Interview with Debbie Greaves (b.1957).

Debbie Greaves came to Milton Keynes from London in 1984 to work as a drama teacher at Stantonbury Campus. She recalls it being ‘a demanding place’: the effort planning ‘day 10’ activities and numerous staff meetings. In her opinion, the ideology didn’t always work in reality. Initially she says: ‘I hated it (MK), I hated it with a passion’, but she settled once she became involved with the trade union and Labour Party, and worked part-time in a local pub. She bought a house in New Bradwell. After working in Ghana for Voluntary Service Overseas from 1986, she remembers the upsetting contrast between Ghana and MK on her return.

In the late 1980s she joined the local Development Education Centre, and later became its coordinator. She describes this role and its aim to build a Global Centre in MK. In her opinion the success of MK is largely down to the Development Corporation; she regrets its ending. She says: ‘The thing that keeps me going is my work, which is trying to get the not-for-profit sector recognised and have a place in Milton Keynes.’