What’s On Culture
Community reporters
Meet our Community Reporters—local and diverse voices sharing unique perspectives on Plymouth’s vibrant culture. We value fresh ideas and pay for selected contributions.
Whether you’re an aspiring writer, photographer, videographer or content creator, we invite you to get involved. Meet our regular reporters and reach out to become part of our creative team!
Linda Bell
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Drawn to Plymouth’s history and connection with Nature, Linda Bell has been based in Plymouth since 2019 and is so glad to have made a home here.
Linda graduated with a First Class Honours BA from Aberystwyth University in 2014 and since then has pursued her interest in contemporary art. Her work for various galleries, art foundations and as a studio assistant for several artists has previously enabled her to live in St Ives, Cornwall, London, Berlin and Aix-en-Provence.
Moving around so much sparked Linda’s passion for travel, which has seen her take numerous trips across the mountains and islands of Europe; the trains and palaces of India, Sri Lanka and China and to adventure extensively throughout the USA in search of cultural inspiration and fresh perspectives.
As a Community Reporter for Made In Plymouth, Linda seeks to highlight the City’s cultural and creative offering. From interviewing artists to bringing the stories of public-facing artworks to life, Linda strives to celebrate the importance of the City’s creative energy through writing articles and producing short film clips to appeal to a wide audience. She hopes to develop an informed and flowing dialogue whereby the contemporary and the present can be cross related to the history, identity, hidden stories and sense of place of Britain’s Ocean City.
When she’s taking a break from assisting artists in their studios or researching the visual culture of ancient civilisations, Linda loves to visit Plymouth’s nearby stately homes. She makes the most of Plymouth’s inspirational surroundings by wild swimming on Dartmoor, enjoying the views of Whitsand Bay and occasionally taking her vintage Moser bicycle out for a spin! Linda attends dance classes near the Barbican as often as she can and is also an enthusiastic music lover!
Instagram : lindabell_linda
X : @Lindabell2linda
Jessica Warby
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Jessica Warby first came to Plymouth when she started her BA (Hons) Fine Art and Art History course at the University of Plymouth in 2021. After graduating with a first-class degree, she decided to stay as she had fallen head over heels for the ever-growing art scene here.
Jess runs an arts-focussed blog and Instagram account to share her love for art and demonstrate how visiting art spaces and events can be incredibly rewarding. She is delighted to write for Plymouth Culture so she can highlight Plymouth’s art scene to even more people. Her writing often focuses on championing grassroots, student, or emerging artists’ projects that can frequently be overlooked, but are a valuable and enjoyable part of the art ecosystem.
Outside of art, she can often be found in the gym or working towards her mission to eat at every food stall in Plymouth Market at least once. However, her ‘happy place’ will always be at the opening night of an art exhibition. There is no better feeling than having a drink and getting to engage with the wonderful art that is on display. From debuts to established artists, there is value in every aspect of the art scene, and Jess is always excited to share it.
Instagram: www.instagram.com/art.with.j.warby/
Substack (blog): substack.com/@artwithjwarby
Issy Herring
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Issy Herring is a dedicated and passionate freelance journalist based in Devon, with a focus on local creative events and music. She is an avid rock and metal music enthusiast, attending Download Festival most years. Rock AM Ring and When We Were Young Festival are on her bucket list! She is a BA (Hons) Fashion: Design and Construction graduate from Coleg Sir Gar in Carmarthen, South Wales.
Issy’s professional writing experience spans more than 10 years. She has a diverse writing portfolio with her work being featured in various online publications over the years including Cymru Culture, SelectSpecs, Distorted Sound, Stereoboard and Made in Plymouth, covering topics from fashion trends and artist interviews to music reviews and local creative events. Her article on Alexander McQueen’s exhibition for Cymru Culture was displayed in the Victoria & Albert Muesum in London. She is also a keen singer and guitar player and regularly travels to see live music around the country whenever she can. In her free time, she loves to go walking in the countryside and be surrounded by nature. She also loves to travel, previously visiting places such as New York, Iceland, Ibiza and Berlin. She would love to visit Australia and Los Angeles in the future!
Thomas Bray
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Tom is a copywriter based in Plymouth. After eight years writing at a national marketing agency, this tired dad of three has recently set up his own freelance copywriting services.
In the past, Tom has written for a diverse set of clients and purposes—from Cats Protection, Kerrygold, and Vimto to copy being featured on retail product packaging. While he was never the most ‘academic’ in school, he always got on with English. In 2011, he earned a BA Hons in Magazine Journalism & Feature Writing.
Tom is a creative thinker and a classic introvert when he works—traits that help him craft imaginative, scene-setting copy that resonates in subtle yet powerful ways. Beyond content marketing and writing, you can find Tom tidying up after his kids and looking stretched on the school run.
An avid football fan, Tom once played as a goalkeeper before breaking his femur at 15. He’s also passionate about UK Hip Hop and early grime music—a subject he explored in his dissertation—drawn to the 130-150 BPM tempo, and the honest, raw reflections of inner-city life often found in the lyrics.
Now in his mid-30s, Tom’s interests have matured. Instead of losing himself in warehouse parties, he now finds excitement in getting lost in the remote countryside—mainly in search of new bird species and, of course, tiring the kids out for easier bedtimes. He is also a registered FA coach and has helped train and develop local youth football teams.
Tom has previously lived in Cornwall, Southampton, and Bristol, but will always call Plymouth home. He continues to develop an admiration for the city’s unique location — where coast meets moorland — and the distinctive characteristics that put Plymouth in a category of its own.
William Skillington
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Will Skillington is a multifaceted force of nature: a dedicated Learning Disability Nurse, an irreverent comedian, an impassioned musician, a devoted father and husband, and a proud, fully signed-up member of the Bipolar and ADHD community.
With a career rooted in compassion and advocacy, Will has spent years supporting individuals with learning disabilities—bringing not just clinical expertise, but a deep understanding of neurodivergence, empathy, and humanity to his nursing practice. His lived experience with bipolar disorder and ADHD uniquely positions him as both a caregiver and an advocate, challenging stigma and amplifying the voices of those often unheard.
On stage, Will blends comedy with truth, using laughter as a tool to disarm, connect, and enlighten. His routines tackle mental health, parenting, marriage, and the chaos of neurodivergent life—all delivered with raw honesty and relentless humour. As a musician, he channels the same authenticity into his songwriting, using rhythm and melody to tell stories that resonate with struggle, hope, and joy.
Offstage and off-duty, Will is a father navigating the beautiful chaos of parenthood and a husband committed to building a life of love and resilience. Whether he's writing songs, cracking jokes, changing lives through nursing, or simply doing the school run, Will embodies a rare mix of vulnerability, strength, and creativity.
He doesn’t just speak about mental health—he lives it, owns it, and invites others to do the same. Will Skillington is proof that the messiest journeys can lead to the most meaningful places.
Pete Clayton
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Pete Clayton is a multidisciplinary creative based in the heart of Plymouth specialising in illustration, animation and graphic design. Over his 20+ year career, which began at the Arts University in Plymouth, he has worked with the likes of Disney / Pixar, The NHS, The UNHRC, Plymouth Citybus, Nudge Community Builders, Plymouth Charity Trust and many, many more. As a creative he aims to share the love of what he does, tell stories with illustrative charm, raise smiles and generally give brands and businesses alike a creative lift.
Similarly, within his articles, Pete writes about the highs and lows of the creative industry and is on a mission to dispense inspirational advice and knowledge. His main aim here is to be the senior creative he needed when he was starting out to creatives of all disciplines, new and experienced.
When Pete is not working on commissions or writing you'll find him, pretending he's a musician from his bedroom, buying books and not reading them, avoiding sea swims, drink coffee, exploring the colourful local live music scene, visiting the latest exhibitions at the The Box, chowing down on toasties and coffee at Minerva Cafe and going to various beauty spots and events in and around Plymouth with his family.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peteclayton/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-clayton-creative/
Photo credit: https://www.tomcardermedia.com/
Joshua Edwards
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Joshua Edwards wanted to be the greatest punk frontman in history, but instead he had kids and became a writer.
Josh has been heavily involved in the Plymouth music scene for over twenty years, with a specific affection for the superb yet almost secret punk scene. During this time, he has been part of many bands you’ve never heard of, organised and ran events, attended hundreds (if not thousands) of gigs and written various articles about it published in independent punkzines and online blogs. If his writing has an agenda it is highlighting Plymouth’s fantastic underground music, so much so that his PhD project Go Nowhere, Be Nobody (due for completion in 2027) has centered around the scene.
Josh received first class honours in his English and Creative Writing bachelor’s degree in 2017, earning the Dan Collins Memorial Prize for the Top Graduating Student in the process. Then, in 2018, he was awarded a distinction for his master’s degree in the same subject. He has had creative work published in the Blue Nib, Horla, the Ink Journal, the Lockdown Baby Bubble poetry project, Ugly Love, Soap Suds and PVA and the Liskeard: Stories of Stuff project.
He is currently the singer and lyricist for Plymouth based art-garage band, El Generico.
He lives in Liskeard with his partner and two daughters, because rental prices in Plymouth are too high, where he works at a school. He has been both Father Christmas and the Easter Bunny twice.
Victoria Lammie
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Victoria Lammie is a fashion industry specialist. Her career in fashion spans across three decades. The majority of her working life she has worked as a fashion designer. She spent time designing for a number of high street brands including Marks & Spencers. Victoria ha also had her own label where she supplied small independent boutiques and larger store such as Fenwick. She was a former partner on notonthehighstreet.com and more recently headed up a sustainable online women’s wear clothing brand in Plymouth.
She is also a visiting lecturer in all aspects of fashion with a focus on sustainability and circular design. Victoria has just completed a Masters Degree in Museum Studies at Arts University Plymouth, her research focused within fashion archives.
Her passion has always been vintage fashion and in her spare time she loves refashioning from her own archives. Visiting museums, walks by the sea and wild swimming in her coastal home town of Salcombe.
Instagram @victoria_lammie_designer