local Government Management and was also a Financial Adviser for a number of years. He said: “I’m conscious that responding to our changing context is both necessary and very demanding, especially given that it is in addition to the many existing responsibilities of parish ministry, and so I’ll be glad to be able to offer support to parishes to alleviate some of the demands.”

Ruth Marriott, Director of Change and Renewal, said: “I am delighted to welcome Jo, Jane, and Steve to the team. Their combined expertise will greatly add to the implementation of local deanery plans and support people on the ground in this next phase.”