Board of Trustees

I was born in Paisley but spent my formative years in South America and Portugal before returning to Scotland to complete my Primary and Secondary Education in Glasgow. I graduated from Strathclyde University with a degree in Chemical Engineering. I worked for British Steel at Ravenscraig in the 1980s. Taking voluntary redundancy from British Steel in 1991, I graduated with an MSc in Information Technology from Strathclyde University in 1992. After completing my Masters, I started work in the Scotch Whisky Industry in operational roles and eventually became the Master Blender for a large global premium spirits company.

In December 2022, I started my own business as a consultant in the whisky industry.

I’ve lived in the Stirling area since 2000 with my wife Sharon and our children Eva and Liam. Eva has since left home but Liam attends Camphill Blair Drummond as a day student two days a week. The two days he’s at Camphill are the best days of the week for him, every week!

I wanted to give back to the community after retiring and joined the board of Trustees in December 2022. What better place to choose to support than the place that my son loves and adores? It’s my goal to ensure that my contribution to Camphill Blair Drummond benefits the whole community.

In my spare time I like to travel, watch international rugby and attend/host whisky tastings.

I have lived and worked in Camphill Communities since 1987 and for the past 27 years have been very settled at Loch Arthur Community in Dumfries and Galloway. My wife and I live in Lotus House alongside 5 men and women who have a learning disability and we are supported by 4 younger volunteers. I am responsible for running the bakery which, as part of our Farm Shop provides meaningful work opportunities for all of us who work there as we bake the bread for our shop customers and for our own community.

I have a degree in Social Work (2010) and I am the Registered Manager at Loch Arthur on behalf of our Community Management Group. I am also part of a small team that carries the social care management for the Community. I am also currently the Chairperson of the Association of Camphill Communities which is working to foster and support the relationships that exist amongst all the member Communities in the UK and Ireland.

My motivation to be involved in Camphill Blair Drummond stems from my deep conviction that the act of consciously building community enables everyone involved to live,  grow and learn through the contributions that we are encouraged to make to others and from what we can receive from them.  As someone who lives in another Camphill Community, I value the opportunity to not only share what relevant experience that I may have, but also to learn from what is happening at Blair Drummond and apply it to my own situation.

I’ve lived in the Stirling area all my life, having attended Balfron High School before commencing a career with Bank of Scotland. I worked for the Bank for 35 years before taking a senior economic development role with City of Edinburgh Council.

I’m a qualified Chartered Banker and experienced business adviser with many years’ experience in commercial banking and specialist consultancy to businesses with growth potential. The satisfaction of working with businesses at all stages has been most rewarding, especially many of them have since gone on to become established brands in the UK and abroad.

Since retiring in 2022, I joined the Council of Management and work closely with the Senior Leadership Team on strategic development and most recently on the proposal for the new Sports & Activity Centre.

In addition to currently serving on the Board of Camphill Blair Drummond, I’m a Board Member and Trustee of two other organisations, Scottish ClubSport and Stirling Enterprise Park Ltd.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my involvement with Camphill Blair Drummond. Every time I visit, I learn something new about the community. Today, I live in Buchlyvie with my wife Sheena and my hobbies include golf, football (which I no longer play) and listening to music.... although being married to an ex-music teacher, it's fair to say our tastes in music differ considerably!

After graduating from Edinburgh University I entered the teaching profession and taught music in Secondary schools in Central Region. After 20 years as a Principal Teacher, I became involved in school management working in an initiative which introduced young people to technical and vocational aspects of their education.

Following the breakup of Central Region, I moved to Falkirk Council as an Education Officer responsible for the management of nursery, primary, secondary and special schools in the eastern half of the Council area. I managed Records of Need and the support for pupils with special educational needs who were educated in and outwith Falkirk Council.

I was involved in developing and delivering training for Child Protection across Falkirk Council and was a member of the Child Protection Committee. As an associate assessor, I worked with HMI in conducting inspections of local authorities.

My work as a Quality Improvement Manager took me into nursery, primary, secondary and special schools on a regular basis allowing me to look at delivery of education and to speak with managers, teachers, support staff, pupils and parents thus gaining information on the requirements and demands of service delivery.

Since retiring, I now have more time to devote to music, reading, gardening and spending time with friends. It also offers me the opportunity to be involved with Camphill Blairdrummond. A real privilege.

I was born and raised in the Stirling area attending the High School of Stirling before studying Russian at Edinburgh University.

I began my career in the Bank of England working on international finance and banking supervision. I have also worked in the International Monetary Fund in Washington, Price Waterhouse London and the European Commission In Brussels. I subsequently worked as a consultant all over Eastern Europe as these countries sought membership of the EU.

In addition to my role as a trustee at Camphill Blair Drummond I work  with two other charities —-Dniprokids which assists orphans in Ukraine and the Mary Hodge Trust which is linked to the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling and provides grants for disadvantaged children in Africa and India.

The main skills which I bring to my role on the Council are  project management, organisation management and some knowledge of charitable work with the disadvantaged.

My specific responsibility on the Council is Health and Safety and I also sit on occasional subgroups dealing with specific issues such as community development and personnel policy.

I am retired and live in Stirling. My pastimes are golf, gardening, painting, languages and enjoying the Scottish countryside.  

I was born and educated in Cape Town where I completed a degree in Social Work. In 1985 I came to Scotland with my husband, and we joined Loch Arthur Camphill Community, where we still live. We raised our family in a shared Community household which included men and women with learning disabilities and many young volunteers. We carried this responsibility for 22 years.

I have also been involved in many other aspects of Community life and management. At present I am a member of Loch Arthur’s core group, which carries an overview of all aspects of the Community’s responsibilities. In recent years, I have also focused on the development and management of Loch Arthur’s farm shop, and this continues to be the main focus of my work.

Through my involvement in the Camphill movement in Scotland I became aware of, and intrigued by, the changes that were taking place in Blair Drummond as it evolved from the more traditional Camphill form into a new and innovative Camphill Community. It was a great pleasure to be asked to join the board of Camphill Blair Drummond as I felt that I could offer some insight from my years of living in a traditional Camphill Community whilst contributing to, and learning from, the new forms that were being developed at Blair Drummond.

I was born and brought up in Glasgow and moved to Stirling as a mature university student. Before then, I trained and worked as a nurse, lived on a farm for a while, and had two children – who have now made me a Granny and a Great Granny!

At Stirling University, I studied Psychology and much to my surprise ended up with a PhD. That kick-started an academic career; teaching, researching and eventually becoming involved in setting up the new department of Nursing and Midwifery at Stirling University. Here I directed the Chief Scientist Unit for Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions Research.

I’ve acquired a diverse range of skills across my life, beyond the standard nursing and academic ones, such as milking cows, operating old fashioned lifts, measuring labour pain, and educating army nurses on St Kilda. I’ve also spent many years as a carer.

I’ve been involved in a range of strategic development initiatives at university, health service and government level, and I’m delighted to bring that experience to Camphill Blair Drummond. Alongside strategic development, my focus at CBD is on the care and support it provides for residents, day students, employees and our volunteers. It’s a privilege to be part of the Care and Support Committee with Christine my fellow trustee, and Susan and her C&S team.

Like my skills, my interests are diverse: gardens, local history, architecture, wildlife and arts and crafts: a perfect fit for Camphill Blair Drummond.

My first job after graduating from Edinburgh University with an MA

and a Diploma in Social Study involved working with children without a safe and nurturing family environment and in need of local authority care. After three years, I moved to the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, taking up a post in the unit for the treatment of alcohol addiction. My husband and I subsequently moved to the Stirling area where we settled down and started our family.

During the next ten years I volunteered as a Children's Panel Member. Membership gave me insight as a volunteer and – importantly, as Panel decisions are reached by groups of three Members – experience of reaching consensus with other volunteers in complex and sensitive situations affecting the lives of children and families. During this period, I also worked part time with older people as a Social Worker at Stirling Royal Infirmary, helping with discharge arrangements to their homes or appropriate care in the community.

The importance of inter-agency co-operation in protecting children has been highlighted in several public enquiries into situations where children died as the result of abuse or neglect. Often these were in situations known to the authorities but exacerbated by the failure to share information with other agencies. This led to the creation of my next role as inter-agency child protection training coordinator.

On retirement I stood for and was elected to Stirling Council where I served for ten years, the last five as Provost. As Provost I was ex officio Chair of Cowane's Trust. I had oversight of all issues relating to charity governance and the management of the Charity's property which included supported accommodation for people with disability. During my tenure we also carried out a major restoration project on our historic building.

I’ve had the great privilege of visiting third sector charities and talking to volunteers and the people they helped; one of these charities was Camphill Blair Drummond. I was immediately impressed by this vibrant community, the mutual respect and the positivity of everyone I spoke to – residents, employees and volunteers. I wanted to become involved and, when the opportunity arose, applied to become a Trustee.

I’m a late diagnosed autistic (congenital) talent savant. Before medical retirement, I was a language behaviour strategist and executive coach working across business and sport – including well -known Scottish Premier League football clubs and the Scottish Football Management Team. I have also worked extensively for CEOs and their teams within large organisations, creating cultures of operational excellence where I have been cited as the bedrock and enabler for awards won. My article on Andy Murray in the Sunday Times 27^th May 2012 was the catalyst for change. Andy went onto win the Gold Medal at the summer Olympics in August 2012 and the US Open 2012.

I’m also Vice Chair at Scottish Autism. ‘Since joining Blair Drummond, I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the neuro affirming environment, offering a person-centred approach and accommodation for each individual we care for through the lens of the social model – balm to the soul.’