I was asked to join GAT as a board member in early 2021, moving to Chair of the Board in late 2022. I feel it is important to give everyone a chance to develop their skills, and GAT provides the opportunity to do this through working in various situations. I qualified as a Primary School Teacher in 1976 and spent 24 years as a Headteacher, retiring after 37 years. I have lived in the Stranraer area all my life and want to support GAT in taking the work forward in years to come.

I became involved with GAT from the beginning when Jackie and I decided to start the team in April 2018. We felt we wanted to give people a chance to achieve their dreams and have support to move forward. I started off my working career as a Bank Official, but now I work as a Personal Assistant to The Head of Service of Dumfries and Galloway Council. I enjoy reading, cooking, walking and most of all spending time with my family.

I started GAT with my wife Thelma, having previously worked on two similar projects (U-Turn and Community Action Team). I worked in the Drug and Alcohol Service for seven years, prior to that, I was a Manager with British Rail and educated at Strathclyde Graduate Business School and College of Commerce. I am also a qualified Accident Investigator and Safety Officer. I am a motorcycle racing fanatic and a loyal Queen of the South Fan.

I have been a local GP (specializing in Mental Health) in Stranraer along with my husband for many years and we are both now retired. I am originally from Northern Ireland and enjoy life in Stranraer. My favourite hobbies are running marathons and spending time with my precious grandchildren. I have a good working knowledge of charitable organisations and help GAT as much as I can.

I previously worked as a Legal Secretary before marrying and raising my family. I am involved in our family’s businesses in Plant Hire Construction and Civils, and we run a Beef Farm locally too. I enjoy baking, gardening, and knitting, as well as spending time with family and friends.

Following my retirement as an Area Housing Manager, I worked in a Local Care Home and gained a qualification in Health and Social Care. I very much enjoy helping others and support the work Gat achieves on a daily basis.

I live in Drummore. I’ve got a Higher National Diploma in Agriculture (HNDA) and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Farm Business Organisation and Management. I’ve worked on farms in UK, Sweden, Germany, and Australia mostly doing harvest work. I’ve worked on farms at home, mostly dairying. I’m also a Class One HGV Driver. I started working with GAT during lockdown and felt really honored to join as a board member.

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Having worked at a Local Nursery for over 20 years, we were delighted to receive the assistance of GAT on many occasions and felt that joining the Board was a small way in which I could try to repay the help that they had given us over the years. I really enjoy time spent with family, friends and visits to local beauty spots.

I am currently part of the Board at the Galloway Action Team. I am currently a Community Mental Health Nurse within the area. I believe a lot of my experience did not come from textbooks but from my life experience. I love my job and I am looking forward to helping out the youth workers on my time off. I am quite a bubbly chatty person and my favourite thing to do is play Rugby with my team mates. My favourite quote ‘don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened’

I joined the GAT board in April 2023 and I am looking forward to getting involved with the people attending the programme to get a wide range of support to help them progress into sustainable employment and have a better quality of life. I am a Team Leader with Skills Development Scotland and have worked in Careers and Employability for 27 years in a variety of roles but always helping people to explore their career ideas and improve their employability skills. I have contacts within many of the partner agencies and I will be able to use these to help people attending GAT.