TFN_November_2018

Contents 

THIRD FORCE NEWS 

NOVEMBER 2018 3 

5 Susan Smith reflects on the challenges of 

being a trustee 

6–9 News roundup 

10-29 Features 

10 TFN survey: experiences of Scottish 

trustees 

16 What a difference a chair makes - 

interview with Citizens Advice Scotland’s 

Rory Mair 

18 TFN’s Good Christmas Gifts list 

22 Opinion: Anna Fowlie on six months as 

chief executive of the Scottish Council 

for Voluntary Organisations and the 

changes ahead 

24 The touch of greatness – interview with 

Jill Douglas of My Name’5 Doddie 

Foundation 

26 Café with a conscience: Grassmarket Café 

27 Opinion: Nathan Sparling on why it’s 

important to mark World Aids Day on 

1 December 

28 Chief Encounters with Rhona Cunningham 

and Neil Henery 

31–35 Personal and organisational 

development 

31 Road to becoming… chair of the board 

32 Goodmovers: who’s got a new job? 

34 Ask Aunt Tiffany: what should we pay our 

s t a ff ? 

35 Social Suppliers Directory 

Doddie is one 

of these people 

who wants 

everything done 

immediately – 

we were very 

fortunate that 

it did not take 

us as long as it 

could have, and 

we received a 

lot of support 

from the charity 

regulator 

TFN EDITORIAL TEAM 

EDITOR 

Susan Smith 

susan.smith@scvo.org.uk 

NEWS EDITOR 

Graham Martin 

graham.martin@scvo.org.uk 

REPORTERS 

Robert Armour 

robert.armour@scvo.org.uk, 

Gareth Jones 

gareth.jones@scvo.org.uk 

DESIGN 

Palmer Watson 

www.palmerwatson.com 

PRODUCTION / 

SUBSCRIPTIONS 

Gerry Hillman 

gerry.hillman@scvo.org.uk 

ADVERTISING 

Alison Fraser 

alison.fraser@scvo.org.uk 

0141 946 8708 

GOODMOVES RECRUITMENT 

Eve Short 

eve.short@scvo.org.uk 

Email: tfn@scvo.org.uk 

Write to SCVO, Mansfield 

Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield 

Place, Edinburgh EH3 6BB 

Tel: 0131 474 8000 

The Scottish Council for 

Voluntary Organisations 

(SCVO) is a Scottish Charitable 

Incorporated Organisation. 

Registration number SC003558 

To advertise 

in TFN, call 

Alison Fraser on 

0141 946 8708

4 


NOVEMBER 2018 

Advertising feature 

THE POWER OF CREDIT UNIONS 

The strength of the Scottish League of Credit Unions is in supporting community-focused Credit 

Unions, at whatever stage of development is deemed appropriate by the members of each Credit Union. 

We recognise and respect the different needs and aspirations of individual Credit Unions and we do not 

seek to impose any particular model or developmental path. 

Our core purpose is to ensure that our member Credit Unions become and remain: 

Compliant, Sustainable, Ethical 

We do this by focusing on the key themes of: 

Education through on-site & group training sessions using ready-made materials or 

bespoke solutions 

Advice on legislative, regulatory, compliance and financial issues and considerations 

Networking by encouraging formal & informal contact between our member Credit 

Unions, their volunteers and staff 

Facilitation where our member Credit Unions wish to co-ordinate or work together 

to achieve common goals 

Representation to the Regulator, local, Scottish & UK Government, other Credit 

Union organisations and the media 

Promotion by developing branding & advertising material templates that can be 

customised by our member Credit Unions 

A credit union is 

a member-owned 

financial cooperative 

democratically 

controlled by its 

members, and operated 

for the purpose of 

promoting thrift, 

providing credit at 

competitive rates, and 

providing other financial 

services to its members

Editorial 



Susan Smith 

t’s not the sexiest of awareness weeks, but 

Trustees Week is one that has an impact on 

every charity in Scotland. It falls this month, 

12-16 November, and so at TFN we thought 

we’d take the opportunity to find out what 

Itrustees think about their role. 

We were really pleased at the high levels 

of confidence expressed by trustees 

in our survey. Most feel they are up to 

the job – only 11% said they weren’t 

confident in their ability to fulfil their 

role. Their faith wavers a little when they 

look around the board room at everyone 

else, but still 76% of people are confident 

the whole board is up to the job. 

Phew! That’s good news. However, 

what is a little more concerning is that 

78% of respondents think their role is 

getting harder. 

Robert Armour spoke in detail to 

some of the people that responded to 

our survey to find out what it was really 

like for them, what motivates them and 

where they feel they need more support. 

While I appreciate the temptation to 

flick ahead to our Good Christmas Gifts 

list, his article really is essential reading 

for charity staff and trustees looking 

to improve their board experience. A 

disappointing 40% of trustees said they’d 

not had an induction, for example. 

Others highlighted the need for more 

training. 

A tendency to over-rely on staff and 

trust their information a little too much 

was a common theme and one that 

featured heavily in the One Plus case 

study – an organisation that went wrong 

with devastating consequences for staff 

and service users. It is a lesson about the 

importance of encouraging and boosting 

confidence in board members. 

Our trustees 

article really 

is essential 

reading for 

charity staff 

and trustees 

looking to 

improve 

their board 

experience 

The trustee theme continues with 

an interview with Rory Mair, the 

chair of Citizens Advice Scotland – 

an organisation whose governance 

problems have been thoroughly aired 

over the last few years. He is doing 

his best to bring discipline and a new 

perspectives to that organisation, while 

keeping a clear eye on the needs of the 

thousands of Scots who are dependent 

on advice from their local CAB. He 

doesn’t mince his words in response 

to recent criticism of the organisation 

accepting DWP funding to help mop up 

the Universal Credit mess. 

On a lighter note, Gareth Jones spoke 

to BBC sports presenter Jill Douglas about 

being a trustee for My Name’5 Doddie 

Foundation – one of the huge fundraising 

success stories of the last year. She talked 

about the pros and cons of setting up a 

charity in the name of a celebrity, and the 

determination of Doddie Weir to create 

something positive from his devastating 

motor neurone disease diagnosis. 

Scottish Council for Voluntary 

Organisation chief executive Anna 

Fowlie writes in TFN this month about 

her first six months in the job and some 

upcoming changes at the umbrella 

body, which she hopes will enable it to 

support, promote and develop Scotland’s 

third sector. 

And after all of this governance 

content, feel free to take a break and 

create your ethical Christmas list.

6 



News 

Fair pay 

FIRST MINISTER 

ANNOUNCES LIVING 

WAGE BOOST 

• Thousands of low paid workers in 

Scotland will get a wage rise to £9 an 

hour. 

The real Living Wage will go up by 

25p – a 2.8% rise on last year. 

This is a considerable advance on 

the Westminster government-set 

minimum wage, which guarantees 

workers £1.17 less an hour. 

Social care 

The real Living Wage, often known 

as the Scottish Living Wage, is 

voluntary and set by the third sector. 

It reflects the rise in the cost of living 

and 1,293 employers in Scotland pay it. 

Announcing the new rate, First 

Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “It’s 

fantastic to see the rise in the rate of 

the real Living Wage which will benefit 

thousands of people and businesses 

across Scotland. 

“Scotland is the best performing 

country in the UK in terms of paying 

the real Living Wage and is already 

ahead of the curve when it comes 

to championing fairness in the 

workplace. There are now almost 1,300 

Living Wage accredited employers in 

Scotland while our new Fair Work 

First strategy will make payment of 

the Living Wage a condition of even 

more public contracts and government 

support grants.” 

Sturgeon said she would “encourage” 

businesses and organisations to 

recognise the benefits of the real Living 

Wage. 

As well as helping to ensure people’s 

basic pay meets the cost of living, 

she said it increases staff retention, 

productivity and morale in the 

workplace. 

CHARITIES PROVIDE “WHOPPING SUBSIDY” TO 

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT WAGES POLICY 

• Scottish social care charities are bailing out a Scottish 

Government policy to pay the Scottish Living Wage (SLW) 

to all care staff with a “whopping level of subsidy”. 

The Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland 

(CCPS) released research which shows only 30% of thirdsector 

social care organisations paying the SLW are getting 

enough funding to do so. 

This means they are topping up salaries, National 

Insurance contributions and pensions from other income 

sources, such as public donations and reserves. 

Around 30% of Scotland’s social care is provided by the 

third sector on behalf of local authorities. CCPS members 

include major charities and housing associations, such 

as Enable, Deafblind Scotland and the National Autistic 

Society Scotland. 

However, as the Scottish Living Wage went up to £9 an 

a hour, CCPS spoke out about the unfair funding which is 

seeing its members subsides the Scottish Government wage 

promise that local authorities are refusing to pay. 

CCPS surveyed its members in September and found 

only 78% of were paying the full living wage. 

Only 30% of those said they were getting enough 

funding from local authorities to meet the salary 

policy, suggesting 70% are supplementing the policy 

from other income sources, such as public giving, or 

using reserves. 

A total of 22% of charities said they couldn’t afford to 

implement the policy because local authorities weren’t 

paying them enough. 

In 2016, the Scottish Government announced all social 

care staff in Scotland should be paid the real living wage. It 

made £255 million available over three years to help public, 

private and third sector social care bodies increase wages, 

including covering increased National Insurance and 

pension contributions. 

However, CCPS said it is not clear how that figure was 

calculated, and the way the funding is distributed varies 

dramatically from council to council.



Campaigning 

CHARITIES ARE FINDING STRENGTH IN UNITY 

By Graham Martin 

• Charities and NGOs are increasingly 

campaigning together to battle threats 

to the environment. 

A growing feature of the environment 

sector has been the willingness of 

groups to combine to fight for a common 

cause. 

And campaigners say it’s an approach 

that could work across the third sector. 

Organisations have got together to 

take a stand over the proposed destruction 

of precious habitat – the Coul Links 

– in the Highlands 

And a radical new coalition has been 

formed to push for reform of Scotland’s 

grouse moors. 

The Coul partnership brings together 

seven groups – Buglife, Butterfly 

Conservation, the Marine Conservation 

Society, National Trust for Scotland, 

Plantlife, RSPB Scotland and the Scottish 

Wildlife Trust. 

They are making a stand to stop the 

devastating environmental impact that 

would be caused by a planned golf 

course. 

The Scottish Government is currently 

considering whether to grant planning 

permission for the course at Coul Links 

near Embo in East Sutherland. 

After previous defeats, most notably 

the decision to allow the Trump Organisation 

to develop dunes for a golf course 

in Aberdeen, the groups see unity as 

key to securing a major win – and to set 

down a marker for the future. 

Aedán Smith, head of planning and 

development at RSPB Scotland, told 

TFN: “Sometimes an issues is so important 

it brings everyone together. The 

fact that so many diverse conservation 

organisations have come together to try 

and save Coul Links illustrates just how 

important this very special place is for 

such a wide range of wildlife. 

“Although, our organisations work 

together frequently on a range of issues, 

the last development threat to inspire 

such wide ranging opposition was perhaps 

when Donald Trump proposed his 

infamous golf course in Aberdeenshire. 

If anything, the sensitivity and importance 

of the site at Coul Links is even 

greater than the site Donald Trump has 

now built over in Aberdeenshire.” 

Bruce Wilson, public affairs 

manager at the Scottish 

Wildlife Trust, 

outlined the 

benefits of 

cooperation: 

“All charities 

have limited 

resources so 

it’s important 

to create 

partnerships 

to achieve 

common 

goals. When 

major threats 

arise we need to 

seek out allies, 

pool resources and 

present a united 

front. 

“Working together 

to advocate for a healthy 

natural environment has 

an impact that is greater 

than the sum of its parts.” 

The Revive Coalition, which was 

launched by broadcaster Chris Packham 

(below) unites groups across the social, 

environmental and animal welfare 

sectors to launch a challenge to the 

management of land across vast swathes 

of Scotland’s uplands, where moors are 

intensively managed so grouse can be 

shot for sport. 

The coalition includes OneKind, 

Friends of the Earth Scotland, League 

Against Cruel Sports, Raptor Persecution 

UK and CommonWeal. 

Revive senior campaigner Max 

Wiszniewski told TFN of the benefits of 

joint campaigning, saying the third sector 

as a whole should take note. 

He said: “Charities seem to have a 

love-hate relationships with coalitions 

but when they work they are certainly 

a force to be reckoned with and we 

are confident the Revive Coalition will 

be just that. It is unusual for charities 

across the spectrum to work together 

but in our case, the partners came 

together with no hesitation. 

“Doing this with such a strong delegation 

of charities working together makes 

us more far more influential and that, 

we believe, is the key to success.” 

The Revive campaign will be a long 

one – but the success of the Coul coalition 

will be known next year. Campaigning 

has already forced a public 

inquiry, which 

will start on 25 

February and 

could last up to 

five weeks.

8 



News 

Poverty 

SCOTTISH WELFARE FUND 

FAILING TO MEET HUGE DEMAND 

By Robert Armour 

• Pressure is mounting on the Scottish 

Government to increase the Scottish 

Welfare Fund (SWF) ahead of the Scottish 

budget next month. 

The fund has not been increased since 

its creation five years ago, despite thousands 

of low income Scots turning it for 

emergency support. This means in real 

terms there is 7% less funding available 

for Scotland’s poorest. 

More than 300,000 people have 

benefited from the fund over the last 

five years, with 16,175 applications made 

between April and June this year alone. 

Scotland’s councils administer the 

£39 million annual funding for families 

facing an emergency. 

It is designed to help them with anything 

from domestic appliances to groceries 

but councils say they often have 

to turn down applicants because there is 

not enough cash to meet demand. 

The Scottish Unemployed Workers’ 

Network (SUWN) is now calling for the 

SWF to be increased. 

Dr Sarah Glynn of SUWN said: 

“Spending more on social security 

makes sound financial sense as failure to 

provide help at this stage has major financial 

as well as human consequences. 

“There is growing recognition of the 

need for the Scottish Government to 

back up its caring social rhetoric with 

more progressive action, 

“Even with the limited devolution 

that we have, and without full welfare 

powers or full tax powers, we do have 

the ability to make more of a difference, 

and we have the moral duty to use it,” 

she said. 

Holyrood’s Social Security committee 

has also lobbied the government for an 

increase to the fund. In a letter to social 

security minister Shirley-Anne Somerville, 

convener Bob Doris, said: “It is the 

view of the committee that funding for 

the SWF should be increased to address 

the growing pressure and need”. 

The committee also asked for an 

explanation of how the fund’s allocation 

is decided and said an increase must not 

include costs to administer the fund. 

Mark Griffin, Scottish Labour’s social 

security spokesman, said with Universal 

Credit completing its roll out, the SWF 

urgently needs its budget increased to 

help people suffering the “chaos and 

misery” of Tory welfare reform. 

A Scottish Government spokesman 

told TFN: “The SWF is just part of the 

£125m we will spend this year on mitigating 

the worst impacts of UK government 

welfare fund cuts, which will 

reach £3.7 billion by 2020 in Scotland 

alone.” 

Government 

NEW UK CHARITIES 

MINISTER IS PUT IN PLACE 

Giving 

PUBLIC CONTINUES TO 

GIVE TO ARMED FORCES 

CHARITIES 

• Remembrance Sunday remains one 

of the nation’s biggest donor events 

according to new research. 

Figures from the Charities Aid 

Foundation show that 75% of people 

donate to armed forces charities and 

68% plan to buy a poppy. 

In terms of the UK’s attitude to the 

armed forces, the research found that 

three-quarters have donated to forces 

charities at some point, with 19% doing 

so regularly. 

The findings also show that 68% 

of us buy a poppy in the lead up to 

Remembrance Sunday, rising to around 

three-quarters of those aged over 45. 

• A new UK charities minister has 

been appointed at Westminster– after 

the last one fell out with the government 

over gambling. 

Mims Davies has been named as 

minister for sport and civil society. 

She replaces Tracey Crouch, who 

resigned over the Tory government’s 

decision to delay changes to gambling 

rules, which could see people plunged 

into debt and misery. 

Davies will take over Crouch’s wide 

portfolio which, as well as charities, 

social enterprise and the betting sector, 

includes youth, sport, loneliness and 

lotteries. 

Management 

SADNESS AS ADDICTION 

CHARITY CLOSES 

• There was shock as a charity which 

supports those with addiction issues announced 

its liquidation. 

Comas, which operated the popular 

Serenity Café in Edinburgh, shut its 

doors, with staff being made redundant. 

A statement from the charity’s board 

said that emergency funding options had 

been examined, but the group’s financial 

position meant liquidation was the only 

viable option. 

The statement added that the charity 

would work with all the people it supports 

to ensure they are referred to other 

organisations where appropriate.



Workforce 

CARE CHARITY 

WORKERS KNOCK 

BACK PAY OFFER 

• Staff at a social care charity have voted overwhelmingly to 

reject a pay offer. 

Unison members working at Cornerstone have rejected 

their employer’s pay deal in a consultative ballot – with 92% 

of members knocking it back. 

The union said it had never seen such a strength of feeling 

among its members in the charity sector. 

In response, Cornerstone said it did not feel the vote reflected 

the views of the majority of its workforce and that it 

believed it had made a very fair pay offer. 

Unison is calling on Cornerstone to get back around the 

table and negotiate a deal for the staff – who support people 

with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, autism and 

dementia across Scotland. 

Edel Harris, chief executive of Cornerstone, said that the 

charity was committed to ensuring its staff felt valued. 

Annie Gunner Logan, director of the Coalition of Care and 

Support Providers in Scotland, said social care organisations 

faced a challenge to implement the Scottish Living Wage as 

resources required from the government to deliver improved 

terms often do not arrive. 

“Our partners in the trades unions are well aware of the 

challenges we are facing in this regard,” she said. 

Care integration 

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE 

INTEGRATION IS FAILING AND 

RADICAL CHANGE IS NEEDED 

• The leadership of key organisations charged with transforming 

health and social care in Scotland has been questioned by 

the country’s third sector. 

Charities spoke out after a bombshell report by the Scottish 

Parliament’s health committee found the conduct and 

progress made by the 31 Integration Authorities (IAs) to be 

“unacceptable” 

IAs were established in 2016 to bring NHS and local council 

social care services together into a single, integrated health and 

social care system. 

But MSPs on the committee said IAs – which spend £8 billion 

a year of public cash – were failing to deliver the change 

required, and that the best practice in some areas was not 

being replicated in others. 

Scotland’s charities say the current system needs radical 

change – with a greater role for the third sector built-in. 

Anna Fowlie, chief executive of the Scottish Council for 

Voluntary Organisations, said: “This is a wake-up call for the 

Scottish Government. After three years integration is not that 

much further forward. 

“If the Scottish Government wants health care services that 

are fit for purpose then radical change and a greater role for a 

directly funded third sector is essential.”

10 



TFN survey: Good governance 

“Get the 

governance 

sorted and 

the rest looks 

after itself ” 

That's the view of trustee Denise Shaw. Few would disagree – but it's 

not that simple. What exactly is good governance? And is it really 

becoming harder than ever to achieve it? 

By Robert Armour 

Denise Shaw became 

a trustee five years 

ago after her career 

plateaued. An ambitious 

teacher who 

achieved the lofty 

heights of head of 

her English studies department, she 

realised the career she loved had taken 

her as far as it could. So when it came to 

new challenges she – like many before 

her – looked beyond work and to the 

voluntary sector to find them. 

“My life was good but my job was 

becoming stale,” Shaw told TFN. “I was 

looking to work for new challenges but 

became disillusioned when I realised 

there were few. After a friend who is on 

the board of her local Citizens Advice 

bureau told me about becoming a 

trustee, I thought why not?” 

That was in 2013. Since then Shaw 

has taken four trustee posts at charities, 

taking on roles as diverse as the 

treasurer to working her way to chair 

of a third sector interface and is now 

in the seminal stages of creating her 

own charity to support adults who 

lack literacy skills. 

Shaw is just one of the 79% of respondents 

to TFN’s Charity Trustee Survey 

2018 who said they became a trustee 

because they wanted to use their skills 

and experience positively. She also 

wanted her skills to be used to benefit 

a charity. 

“I wanted to be able to contribute 

to a board overseeing effective 

governance because to me 

that’s the holy grail,” she 

said. “Get the governance 

sorted and the rest looks 

after itself.” 

But what exactly is good 

governance? According to 

ICSA, the Governance Institute, 

good governance can have several contexts 

but only one meaning: it means, 

quite simply, your organisation is being 

well managed. Paul Rowe from ICSA 

says: “Good governance means the 

board makes decisions well and for the 

78% 

of trustees 

think the role is 

becoming more 

demanding 

right reasons. It also means the organisation 

manages adversity well, timely, 

effectively.” 

As Rory Mair, the chair of Citizen’s 

Advice Scotland says in this month’s 

profile interview (page 16 ) good governance 

is the stuff you should never hear 

about. Chances are if you are hearing 

too much about how an organisation is 

being run it’s because it’s going quite 

badly wrong. 

The public aren’t too interested 

in knowing about things being 

run well unfortunately. 

“Good governance is as unspectacular 

as it is boring,” 

says Rowe. “If you’ve got to 

that level, you should toast 

your success because boring 

governance usually means the 

board is doing its job and a wellrun 

organisation is the end result.” 

However there is a perception, not 

without foundation, that the role is 

becoming more demanding, more 

involved and in some positions, such 

as the care sector, increasingly techni-



How difficult 

is it being 

a charity 

trustee 

really? 

We asked 

you and 

here’s what 

you said. 

WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO JOIN A 

BOARD? 

79% 

64% 

49% 

TO USE MY SKILLS 

TO SUPPORT A 

CAUSE 

TO MAKE A 

DIFFERENCE 

I AM CONFIDENT TO CARRY OUT MY 

ROLE OF TRUSTEE? 

89% 

11% 

AGREE 

DISAGREE 

cal as regulation tightens. This is one 

of the biggest challenges of governance 

– recruiting adequately experienced 

and appropriately skilled people to the 

board against this backdrop of increasing 

responsibility. Our survey respondents 

reflect this with an overwhelming 

78% saying the role is becoming more 

demanding. 

However that’s not such a bad thing. 

As OSCR’s Judith Turbyne points out, 

if charities get the basics right such as 

being clear where roles and responsibilities 

lie from the very onset, trustees 

can execute their position on the board 

with confidence. 

“We (OSCR) want to see the basics 

done well – the kind of things every 

trustee, every charity has to have in 

place such as annual reporting, financial 

management etc.” Turbyne told TFN. 

“Being clear about the basics, being 

good at them, makes it easier on the 

role of trustees and makes it easier for 

the charity in terms of guiding their 

board.” 

Good governance then is not a mystery 

and is attainable by all. Being clear 

about the role trustees have in running 

the organisation should enable it to be 

led by competency, leaving the charity 

to do what it first set out to achieve to 

the benefit of Scottish society. 

“If trustees feel valued by a charity 

and have the right tools to do the role, 

you’ve created the best conditions for 

good governance to flourish,” concludes 

Turbyne. 

HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU WITH 

ABILITY OF FELLOW TRUSTEES? 

20% 

56% 

14% 

10% 

VERY CONFIDENT 

CONFIDENT 

A LITTLE 

NOT TOO CONFIDENT

12 



Good governance 

The three 

main 

challenges 

for all 

Scottish 

charity 

boards 

Alan Armstrong: 

“A very well run 

organisation has 

become even better 

managed because 

we pushed to make 

equality a priority.” 

1Ability 

DO YOU THINK THE ROLE IS BECOMING 

MORE DEMANDING? 

78% 

22% 

YES 

NO 

Atrustee is expected to have read 

and absorbed governance and 

fundraising codes and know 

fully what’s required of them. It’s a 

serious task: trustees can easily be disqualified 

if these roles are not executed 

responsibly. 

In practice, most trustees rely, safely, 

on their charity’s paid executives 

to keep up to speed on the law and 

protect them. However, the buck ul- 

timately stops with the board and not 

all trustees understand that. Here is 

where skills need to match the mission 

of the organisation. 

Our survey showed only 35% 

strongly agreed that they were strongly 

confident of their skills and experience 

to undertake the role while 55% merely 

“agreed.” 

While this suggests charity trustees 

have overall faith in their ability, increasing 

regulation around issues like 

GDPR for example, has put pressure 

on a trustee’s confidence to do the job. 

Edith Morrison has confidence in her 

ability to undertake a treasurer role of 

a sports club in Easter Ross, Highlands, 

but thought a formal qualification 

would be needed in the near future 

as the club looked to take on two paid 

staff. 

“It’s important not to rest on your 

laurels and to realise the role is constantly 

changing,” she said. “I don’t 

have formal financial qualifications but 

I feel gaining these would give me a 

better understanding and more confidence 

in the role.” 

Where there are paid staff undertaking 

the daily running and management 

of an organisation, that pressure is 

relieved though perhaps somewhat 

falsely. 

Anna Jones responded to our survey 

saying she felt oversight of management 

by the board was key and trustees 

needed to be fully confident they 

can hold skilled and experienced staff 

to account if need be. 

She said: “That is ultimately the role 

of a trustee – to oversee management, 

to make sure they are doing their job 

properly. 

"So primarily you need to have the 

confidence to ask those questions – the 

confidence to question often skilled 

and highly experienced staff. This is 

key.” 

TFN SURVEY RESPONDENT: 

Trustees of 

large and 

complex 

organisations 

with many paid 

staff don’t have detailed 

knowledge of day-today 

activity - and nor 

should we have, but 

it can make trustees 

nervous that there 

may be risks we’re not 

aware of



2Diversity 

WHAT IS YOUR GENDER? 

65% 

32% 

3% 

FEMALE 

MALE 

OTHER 

Of those who answered our survey, 

65% were female. While the 

third sector in Scotland might be 

dominated by women, historically this 

has not translated to senior positions. 

On Scotland’s boards this has in the past 

been very pronounced, backing up the 

claim trustees were usually male, pale 

and stale. 

Does our research suggest this is 

changing? Possibly, but the sample size 

wasn't big enough to tell - and is likely 

skewed by female bias of TFN readership 

as a whole. Data from the Association 

of Charitable Foundations shows that in 

the UK two-thirds of board members are 

still male. They are “drawn from a narrow 

cross-section of society: white British, 

older and above average income." So 

if board diversity affects performance, 

gender of board members should be an 

issue for all charities to consider. 

Alan Armstrong, a survey respondent, 

told TFN how the nursery he ended up 

chairing had a board of six who were all 

male, despite the paid staff and volunteers 

being exclusively female. “You 

couldn’t fault the running of the group 

– everything was totally professional,” 

said Alan. “But when I joined I had to tell 

them there was a pretty big elephant in 

the room and it needed to be moved.” 

It wasn’t easy. The board had excellent 

governance skills, making it difficult to 

change something working so well. So 

Alan came up with an innovative solution. 

“We decided to keep the six existing 

trustees but create six parallel posts 

which would be filled by women. So, as 

a nursery, we had a mum and a dad for 

every board post. It was a boon, made 

governance far more interesting and 

gave us all a better perspective, a better 

balance, of the running of the group.” 

It was a selling point for the nursery 

too. The local paper ran the story at the 

time and Alan later appeared on Radio 

4’s Woman’s Hour. “Looking back, a 

very well run organisation has become 

even better managed because we pushed 

to make equality a priority.” That’s the 

moral of the story. Boards might be performing 

brilliantly but even the best run 

can get better. 

Equality is key, so all boards need to 

look beyond skills and experience and 

think about drawing up an equality 

strategy, not just for the board but also 

for staff and volunteers to ensure continual 

improvement.

14 



Good governance 

The demise of childcare group 

One Plus caused untold damage to the 

social enterprise sector in Scotland. 

3Skill and 

experience 

DID YOU GET AN INDUCTION? 

60% 

40% 

WAS IT ADEQUATE? 

73% 

27% 

YES 

NO 

YES 

NO 

A 

formal induction is seen as essential 

by trustees yet 40% of 

respondents said they didn’t 

get one. OSCR’s guidance states that a 

proper trustee induction programme 

helps ensure consistency and awareness 

among trustees. 

An induction pack, kept up to date, 

should include the constitution and 

information on the charity’s aims, values 

and current activities. Giving trustees 

time to learn about the organisation will 

help them become an effective member 

of the board more quickly. 

Phil Killinton, chair of Craigroyston 

Community Hub in Glasgow, set up an 

induction process when the organisation 

recruited an entire new board. Riven by 

confusion over roles, the previous board 

eventually imploded. 

A director of a recruitment firm, 

Phil said it was a bitter time and a sore 

lesson learned. “When I came to the 

organisation the board was a mess,” he 

said. “But I was able to gain authority 

and some degree of respect because of 

my management experience. I told the 

board we needed to start from scratch 

that we needed to redraft the roles and 

responsibilities for each trustee. It lead 

to an almighty implosion at board level 

and, basically, four resigned. So it gave 

me the opportunity to recruit though a 

proper process.” 

Induction need not be complicated. 

The process should focus on the basics, 

making clear what roles belong to whom 

and where responsibilities lie. Many 

organisations set up an induction template 

for new trustees, a welcome pack 

explaining the history, background, aims 

and mission of the organisation. The 

specific responsibilities of each trustee 

however must be an essential element. 

“The lack of an induction caused meltdown,” 

said Phil. “We had £200,000 

of newly awarded lottery funding but a 

board which couldn’t agree whose turn 

it was to make the tea and coffees. At 

fault was the lack of a formal induction 

process. Trustees thought they could do 

as they pleased.” 

Lack of appropriate training could also 

put off funders. Mairi-Ann Sansom, a 

secretary for a pre-school nursery, said 

two trusts she had applied to for funding, 

questioned the organisation’s governance 

processes extensively, not least of 

which was its induction programme. 

“We had recently refreshed our induction 

process so thankfully it met requirements. 

However one of the stipulations 

of receiving the funding – which was 

under £10,000 – was that we constantly 

reviewed how we undertook inductions. 

One funder said it was a basic 

prerequisite – that they wouldn’t award 

to organisations who didn’t operate 

proper inductions for trustees. It is seen 

as crucial.”



One Plus: 

The anatomy of failure 

At its height it had a turnover of 

£11 million and was seen as a 

model of success in the third 

sector; by the end it had a £2m unpaid 

overdraft, a tax bill of £2.7m and 

brought into question the sector’s ability 

to manage large contracts. 

The demise of childcare group One 

Plus in 2009 goes into the annals of 

Scottish charity history as its biggest 

failure; it was a thriving and highly 

regarded organisation whose demise 

caused untold damage to the social 

enterprise sector in Scotland. 

It led to 600 staff issued with termination 

notices – the biggest ever mass 

redundancy in the Scottish voluntary 

sector. 

A report by OSCR revealed One Plus 

ran out of funds to pay its liabilities 

after its debts spiralled out of control. 

And there were no illusions as to 

where the blame lay. 

“One Plus did not appear to contain 

adequate skills and independence 

of thinking to reflect the needs of a 

multimillion-pound business,” stated 

the report unequivocally. It also found 

that financial matters were “not covered 

effectively” at board level. 

At fault was a board ignorant to the 

financial challenges, despite having a 

huge turnover and responsibility for 

hundreds of staff. The charity failed 

to recover its full costs on projects, 

running many at a loss and most of 

its grants and contracts were paid in 

arrears. 

While the board blamed cash-flow 

problems on the complexities of 

generating its own income alongside 

delays in processing European funding, 

the Scottish Government thought 

otherwise and rejected a £2m rescue 

package. 

John Findlay, its chief executive, was 

key to the collapse, with the board 

trusting him often unquestioningly 

when it came to finance, despite a 

balance sheet showing stark evidence 

things were not going well. As such 

it led OSCR to issue a warning that 

charity trustees must maintain overall 

direction and control of their charity. 

“They must be able to actively hold 

the chief executive and senior management 

team to account as well as 

providing strategic direction” and 

“need to be able to exercise independent 

judgment.”

16 



Profile 

Rory Mair has been steward to a 

period of exceptional change, working 

to reinstate CAS’s role as one of the 

country’s most trusted brands. 

What a difference 

a chair makes 

Robert Armour 

spoke to Rory Mair 

about the challenges 

of restructuring 

a much loved but 

troubled institution 

Rory Mair is everything 

an organisation 

would want in a 

chair: experienced, 

confident, and as a 

former Cosla chief 

executive, he knows 

how to handle difficult members. Mair 

began his local government career in 

1976 and was Scotland’s youngest ever 

local authority chief executive when 

he was appointed to the post in the 

former Ross and Cromarty District 

Council. 

Awarded a CBE in 2012 for services 

to local government, he stepped down 

as chief executive of Cosla in 2015. 

After a few years of health difficulties, 

he was ready to return to an 

active role in 2017 and not afraid of a



challenge - which was excellent news 

for Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS). 

Since taking up the post of chair of 

the umbrella body for the country’s 

60 Citizens Advice Bureaux, Mair has 

been tasked with righting a listing ship 

after the organisation faced the biggest 

crisis in its 69 year history. For the last 

18 months, Mair has been steward to a 

period of exceptional change, working 

to reinstate CAS’s role as one of the 

country’s most trusted brands. 

“The governance problems were 

well-publicised at the time but most 

importantly we were being judged, 

quite rightly, on how we dealt with it,” 

he candidly tells TFN. “That is always 

the case – you will be seen in terms of 

your response and not always for the 

situation you have created.” 

Most of the problems stemmed from 

If you know too 

much about an 

organisation’s 

operations, there’s 

something going 

wrong 

the old board, which was made up of 

bureaux members and whose leadership 

took CAS to the brink, proving 

quite spectacularly the old adage that 

there’s a fine line between control and 

crisis. Under its disastrous tenure, CAS 

haemorrhaged a chief executive at the 

rate of one a year from 2009-2015; one 

lasted less than a week in post. 

In 2016 a Deloitte report, forced 

on the board by the UK government, 

confirmed what TFN had been exposing 

for months – that the board, led by 

chair Dominic Notarangelo, instigated 

a culture where bullying and strife 

were the norm and where eight-hour 

board meetings, described as “gladiatorial 

affairs” by one former board 

member, were the order of the day. 

So, just two years later, has CAS 

shaken off the dust from this damning 

period of its history? Well, while 

there’s still a bumpy road to navigate, 

it seems to be making a pretty good 

start. Despite attempts to derail the 

restructure of the organisations at the 

end of 2016, 90% of members voted 

through reforms in January 2017. 

Deloitte’s report recommended the 

board dispense with the policy of recruiting 

its members exclusively from 

its 60 bureaux and instead install a mix 

of external trustees with experience 

from outside the network. Now, seven 

of its 12 current board members are external 

trustees, bureaux members are 

the minority. 

Mair says the fact few have heard of 

Derek Mitchell, the man currently occupying 

the top job at CAS, is a sign of 

effective governance. “If you know too 

much about an organisation’s operations, 

there’s something going wrong,” 

he says. “It is all about the job in hand, 

the priorities you set,” he says. “You 

should never lose sight of that.” 

Mair has high praise for Mitchell 

as the right person to take CAS’s new 

vision forward: “He is an experienced 

manager, practitioner and policymaker, 

and is strongly committed to the 

ethos of the Citizens Advice network, 

bringing a strong set of values based on 

social justice and public service to the 

position.” 

Good governance is essential because 

if the board isn’t working well, then 

the organisation suffers. Mair says he 

has total faith in the new board to lead 

on its “greatest challenges”; the biggest 

of which is funding. Cash for advice 

services is being squeezed more than 

ever, as is the way it is allocated. 

“Local funding is under pressure but 

there is national cash available which 

we can only get as part of a network,” 

he says. “That’s actually an opportunity, 

one in which funders see our network 

as meeting their needs as much 

as we meet theirs. So there is funding 

out there – we just have to adapt a bit 

differently to secure it.” 

However, moves to secure new funding 

have brought CAS back into the 

headlines. Last month the body was 

accused of abandoning its principles 

after it agreed to UK government funding 

to provide advice to people claiming 

Universal Credit. 

It was a difficult decision, not taken 

at all lightly says Mair, and certainly 

not taken just to “chase money just 

because it’s there.” 

However, he states he is “slightly 

annoyed” at the hypocrisy shown 

by campaigners and politicians who 

failed in the political process to get the 

controversial scheme halted but now 

expect CAS to withdraw support for 

those in need in order to put pressure 

on the policy. 

“They are effectively playing with 

Scots lives to make a political point,” 

says Mair. “That might be okay for 

them but is unacceptable to CAS. We 

are an agency that meets the needs of 

citizens and this policy creates need. 

That was our driving concern in taking 

the funding,” he says. 

At a personal level, Mair, 63, has 

faced his own challenges, receiving 

a liver transplant in 2012 and he is 

likely to need another in the foreseeable 

future. Yet the father of four, who 

still lives in Easter Ross, doesn’t allow 

health issues to affect his ability to lead 

the board. 

“It’s a pragmatic reality,” he says. “I 

have a very good board in place who 

are very understanding alongside an 

excellent staff team. 

“On days I’m not well we work 

around it and I’m thankful for that. 

I’m immensely proud to contribute to 

an organisation that is such an integral 

part of Scottish society.”

18 



Feature 

TFN’s Good 

Gifts List 2018 

Christmas is a bit of a conundrum for the conscientious consumer 

– how to be ethical and generous at the same time? TFN has the 

answer: you can buy good gifts from charities or social enterprises. 

Sophie Bell has uncovered a few gems to get you started. 

CHAS letters 

£1 each letter 

For something small but truly special, take a 

look at the magnetic CHAS alphabet, each letter 

of which has been individually designed by one 

of the children or young people that CHAS cares 

for. The children and families it cares for are 

central to everything that CHAS does so the alphabet 

is used to spell out real names to reflect 

those warm, caring relationships. With a personal 

story behind each of the 68 letter designs, 

you can assemble the names that are close to 

you as a meaningful stocking filler. CHAS hopes 

this brings as much joy and happiness as they 

have to the children that created them. 

charitycardshop.com/chas 

A pair of Stand 4 Socks 

Pairs from £8.99 

Did you know that socks are the most requested item by homeless 

shelters? This is because socks are rarely donated as they tend to be 

worn through, unlike other items of clothing. Stand 4 Socks’ aims to 

change the world with socks. Through its one-for-one model of donating 

a specially designed pair to homeless people, they are doing 

just that with each customer purchase. Christmas wouldn’t be the 

same without buying dad a pair of socks, so it’s obvious that these 

are a perfect fit all round. 

stand4socks.com



Madlug Backpacks 

From £30 

Madlug, short for make a difference luggage, is a bag brand that is 

helping children in care carry their lives with dignity. With its buy 

one, give one approach, for every bag purchased another one will be 

given to a child in care. The Madlug bags are versatile for work, study 

or leisure which makes them an ideal gift for just about anybody. And 

for that impossible-to-buy-for friend who doesn't want anything? 

Madlug operates a gift a bag service, so for £10 you can both feel good 

knowing your money has sent a bag straight to a child in care. 

madlug.com 

Glitter angel 

ornament 

£35 

NSPCC Scotland will benefit 

from sales of a bespoke 

glass angel, created by 

Bridge of Allan glassware 

firm Angel’s Share. The 

angel’s unique design 

features a star, is filled 

with glitter and comes on 

an oak stave stand with 

a Highland tartan insert. 

Half the cost of each angel 

will go to the charity, supporting NSPCC Scotland’s Christmas Star appeal 

to bring light into every childhood. Funds raised from the glitter 

angels will support the work the charity carries out in communities 

across Scotland including Childline, the Speak out. Stay safe schools 

programme, and advice and support work with families. This stylish 

glitter angel will sit proudly on any granny’s mantelpiece, bringing joy 

as it looks down on the Christmas festivities and beyond. 

angelsshareglass.com/products/the-nspcc-glitter-angel 

Royal 

Air Force 

Association 

building set 

£10 

The Royal Air Force 

Association (RAFA) provides 

welfare support to 

all RAF personnel and 

their families to ensure 

their service does not 

result in suffering, 

poverty or loneliness. 

Whether it’s an injured airman or woman fighting to get 

back on their feet, a young child missing their parent away 

on overseas operations, or a World War II veteran needing 

a shoulder to lean on, RAFA is there to help. Bring your 

own family together while supporting RAF generations 

with a new toy to play with on Christmas morning. Aviation 

enthusiasts young and old will love getting stuck into 

this Red Arrows bricks building set. 

rafatrad.co.uk/product/red-arrows-brick-set

20 



Feature 

GoodWill gin 

£36.99 

GlenWyvis Distillery in the Highlands 

unites the people of Dingwall as the 

first ever 100% community-owned 

distillery. The distillery is powered 

by renewable energy and operates on 

shared values to create a true community 

spirit that’s good for the local 

people and for the planet. Its GoodWill 

Gin is a Highland craft gin made from 

nine premier botanicals, including 

exotic fruits and locally picked hawthorn 

berries. The carefully measured 

juniper content makes for a smooth 

taste experience while remaining fullbodied. 

Your fun-loving aunt will love 

this smooth tipple after a big turkey 

dinner, or any time really! 

glenwyvis.com 

From Babies With 

Love muslin swaddle 

£14.90 

Don’t forget the littlest members of the 

family in your quest to give back. 

Unfortunately, too many babies in 

the world have nobody to give them 

gifts, or anything else. From Babies 

With Love is making a difference by 

investing every penny of profit into 

orphaned and abandoned children 

around the world, so really you’re 

giving two gifts. With every one of its 

unique, ethically sourced baby 

gifts – from beautiful clothing 

to wooden toys – you 

make a difference too. 

Gift one of their signature 

Kisses organic 

muslin swaddles to 

help spread the love. 

frombabieswithlove. 

org



HOME decorative sign 

£7.99 

The HOME light-up sign from Sue Ryder’s online shop 

is the perfect gift to brighten up cosy corners and mantelpieces. 

And you can feel warm and fuzzy inside too, 

knowing that all proceeds support Sue Ryder’s palliative, 

neurological and bereavement care. The HOME 

sign, or any of the Sue Ryder products, would make the 

perfect gift for any new home-owners in your life. Sue 

Ryder’s online shop offers a large selection of brand 

new and exclusively sourced products. With a whole 

range of homeware products on sale for under £20, the 

online shop is the perfect destination for meaningful 

gifts and Christmas accessories that won’t put you out 

of pocket. 

shop.sueryder.org/christmas-2018 

Grace Chocolates 

Box of six for £5 or 12 for £10 

Grace Chocolates are delicious and the TFN team can personally 

testify! With flavours like coffee and cardamom, and pineapple 

and coconut in white chocolate this is confectionery with a 

difference. The chocolates are handmade by inmates at Cornton 

Vale prison and now the social enterprise is celebrating its first 

birthday, it is also supporting the Making Positive Changes Programme, 

which is available to any woman who has experienced 

the Scottish criminal justice system and is keen to make positive 

steps towards finding a job. With the proceeds of your indulgent 

purchase supporting women’s rehabilitation, they’ll taste all the 

better. 

gracechocolates.co.uk 

Everyone loves 

the new look 

TFN… 

Adopt an 

endangered 

animal 

Packages from £40 

We all know animals are 

not just for Christmas, 

which is why the Royal 

Zoological Society of 

Scotland (RZSS) needs 

your help. From ribbits 

to roars, it homes a range 

of endangered animals. 

By adopting one you 

not only help to care for the animals at Edinburgh 

Zoo and the Highland Wildlife Park but also support 

RZSS’s conservation work across the globe. Annual 

adoption packages are available for a whole range of 

species so it’s easy to find one to suit the lucky recipient 

and what’s more exciting than planning a visit to 

see your chosen animal later on in the year? 

adoption.edinburghzoo.org.uk 

So why not grab 

their attention 

with an advert? 

Call Alison Fraser on 

0141 946 8708 

or email 

Alison.Fraser@scvo.org.uk

22 



Comment 

Anna Fowlie reflects on six months within the third sector, 

and how listening to everyone she’s been meeting is shaping 

the future of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. 

The voluntary sector is 

vital to Scotland’s economy 

and society, and we need to 

define our role to help achieve 

its ambitions



It’s now six months since I arrived 

as chief executive of the 

Scottish Council for Voluntary 

Organisations (SCVO). It’s 

been a whirlwind of getting 

to know people inside and 

outside the organisation, and 

reconnecting with others wearing 

a new hat. During that time, we’ve 

launched our new TFN magazine and 

it feels timely to offer some reflection. 

SCVO has been around for 70 years. 

Over that time, we have changed to 

meet the changing needs of the sector 

and the changing policy context; like 

many voluntary sector organisations 

we’ve also started and stopped doing 

things to generate income or just 

because it seemed like a good idea at 

the time. 

I have been working alongside our 

equally new convenor, Andrew Burns, 

to review what SCVO is for, what we 

do and how we do it. We’re doing that 

along with the board, our colleagues 

and our members. And indeed anyone 

else who has an interest. Our aim is 

to clarify SCVO’s purpose and make 

sure our activities contribute to that 

purpose. 

As part of this, we are also reviewing 

our membership offer and how that 

interacts with our offer to the wider 

sector. I’m in the middle of a mini tour 

of Scotland, engaging with third sector 

interface and intermediary organisations 

and others to hear their views. 

This will all be reflected in a wider 

online consultation exercise in January 

2019. 

For now, we’re looking at our purpose 

being to support, promote and 

develop a confident voluntary sector in 

Scotland. I’ve also been speaking about 

reframing SCVO as an enabler, connector 

and champion for the sector. That is 

because we believe that the voluntary 

sector is vital to Scotland’s economy 

and society, and we need to define our 

role to help achieve its ambitions. 

Naturally, I’ve been hearing lots 

of stories about how SCVO has done 

things in the past. I think it’s important 

to have a clear set of principles 

that guide how we work, and why we 

take on new bits of work. As a national 

body with a leadership role, we also 

need to set an example in terms of 

integrity and values to earn the credibility 

we need to fulfil our purpose. 

Like all voluntary sector organisations, 

we need to demonstrate the impact of 

what we do – what positive difference 

are we making? I’m not a believer in 

hard targets because too often organisations 

hit the target but miss the 

point. I do believe in outcomes so we 

As a national body with 

a leadership role, we also 

need to set an example 

in terms of integrity 

and values to earn the 

credibility we need to 

fulfil our purpose 

will be setting out the outcomes we 

are trying to achieve and how we will 

know when we have achieved them. 

Our role as a membership organisation 

is one I’m keen to explore in 

more depth. Why would you choose 

to be a member of SCVO and what can 

you expect from us? This is a debate 

that has been rumbling on for a long 

time, and I suspect will always be 

around. But we need to tackle head on 

the challenge of being a membership 

organisation that’s truly representative 

when Scotland’s third sector is 

so incredibly diverse in terms of size, 

areas of interest, location and charitable 

status (or not). I know our current 

membership offer is not particularly 

attractive for medium to large organisations. 

I do, however, believe there is 

a need for a strong, authentic national 

voice for the third sector and that 

SCVO is best placed to offer that. 

We are therefore proposing to reframe 

our membership offer so people 

and organisations will join because 

they support our belief statement and 

believe in our work, not just because 

they value the member benefits we 

offer. Many third sector organisations 

use this model, and I believe it is 

more authentic than simply delivering 

benefits. We also recognise that many 

members, particularly smaller organisations, 

value the benefits they receive 

and there are new areas where we 

could add value. We will therefore also 

put together a revised package which 

reflects what the sector needs, and that 

it is possible and appropriate for SCVO 

to deliver. 

If you are already aware of SCVO, it 

could be for a variety of different reasons. 

You may be a member, you may 

contribute to our policy and influencing 

networks, you may subscribe to 

Third Force News or advertise with 

Goodmoves. You might participate 

in our wide range of digital developments. 

You may buy your payroll 

or IT service from us, participate in 

Community Jobs Scotland or share 

space in one of our five offices. You 

might receive funding from one of the 

grants we disburse or access information 

from Funding Scotland or our 

information service. Or you might just 

follow us on social media. 

Whatever your relationship and engagement 

with SCVO, I’m keen to hear 

your views and I’m full of optimism 

for the future. 

Anna Fowlie is chief executive of 

SCVO.

24 



Feature 

The touch 

of greatness 

My Name’5 Doddie Foundation has 

raised £1m in just a year. Gareth Jones 

talks to trustee Jill Douglas about the 

challenges of setting up a celebrity charity. 

Doddie Weir is a 

man who brought 

joy throughout his 

career to fans of 

Scottish rugby. The 

6’ 6” lock played for 

his country 61 times, 

becoming a fan favourite for his uncompromising 

style and passion for wearing 

the dark blue jersey. 

However the former British Lions 

player has never received a more emotional 

reaction at Murrayfield than he 

did on 18 November last year. 

Only a matter of months after publicly 

announcing that he is battling motor 

neurone disease (MND), Doddie took to 

the field with his sons Angus, Hamish 

and Ben to present the match ball for 

the Scotland versus New Zealand game 

– and also to unveil his new charity, My 

Name’5 Doddie Foundation. 

Since being diagnosed with the 

degenerative condition, the 48-year-old 

has dedicated his daily life to campaigning 

for greater research into MND and 

providing support to others battling the 

disease. 

One year on, and My Name’5 Doddie 

has captured the attention of those in 

Scotland and further afield – raising £1 

million and counting to help the fight 

against MND. 

But how has the new charity managed 

to raise so much money and gain 

worldwide publicity in a short period of 

time? 

“Work began very quickly after Doddie’s 

diagnosis,” said Jill Douglas, one 

of the charity’s founding trustees and a 

presenter for BBC Scotland. 

“I think once he had started to process 

his diagnosis, and he still is processing 

it I think, he shared it with a few close 

friends. We thought that Doddie and his 

family were going to need a bit of help 

over the next few years. At the same 

time, his first thought was dedicated to 

other people with MND, and how he 

could help them. Doddie was the real 

driving force for the charity straight 

away.” 

The challenge facing Jill and the others 

involved in forming the charity was 

understanding the formal process of 

becoming a registered charity, while getting 

the organisation set up quickly – so 

Doddie, who was eager to champion its 

cause, could get to work. 

The group met a lawyer, who advised 

them of the legal requirements needed 

to set up a foundation, and also began 

using their expertise to create a brand 

and get an online presence ready for the 

charity. 

“We realised that to become a charity 

we would need to go to OSCR,” said 

Jill. “Doddie is one of these people who 

wants everything done immediately. We 

were very fortunate though that it did 

not take us as long as it could have, and 

we received a lot of support from the 

charity regulator.” 

Doddie went public with his diagnosis 

in June of last year, and the newly 

formed board of the charity – which also 

includes former rugby internationals 

Finlay Calder and MND Scotland patron 

Scott Hastings – used their expertise and 

sought external support to ensure that 

Doddie’s energy is 

endless… he is out there 

every day campaigning 

and he is what drives 

the rest of us forward 

Doddie in fundraising mode at the 

Kiltwalk with Sir Tom Hunter and 

Paul Cooney (above); and at the Rugby 

Union Writers’ Club dinner (below).



Since being diagnosed with the 

degenerative condition, 

Doddie Weir has dedicated 

his daily life to campaigning for 

greater research into MND. 

Celebrity 

Scots who set 

up charities 

JK Rowling 

Lumos 

Compelled by 

an article in the 

Sunday Times 

back in 2004 

about children 

being kept in 

caged beds in 

an institution, 

writer JK Rowling had the original 

idea for a charity which would seek 

to end the institutionalisation of 

children. 

She formed Lumos, named after 

the light-giving spell in Harry Potter, 

to help some of the world’s most 

disadvantaged children. The charity 

has supported tens of thousands of 

children around the world. 

the charity could be unveiled in time for 

the start of the rugby autumn internationals 

series. 

The board and Doddie met with those 

who were battling MND, plus medical 

experts, to try and establish how the 

organisation could best support the fight 

against the condition. The foundation’s 

board decided that investing in research 

into MND treatments – which many 

people they spoke to considered to be 

outdated – should be the focus of its 

fundraising. 

Since then, a total of £1m has been 

collected for MND research and to 

support those with the condition. 

Investments have included £250,000 

to help researchers at the University 

of Edinburgh to test the use of existing 

medicines on MND, and £400,000 

to support the work of Chris Shaw, 

professor of neurology and neurogenetics 

at King’s College London who is 

spearheading gene therapy for sporadic 

Motor Neurone Disease. The foundation 

has also donated £100,000 to both MND 

Scotland and the MND Association, 

which will be used to directly support 

those with the condition. 

As well as receiving overwhelming 

support from the world of rugby, the 

charity has also gained the attention 

of the wider public – with community 

bake sales, climbing challenges and even 

farming auctions helping to benefit its 

work. 

Jill stressed the charity has a duty to 

those who have donated or fundraised 

to do all it can with the money, and to be 

transparent with where funds are going. 

But the work does not stop here, with 

both Doddie and his supporters determined 

to keep the momentum going. 

“Doddie’s energy is endless,” said 

Jill. “Even though he is suffering from a 

debilitating disease, he is out there every 

day campaigning and he is what drives 

the rest of us forward. 

“We are delighted to have amassed 

£1m over the first year to invest in research 

and helping those with MND. It’s 

far more than we ever expected. 

“But now we have ambitions to do 

exactly the same next year, if not more.” 

Kris Boyd 

The Kris Boyd Charity 

Former Scotland and Rangers 

striker Kris Boyd launched a mental 

health charity after his brother Scott 

took his own life. 

The footballer set up his charity in 

the hope he can help others suffering 

with mental health problems, with a 

range of support services provided by 

the organisation. 

Sally Magnusson 

Playlist for Life 

Playlist for Life is a charity founded 

by writer and broadcaster Sally 

Magnusson in memory of her 

mother, Mamie. 

When Mamie developed dementia, 

the newsreader discovered that 

personally meaningful music helped 

improve her mother’s life with the 

disease more than anything else.

26 



Cafés with a conscience 

This month’s review of a social enterprise eatery sees 

Susan Smith visit the Grassmarket Café, a popular stop off 

for locals and tourists in Edinburgh’s old town 

Janie and Cameron serving at the 

Grassmarket Café 

Capital service in city centre gem 

It’s a wet and windy Wednesday 

morning as I battle my way 

through Edinburgh’s Grassmarket 

tripping over a halfempty 

beer can that splashes its 

contents all over my legs – what 

a relief to enter to the warm and 

welcoming Grassmarket Café. 

I’ve delayed breakfast, so am pretty 

eager for an egg roll and a latte. Even 

though it’s not advertised I ask for some 

mushrooms too, and Janie on the café 

counter says she’ll ask the kitchen staff 

what they can do. A few minutes later 

my morning gets a lot better as I tuck 

into a very satisfying fresh breakfast roll, 

generously overflowing with scrambled 

egg and seasoned mushrooms. 

Celebrity chef Tom Kitchin once said 

the Grassmarket Café has the best coffee 

in Edinburgh, and who am I to disagree. 

The creamy latte is just as good as 

anything you’d get in more mainstream 

city cafés. 

Janie has been working in the café for 

three years. She started out as a volunteer, 

turning to the café when her two 

sons got older and she found herself 

looking for a way to develop new friends 

and skills. 

After six months, she was offered two 

days a week as a paid employee and still 

chooses to volunteer one day a week. 

It feels pretty bustling first thing, but 

Janie dismisses that: “We get tour groups 

coming in at lunchtime because of our 

partnership with Sandemans, which 

runs tours of Edinburgh’s old town. So 

12.15 to 1pm is the busy time and it can 

get really, really intense so you don’t get 

much time to sit down.” 

GRASSMARKET CAFÉ 

86 CANDLEMAKER ROW 

EDINBURGH 

EH1 2QA 

AMBIENCE: FRIENDLY 

AND ENERGISING 

PRICES: BETTER THAN 

THE REST 

SIGNATURE DISH: 

FULL BREAKFAST FOR 

£4.50 

OPENING TIMES: 

MON-SUN 9AM-4PM 

The café is run 

by 2018’s Scottish 

Social Enterprise of 

the Year, the Grassmarket 

Community 

Project (GCP). 

Its members are 

local homeless 

people or those 

facing barriers to 

employment and 

social integration 

– such as people 

with disabilities, 

mental health 

problems or addictions. 

Members 

get a 20% discount at the café and free 

access to GCP’s programme of activities, 

ranging from volunteering in the café or 

kitchen to wider job skills, benefits support, 

photography, music and yoga. 

Most members find volunteering in 

the café a bit too intense, says Janie. 

However, GCP’s newest recruit, 20-yearold 

Cameron, doesn’t let that faze him. 

Cameron left school two years ago, and 

was out of work for a year before signing 

up to Edinburgh College’s Project Search 

initiative, which works with young 

people with disabilities to help them 

find employment. 

Cameron started as a catering and 

events assistant seven weeks ago and is 

loving it. He helps serve food in the café 

and sets up tea and coffees and lunches 

for events. He also helps with clearing up 

and washing the dishes. 

“It’s a bit stressful when the tour 

people come in, but it doesn’t put me off. 

It’s going really well,” he says. 

Lunch choices include a soup of the 

day and a range of baked potatoes, paninis, 

wraps and sandwiches with fresh 

salad. But outside of the lunchtime rush, 

it’s the coffee and cakes that attract a 

steady stream of local regulars. 

The choice selection of cakes and tray 

bakes makes it hard to know what to 

take away to try later. Cameron recommends 

the flapjack, but I go with Janie’s 

cherry and sultana fruit cake tip. A fluffy 

sponge packed full of fruit and topped 

with a deliciously sugary glaze goes 

down beautifully with a decaf coffee 

back at the office. 

This is a brilliant café in a great location, 

including outdoor seating for better 

days than this. It’s a must visit for café 

with a conscience lovers visiting the centre 

of Edinburgh.

Opinion 



Nathan Sparling 

With misunderstanding 

and misinformation still rife, 

Scotland hasn’t won the 

battle against HIV yet 

I’m delighted to be taking over as 

interim chief executive at HIV 

Scotland. However, following in 

the footsteps of George Valiotis is a 

very daunting task. 

His leadership saw PrEP being 

made available in Scotland, the 

first country in the UK to provide the drug 

that prevents HIV fully funded on the NHS. 

That campaign won the Scottish Charity 

Award for Cracking Campaign in 2018. 

I’m very grateful for the work George did 

and I hope to build on that in the coming 

months. 

With World Aids Day (Saturday, 1 December) 

approaching, it is important that 

we look at what still needs to be done to 

tackle the HIV epidemic in Scotland. 

Despite all our efforts, new HIV transmissions 

have not been decreasing and at 

least 40% of people are being diagnosed 

late – meaning they aren’t testing often 

enough. 

We are also faced with one of the largest 

outbreaks of HIV among people who inject 

drugs in Glasgow – for the third consecutive 

year. 

It’s important that we recognise there is 

still more to be done. Stigma remains the 

biggest barrier to people accessing testing, 

care or support for HIV. 

We continue to see high levels of misinformation 

and a lack of understanding 

about the modern day realities of HIV. 

Let’s be clear – you can’t get HIV from 

kissing, toilet seats or sharing cutlery. 

There’s another big message that 

everyone needs to know. U=U. That’s the 

scientific fact that someone living with 

HIV, who is taking effective medication 

so that the virus becomes undetectable in 

their blood, can’t pass on HIV to anyone. 

That’s also known as Undetectable 

Stigma remains the 

biggest barrier to 

people accessing 

testing, care or 

support for HIV 

– we continue to 

see high levels of 

misinformation 

and a lack of 

understanding 

about the modern 

day realities of HIV 

equals Untransmittable or treatment as 

prevention. 

Scotland’s HIV prevention toolkit consists 

of PrEP, condoms and treatment as 

prevention. HIV testing plays a massive 

role in it all too. 

Last year, the first minister took an HIV 

test to show how simple and easy it is. 

If you know your status, you can protect 

your health by accessing treatment and 

care, and you can prevent any further 

transmission. 

This World Aids Day, HIV Scotland will 

be publishing a new book – Disclosures. 

It’s a collection of creative writing from 

people living with and affected by HIV. 

It tells the story of HIV in the modern 

day – people living with HIV are no different 

to anyone. The book twists and turns 

through personal stories of diagnosis, to 

creative metaphors of the journey of living 

with HIV. 

It is the culmination of workshops, 

mentoring and creative writing from 

the diverse communities affected by HIV 

in Scotland. Through this creative 

activism, they rewrite the narrative. A 

must read. 

World Aids Day provides us with a 

chance to pause, reflect but also look 

forward. 

As a movement we remember those 

people, our loved ones, that died during 

the height of the epidemic, but we should 

also use it as a time, as a nation, to commit 

our efforts to finally achieve zero new HIV 

infections, and zero HIV-related deaths. 

Nathan Sparling is acting chief executive of 

HIV Scotland. 

Disclosures will be available on World Aids 

Day, 1 December, at HIVScotland.com

28 



Chief Encounters 

Neil Henery: “We were perfect mirror images – 

we both had fish and chips, we both had a 

coffee and we both paid!” 

Neil Henery, the director of 

Camphill Scotland, met chief 

executive of Fife Gingerbread, 

Rhona Cunningham



Every month TFN 

gets two chief 

executives together 

to find out what 

they can learn from 

each other 

Neil on Rhona 

What were you expecting? 

I was expecting someone dynamic, 

energetic and down to earth. 

What was your first impression? 

Pretty similar to what I was expecting! 

I also found a warm and open person 

whom I really enjoyed talking with. 

What did you talk about? 

We met in the new V&A museum in 

Dundee and we talked about how big, 

busy and inspiring it is. We would both 

like to come back and have a proper 

look at the exhibitions. We also spoke 

about the challenges of being a CEO 

and how good networks and a positive 

relationship with your chair can help. 

Rhona has a really good relationship 

with her chair and I am about to begin 

working with a new chair. 

What did you have in common? 

We are both passionate about the 

difference our respective organisations 

can make. We both take a lot of 

personal responsibility and care about 

our work. 

What was surprising or different 

about their experience? 

Rhona has a different set of funding 

pressures to those we face at Camphill 

Scotland. As a membership organisation 

we rely on our members’ fees. 

With eleven members we can get close 

enough to them to understand their 

various commonalities and differences 

– at least most of the time. Fife 

Gingerbread looks to the local authority 

for a large part of its funding 

and necessarily has a more remote 

relationship with them than we do 

with our members. Rhona told me 

about the annual budget rounds. She 

impressed me with her resilience and 

the way she fights for the people her 

organisation serves. 

What useful thing did you learn? 

I learned about the ACOSVO leadership 

training that Rhona had just 

finished and enjoyed. We also spoke 

about the mentoring service ACOSVO 

offer. I had used and benefitted from 

this before and our conversation encouraged 

me to pick this up again. 

Who bought the coffee? 

We were perfect mirror images – we 

both had fish and chips, we both had a 

coffee and we both paid! 

Could your organisations ever work in 

partnership? 

We work with quite different groups 

and in very different ways so it is not 

easy to see how this could be done. It 

is a good question though… 

Did she help spark a new idea? 

In preparing to meet Rhona I looked 

at the Fife Gingerbread website and 

watched some of their videos featuring 

people who use the service. I 

thought they told their stories in a 

very warm, immediate and persuasive 

way. I would like to look at developing 

similar videos for our own website. 

What will be your lasting memory? 

Rhona abandoning her Cullen skink 

and opting instead for a tasty plate of 

fish and chips. An excellent choice. We 

reassured ourselves that we could have 

a modest bowl of soup for tea instead… 

Will you meet again? 

I hope so. 

Rhona on Neil 

What were you expecting? 

No idea – I deliberately did not use 

Google so I could go old school and 

work from scratch getting to know 

Neil and Camphill. 

What was your first impression? 

Very good! Neil suggested lunch at 

V&A so that was a great starting point 

being central to both our locations. 

It’s a great place to meet and Neil was 

charming. 

What did you talk about? 

Everything from the ups and downs as 

life as a CEO to organisational pressures 

through to the highs and lows of home 

versus office work. We ventured into 

our home life and hopes for the future. 

What did you have in common? 

A good deal surprisingly, despite the 

different area of work. Being a CEO 

and the irrational feeling that we 

should have the answers. The importance 

of good development opportunities 

for self and staff and also the 

need to be able to understand staff and 

people as a crucial, fundamental part 

of the role. 

What was surprising or different 

about their experience? 

I don’t think I’ve ever spent time 

talking with another CEO who isn’t 

reliant on the ever diminishing 

funding streams for their work to be 

delivered (I think I’m slightly envious) 

even although I understand justifying 

membership fees will be every bit as 

stressful. 

What useful thing did you learn? 

I didn’t know anything at all about 

Camphill and the initial concept of 

the movement is still very much alive 

today – it’s a remarkable organisation. 

Who bought the coffee? 

In the spirit of true equality we went 

dutch over lunch. 

Could your organisations ever work in 

partnership? 

I think we would need to talk some 

more to discover any potential for 

partnership. 

Did he help spark a new idea? 

Fife Gingerbread services are free at 

the point of delivery but I wonder if we 

could gain income from sponsorship 

members? 

What will be your lasting memory? 

How in tune Neil’s style was with his 

organisation – he is very calm and 

relaxed. 

Will you meet again? 

We haven’t made any plans but I’m 

sure we will come across each other 

and have a coffee and a catch up. 

This column is sponsored by 

visit www.acosvo.org.uk



Road to becoming… 

chair of the board 

Allyson McCollam, chair of 

Voluntary Health Scotland (VHS), 

on how she got to where she is 

today 

C.V. 

School: North Berwick High School 

Education: University of Bath BA European 

Studies (1980); University of Oxford MSc Applied 

Social Studies (1983); University of Edinburgh PhD 

Employment Rehabilitation for People with Mental 

Health Problems (1989) 

Work experience: 

2016 – present: Associate direct of public health 

NHS Borders 

2011 – 2016: Joint head of health improvement, 

NHS Borders 

2009 – 2011: Health improvement lead, children 

and young people and mental health, NHS Borders 

2003 – 2009: Chief executive, Scottish 

Development Centre for Mental Health 

1997 – 2003: Deputy director and director of 

research, Scottish Development Centre for Mental 

Health 

1991 – 1997: Policy officer, Scottish Association 

for Mental Health 

1994 – 1997: Part-time secondment to 

Community Care Implementation Unit, Scottish 

Office 

1989 – 1991: Co-owner of a hotel in rural Scotland 

1988 – 1989: Research fellow, University of 

Stirling Social Work Research Centre 

1981 – 1983: Child health social worker, 

Kensington and Chelsea Social Services 

1980 – 1981: Residential care worker, Quarriers 

What does being chair of the board 

involve? 

For me it’s multifaceted. It’s about 

keeping tuned into the wider operating 

environment in terms of statutory 

requirements and also of relevant policy 

and practice. I also facilitate the development 

of clear strategic priorities and 

objectives, with the board and chief 

executive. Obviously, preparing for and 

conducting board meetings, the AGM 

and other general meetings is a big part 

of the job. It’s also vital to maintain good 

working relationships with other board 

members, with the chief executive, 

and through them with the staff group, 

and with funders and stakeholders. I 

regularly represent the organisation at 

external events and meetings. 

Do you have a degree and if so, did it 

help you get where you are today? 

It is a long time since I completed my degree 

and postgraduate education that it 

can be hard to say! My further education 

certainly helped equip me with tools for 

analytical thinking and awoke in me a 

curiosity about the world and a sharper 

appreciation of social justice. 

What’s the hardest thing about being 

chair? 

Two things come to mind. Keeping myself 

focused on governance and strategic 

issues and resisting the urge to get more 

involved in the detail of the work of the 

organisation. Knowing when you are 

doing a good job – and when you are not 

– can be hard to gauge. 

How did you get your current position? 

In 2015, I applied to an advert to join the 

board when VHS was seeking to co-opt 

members who had experience of working 

in the NHS. After a year, I became 

vice chair, and for a period of three 

months was interim chair when the 

previous incumbent left to take up work 

abroad. I was then elected as chair by the 

board in November 2017. 

What other board experience have you 

had and did it help? 

I have been on the board of several other 

voluntary organisations – most recently 

locally in the Scottish Borders where 

I live. This has given me a reasonable 

grounding in the statutory aspects of 

governance, but each organisation has 

its own culture and values and brings a 

unique combination of skills and experiences 

together in its board. It is important 

to respect that. For a number of 

years I was chief executive of a national 

voluntary organisation and this gave me 

an understanding of the dynamics of 

working with a board in that role, which 

I have found useful as a chair. 

Has your experience as a trustee, helped 

your career progression? 

It undoubtedly enables me to have a 

wider perspective on the issues of health 

and health inequalities in Scotland, 

which can only be of benefit. 

What’s your top tip for maintaining a 

good work-life balance? 

For me, it’s to protect some time to 

myself, ideally walking by the sea or in 

the hills when I can just be. Simple, yet 

remarkably difficult too! 

What advice would you give to a brandnew 

trustee? 

The organisation and your colleagues 

on the board need you! Don’t be scared 

to ask questions and offer your views. 

The fresh perspective and constructive 

inquiry that a new trustee brings can be 

of real value. 

Don’t be scared to 

ask questions and 

offer your views – the 

fresh perspective and 

constructive inquiry 

that a new trustee brings 

can be of real value

32 



GOODMOVERS: TWO MAJOR APPOINTMENTS IN SCOTLAND’S SOCIAL CARE SECTOR 

A new chief 

executive for 

Leuchie House 

Mark Bevan took up post as 

chief executive of national 

respite centre Leuchie 

House on 29 October. 

Mark began his career 

working in residential care, 

before going on to spend 

over a decade at Capability 

Scotland, rising to the post 

of director of operations. 

There, he led a staff team of 

over 1,000 and ran registered 

care services including 

holiday and short-break services 

throughout Scotland. 

He then moved on to develop 

his understanding of 

public policy and corporate 

philanthropy in posts which 

have included Scotland 

director for Amnesty International 

and managing di- 

Mary Glasgow has been appointed chief 

executive of Children 1st 

Children 1st has announced its acting chief 

executive Mary Glasgow has been appointed 

to the full-time position. 

A qualified social worker, Mary has been 

director of children and family services at 

Children 1st since 2014, taking up the post of 

interim chief executive last October. 

She has 28 years experience working across 

the statutory and third sector social work or 

social care arenas in a number of local authorities 

and organisations, as a practitioner, 

trainer, manager and leader. 

Mary has a particular interest in how family 

minded practice can work to protect children’s 

rights and wellbeing as well as build 

strong families and communities. She works 

to develop teams and services which reflect 

this approach in practice. 

Ken Cunningham, chair of Children 1st, 

said: “Mary has an incredible depth and 

breadth of experience and knowledge about 

how family-minded practice can build stronger 

families and communities. She is a committed 

champion to working with children 

and families, to uphold and advance their 

rights. We are delighted that she is bringing 

her passion and strategic thinking to her new 

rector of HRH The Prince of 

Wales’ responsible network 

in Scotland. 

Most recently Mark lead 

the Scottish Council for 

Development and Industry 

to create and deliver a 

change programme. Having 

delivered a governance and 

staffing review and set the 

new strategy, Mark was 

determined to bring his 

diverse experience back to 

the care sector and to work 

in and with his local community. 

Commenting on his new 

role, Mark said: “It is my 

great pleasure to be picking 

up the reins at Leuchie 

House from Mairi O’Keefe, 

and to be doing so at such 

an important time for the 

people Leuchie supports. 

Leuchie House is a fantastic 

resource for Scotland, based 

in East Lothian, setting the 

standard in delivering the 

very best health care and 

support as a central part of a 

relaxed holiday experience. 

“The forthcoming Neurological 

Action Plan will 

set the framework for the 

future and the Leuchie team 

sits ready to play a leading 

role in contributing in every 

way we can to its implementation.” 

Mark has lived in North 

Berwick for nearly 20 years. 

formal role as chief executive at Children 1st.” 

Mary said: “Children 1st’s mission to advance 

children’s rights to be safe, happy and 

loved in their own families and communities 

is as relevant today, as when the charity was 

first established over 130 years ago. I have incredible 

admiration for everybody at Children 

1st, most especially the children and families 

we work alongside. 

“I feel very honoured and privileged to be 

appointed as the charity’s new chief executive 

and am very much looking forward to keeping 

that mission at the heart of all we do, in 

the years ahead.” 

More recent 

appointments… 

Peter Nicholson is the 

new director of music 

at Sistema Scotland, 

starting on 12 November. 

Peter has been at Sistema 

since 2009. 

Chris Martin has left 

the Callander Youth 

Project to become chief 

executive of Social 

Enterprise Scotland. 

Former Falkirk Provost 

and sitting councillor 

Pat Reid is the new chair 

of Forth Valley Sensory 

Centre. 

Marie Curie UK has 

appointed Matthew 

Reed as its new chief 

executive. Matthew is 

moving from the Cystic 

Fibrosis Trust. 

Rami Okasha is 

leaving the Care 

Inspectorate to 

become director of 

transformation and 

innovation at Children’s 

Hospices Across 

Scotland. 

Scottish Veterans 

Residences has recruited 

Martin Nadin as its new 

chief executive. 

Matt Midler has joined 

Waverley Care as its 

corporate and individual 

relationships manager. 

He has moved from 

Scotland’s Armed Forces 

Children’s Charity. 

City of Edinburgh 

Council chief executive 

Andrew Kerr has been 

appointed as a trustee of 

the NSPCC.



Advertising feature 

WITH CYRENIANS, VOLUNTEERING CAN BECOME THE 

ROUTE INTO A FULL-TIME JOB 

As a values led organisation, creating 

meaningful relationships is at the core 

of what Cyrenians does. From peoplecentred 

service delivery to recognising 

the skills and talent of our staff and 

volunteers, we focus on our four values: 

integrity, compassion, respect and innovation. 

Cyrenians works to prevent homelessness, 

which includes direct outreach 

work with rough sleepers in the city 

centre of Edinburgh. It also involves 

more unique offerings such as our community 

farm, and our FareShare depot 

based in Leith from which we provide 

over 18,000 meals a week. 

Homelessness is caused by a myriad of 

different reasons – from social isolation, 

mental health issues, addiction, relationship 

breakdown and countless other 

bumps that crop up in our lives. Sadly, 

a large number of the people we work 

with have experienced very chaotic lives 

that lead them to a complex and dark 

place that sometimes feels impossible to 

get out of. 

It’s why we value all the individuals in 

our team. No one person we help support 

is the same, so it makes sense that 

our organisation welcomes individuals 

from all kinds of backgrounds too. 

For example, Lotte Soudant, (pictured, 

above) a 20-year-old who joined us as 

a residential volunteer last year from 

Holland. 

Lotte volunteered at our City Community 

for ten months after graduating 

from high school uncertain about which 

career path she wanted to take. Her interest 

in social care led her to Cyrenians, 

where she became a peer volunteer 

supporting young people living in one of 

our four community homes. 

Lotte said: “I look back at my time as a 

volunteer very fondly, and I will always 

remember the little moments. Late night 

conversations, cooking meals together, 

going out to socialise and feeling part of 

something bigger. 

“Supporting people my age was an 

amazing opportunity, it felt incredible 

to be able to give my time to something 

valuable, important and good.” 

Two weeks before Lotte’s placement 

Ewan Aitken: “We take great 

pride in our way of working and 

recognise the talent of our 

volunteers is part of that.” 

finished, sessional work became available 

at another Cyrenians community. 

After doing this for a period, Lotte joined 

her colleagues in a full-time capacity as 

an assistant key worker earlier this year. 

She added: “Being a staff member is 

a little different to being a volunteer. 

However it still feels just as good to see 

them grow in confidence and be part of 

something bigger than myself.” 

Last year we worked with 1,050 

volunteers who generously gave over 

77,000 hours of their time to help us 

deliver our services. Every year we are 

delighted to welcome previous volunteers 

back to our organisation either in 

similar or new roles, or as paid staff. 

Ewan Aitken, chief executive of Cyrenians, 

said: “We take great pride in our 

way of working and recognise the talent 

of our volunteers is part of that. Being 

able to provide opportunities for people 

passionate about the organisation is key 

to ensuring we continue delivering our 

services with people at the heart of what 

we do. 

“Our volunteer roles are varied and include 

residential placements like Lotte’s 

but also include helping serve lunches at 

community cook clubs, or bike maintenance 

as part of our community bike 

lending library. We are incredibly privileged 

that people chose to give us their 

time and we believe in supporting the 

right people in the right roles, using our 

individual strengths to deliver a comprehensive, 

compassionate service to those 

in need of our help.” 

To find out more about volunteering 

with the Cyrenians, visit cyrenians. 

scot/volunteer


34 NOVEMBER 2018 Ask Aunt Tiffany 

Got a problem that’s holding your organisation back? Aunt Tiffany knows everyone 

who’s anyone in the third sector – and will find someone with the answer you seek. 

What should we pay our staff? 

As a small 

organisation we are 

about to take the big 

step of hiring our first 

employees. But we 

have no idea what to 

pay them. Can you 

help, Aunt Tiffany? 

The question “What should we 

pay our staff?” is a one that 

SCVO’s information team often 

gets asked. It’s a hard one to 

answer. While we can’t offer 

specific advice, here are a few 

pointers to get you started. 

Factor in the size and structure of your organisation, 

where you’re based and the local job 

market conditions. 

Consider the level of autonomy and responsibility 

of the post, along with key factors such 

as knowledge and experience required, the 

scope for decision taking, financial and staffing 

responsibilities etc. 

It all comes down to affordability, and you 

have to always act in the best interests of your 

organisation and its beneficiaries. But you must 

also balance that with the duty of the third sector 

to pay and promote the real Living Wage. 

Some jobs, such as those in IT and finance, 

may have to be pegged at a level comparable 

with equivalent posts in the private sector in 

order to attract good candidates. But it’s worth 

emphasising that it’s not just about the money 

– other factors such as flexible working and 

greater autonomy are just as important for 

many people. 

The SJC scales are local government pay scales 

which are extensively used in the voluntary 

sector. They are agreed through negotiations 

between trade unions and local government 

employers. SCVO is not involved in these negotiations, 

and at time of publication the unions 

were at a stalemate with the local government 

umbrella body Cosla on pay negotiations. 

It is also important that you take note of the 

National Minimum Wage, which you are legally 

obliged to pay, and the Scottish Living Wage 

(now £9 per hour), which as a charity you may 

be expected to pay. The Scottish Government 

announced recently that it will aim to ensure 

that organisations which are granted funding 

are paying staff the Scottish Living Wage rate. If 

you’ve got more than 250 employees you now 

also need to comply with new reporting obligations 

about gender pay gaps. 

Once you’ve taken all these issues into consideration, 

have a look at recruitment adverts 

on our specialist charity jobs site Goodmoves. 

You’ll get a sense of what the sector is paying for 

similar roles, and you can download application 

packs to compare job descriptions and person 

specifications. 

This month’s solution was provided by the 

Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations 

information team

Social Suppliers Directory 



To advertise in the TFN Social Suppliers Directory, ring Alison Fraser on 0141 946 8708 

Senscot Legal 

A social enterprise 

providing quality, 

affordable legal support 

to the third sector. A wide range of services offered including 

structures and setup, employment, charity and governance. 

www.se-legal.net 

The Experience 

The Experience is Scotland’s awardwinning, 

premier indoor electric gokarting 

arena. Located close to Glasgow 

city centre, its dedicated conference 

centre offers spaces for every occasion. 

www.theexperience.org.uk 

graphics.coop 

Good design for good causes. We specialise in design, print 

and digital services for the third sector throughout Scotland. 

www.graphics.coop 

Scottish League of Credit Unions 

Our core purpose is to 

ensure that our member 

Credit Unions become 

and remain: 

Compliant > Sustainable > Ethical. 

www.SLCU.coop 

ACOSVO 

www.acosvo.org.uk 

ACOSVO is a membership 

organisation for third sector leaders 

and offers peer support, good 

practice sharing and leadership 

development opportunities. 

Grassmarket Project 

www.grassmarket.org 

GCP supports vulnerable 

adults, who are homeless, 

have mental health issues 

or a disability, through social 

enterprise and activities.

Let Keegan & Pennykid 

take the guesswork and 

hard work out of arranging 

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insurers, Keegan & 

Pennykid provides 

unbiased expert advice. 

You can be assured of the most 

appropriate cover for your 

organisation’s needs, giving you 

peace of mind that you’re insured 

correctly. 

In the event of a claim we’ll help 

liaise with insurers on your behalf 

to arrange the best and quickest 

settlement possible and offer risk 

management advice to mitigate 

further losses. 

You can rely on our experienced 

team to provide your organisation 

with advice and assistance when 

you need it, delivered with a 

personal and professional service. 

Keegan & Pennykid (Insurance Brokers) Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

TFN_November_2018

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