Trustees and governance

My career has been mostly in forestry where I am particularly interested in promoting natural environments and spaces for the contribution they make to our personal and collective wellbeing.

I am the Camphill Scotland delegate for Milltown Community. I have been a Camphill co-worker for over 35 years – first in Northern Ireland and then in Scotland. I have been actively involved in the work of Camphill Scotland since its beginning. I have a keen interest in the on-going development of the Camphill communities and in issues to do with the development of the world wide movement of intentional communities in general. I am a founding member of the Camphill Scotland Research Group.

I have been at Camphill School Aberdeen since 2005 and I was recently appointed as Executive Director. I have an MA in Dutch employment and company law, a BA in Social Pedagogy and an SVQ 4 in Leadership and Management level 10.

I have been a Trustee on the board of Beannachar for the past 7-8 years. I am a retired GP having worked in the health service for over 35 years and for many years I was responsible for the care of young adults with severe learning difficulties. This experience greatly increased my appreciation of the needs and care provision required, and how a homely environment is pivotal for them to flourish. I feel Camphill provides this in ‘spadefuls’ and I hope my experience will enable me to support the continuing development of the Camphill communities.

I grew up in a Camphill community and achieved a BA (Hons) in Social Work from Robert Gordon University; my passion is to bridge the gap between these two realms. I strongly believe that both traditional social work and the Camphill movement must work in harmony to be able to be mutually successful in the present world.

As the General Manager at Corbenic I see my task as:

• To maintain a leading edge in the development and delivery of exceptional social care
• To provide secure home environments that protect, nourish, and enable the individual development of all members of the community
• To be well integrated within our local community
• To formulate messaging and communication methods to promote the Camphill ethos
• To form part of a wider connected and mutually supportive network of Camphill communities
• To ensure a strong and sustainable financial basis for the growth and development of our community.

I joined the Camphill Blair Drummond community in early 2008 as their Director of Operations. I have over 24 years’ experience in health & social care, with a range of roles in both the private & third sector. Since joining Camphill Blair Drummond, I have had the pleasure in leading the community through a significant period of growth and change. I believe that the knowledge and experiences gained from various roles and my interest in supporting people to realise their potential, will enable me to support the work of Camphill Scotland and the growth of Camphill communities in the future. I am also a trustee for the Camphill Central Scotland Social Fund, Ochil Tower School and Loch Arthur Community. The balance to all this is my wife and three girls who provide a different range of joys and challenges!

I joined Simeon as General Manager in January 2017. I have over 20 years experience in the health and social care sector, mainly working to support older people. I am proud to represent Simeon on the Camphill Scotland board. I hope to ensure the unique needs of our residents and staff are recognised and also that the positive work of Neil and his colleagues at Camphill Scotland is well governed and supported.

I live at Loch Arthur community in one of the shared households and have done so for most of my adult life. Since arriving in 2004 I have studied Social Pedagogy, become a mum and had different roles and responsibilities within the community. My main focus (after being a mum) is the running of one of our shared houses together with my partner. I’m also an active member of several of our organisational meetings especially our internal social work group. This is as wide ranging as looking at situations of people we are supporting and new applications for supported tenancies to implementing new government legislation into community policies and working with external regulatory bodies.

My interest is shared living within a Camphill community setting and how to make it sustainable into the future. Within this context I feel passionate about building real and meaningful relationships through living together and working collaboratively.

I hope that my forty years of Camphill experience together with my fresh outlook can be a positive influence for promoting great practice, embracing diversity and understanding the importance of community.   Growing up in Camphill was a privilege in that I was able to share experiences with lots of unique and wonderful people from all over the world. I have also experienced the challenges that are faced in community. This has given me an extensive tool box for responding creatively to change.  As one of the registered managers in Tigh a’ Chomainn I have a variety of roles which include cooking as well as office work. However, I am always happiest doing things together with others.

I came to Tiphereth Camphill in Edinburgh in 2018, to finalise the establishment of our Supported Living Service.  I have managed a range of care and support services over my career in a range of different settings. I qualified as a Social Worker in 2006 and worked as a front-line social worker for several years before being drawn back to the voluntary sector, where I enjoy the ability to work creatively to effect change and transformation for the people we support.

Between 2010 and 2018 I was a Trustee for STAF (Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum) and oversaw a period of transformation of this membership organisation, which was very rewarding, as well as providing me with sound experience of governance.

The work of Camphill Communities across Scotland is inspiring and really promotes a ‘can do’ attitude, which is very much aligned with my own personal and professional values. In my own time I love nothing more than being outdoors with my family and the dogs, be this up a mountain or by the sea.

I am one of five registered general managers and the HR representative for Newton Dee Village, where I have lived and worked as a vocational coworker since November 2006. I have a BA(hons) in Psychology from the Open University and have been awarded SVQ 4 and an RMA. After four years as a vocational coworker in the Sheiling Schools in Hampshire, I spent several years in the South of France providing holidays for groups of residents and coworkers from Newton Dee and other organisations across Europe.This diverse experience has shaped my passion for developing the intentional community model into the future. I am keen on discovering and developing talent within our community and encouraging delegation and leadership development across all areas.

We hold an AGM to update Members on our work on their behalf over the course of the past year. We like to make the event as participatory as possible, including a contribution from the host Member community along with opportunities for discussion and feedback from all members.

Please follow this link to read our latest Annual review.