A DULVERTON couple’s legacy of helping young families in need of housing will live on thanks to a bequest.

Wendy and Ivan Gunn, who have both now died, were committed to helping the younger generations of Dulverton.

It was Wendy’s greatest ambition to provide affordable housing for local young families in need. She did not live long enough to see that happen, but Ivan was determined to fulfil that aspiration in her memory.

He formed a committee of like-minded local people, naming it ‘Wendy Gunn Homes’, with the objective to provide housing for young families with strong links to Dulverton or the surrounding parishes.

In 2017, the first house in a planned portfolio of properties was finally purchased. It was named Joyce’s Cottage, after an elderly Dulverton acquaintance, Joyce Burton, who shared their vision.

The first beneficiaries of Wendy and Ivan’s generosity, a young couple from the local area, moved in shortly after its purchase.

Sadly, Ivan fell ill and died last year – but he bequeathed Joyce’s Cottage to Falcon Rural Housing, to safeguard the legacy. In accordance with his wishes, the house has been re-named Wendy Gunn’s House.

Falcon Rural Housing is a local, not for profit, rural housing association which was formed in the early 1980s by a group of volunteers concerned about the lack of affordable housing for local people across Exmoor.