ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

If you love the job you do you're onto a winner - and Belinda Dixon certainly thinks she is.

Formerly the presenter of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio Devon's Saturday breakfast show, Belinda now reports for the station on a freelance basis and can often be heard sitting in for other holidaying presenters.

She recently co-ordinated the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s coverage of the VE and VJ Day commemorations here in the South West.

As ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ 'People's War' co-ordinator for the South West, Belinda helped to gather wartime memories from local people which will form part of a living archive.

Belinda came to ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio Devon in 1996, after a brief spell in independent radio in Devon.

She completed a degree in English and History in Leicester, before doing a postgraduate course in Broadcast Journalism at the Falmouth School of Art and Design.

Belinda in costume in her People's War role.

That was where she became determined to stay in the South West.

"I grew up in the South East," she says, "which is lovely in places, but when I moved to the South West I realised this was where I wanted to be.

"In particular I love the sea, and the coastline, but more recently I’ve come to love the moors, with their sometimes startling, always captivating, colours," she said.

"I consider myself very lucky to live in this part of the world, and to have a job which means I can spend so much time travelling the county, meeting so many interesting people."

Relaxing with a cuppa and newspaper.

Before becoming a presenter for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio Devon, Belinda spent many years as a reporter, newsreader and producer.

But presenting is what she really loves. "It's such a special thing to be asked to do; effectively to be invited into people’s homes, cars and workplaces."

Belinda presented ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio Devon’s weekday breakfast show for several years before moving on to the station's weekend breakfast programmes.

"You are the point of contact between people listening, and all the members of staff at ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio Devon who work so hard getting the information, putting the reports together and providing the technical back up," she said.