Board of Directors
Maybe we should have titled this section Rogues Gallery! But we thought you'd appreciate putting a face to the name of those volunteers on the Trust's Board of Directors.
Richard Fyfe - Chair
Elected 2/12/14. Richard has lived in Culbokie since moving from Dingwall in 2001. He works for SEPA in Dingwall and from a background in Chemistry he is now a specialist in environmental regulation. He also has experience in dealing with planning and Scottish Water issues.
He is an active member of the Culbokie Church of Scotland where he is the Session Clerk. You will regularly see him helping out at the soup lunch in Findon Hall
Richard has a keen interest in the outdoors and his hobbies include hillwalking, cycling and kayaking as well as gardening.
He is an active member of the Culbokie Church of Scotland where he is the Session Clerk. You will regularly see him helping out at the soup lunch in Findon Hall
Richard has a keen interest in the outdoors and his hobbies include hillwalking, cycling and kayaking as well as gardening.
Alison Petch - Vice-Chair
Elected 3/10/16. Alison returned full time to the family home in Culbokie when she retired in 2015. After training in planning and in social work, she spent her working life in health and social care. Initially this was as a university based researcher. Latterly she led two third sector organisations which tried to ensure that what is learnt from research gets put into practice. Her core interest is in trying to ensure that everyone is able to access a good quality of life.
Jillian MacKenzie - Company Secretary and Treasurer
Elected 2/12/14. Jillian is a Chartered Accountant originally from Sutherland but has been living in Culbokie since 2006. Jillian comes from a long line of farmers and they remain very much in her list of favourite clients in her accountancy practice, Frame Kennedy, which she runs with her 2 fellow directors in Inverness. She specialised in business start-ups for a number of years and was seconded to the Highland Council for many years to assist with such projects as the Assynt Crofters buying back their land, management buy outs and rescue packages for large businesses where the fund that she managed would invest to bridge the funding gap to ensure such projects happened. More recently she has looked after her own portfolio of clients ranging from large multi-million pound businesses to the local window cleaner and lists her specialisms as farming, tourism and family businesses. Jillian has 2 children, one in Culbokie Primary and one in Fortrose Academy and between them and the various community concerns that she has volunteered for has little free time to follow her hobbies which include foreign travel, badminton, reading and discovering coffee shops where her out of control caffeine habit can be sated.
Marilyn Richards - Minute Secretary
Elected 2/12/14. Marilyn retired to Culbokie in December 2013 having spent her whole life living in small communities. For 30 years Marilyn worked near Greenock and then in Kirkwall as a Maths teacher in a variety of promoted posts including four years working with local businesses to support disadvantaged young people into work. The last eight years of her career were spent as Assistant Director of Education in Orkney, where she worked with all the Islands’ schools and communities to implement the new curriculum. Marilyn has also held a variety of positions in Community Council, School Board, and other voluntary organisations.
Penny Edwards - Director
Elected 2/12/14. Penny’s career has been in rural development, environmental management and forestry. Previous jobs have included Head of Strategy with the Central Scotland Countryside Trust and Chief Executive of the Sussex Wildlife Trust. She also ran her own environmental consultancy and local hardwood timber company in Falkirk. She moved to Culbokie in 2008 and established an upholstery and woodworking business. She worked with Ferintosh Community Council to establish the Culbokie Development Group in 2011 and chaired the Board of CCT from its inception in June 2014 until Dec 2017. She is a Trustee of The Pebble Trust giving grants for projects supporting community resilience and reduction in fossil fuel use and is a past Director of Transition Black Isle.
Mark Douglas - Director
Elected 26/10/15. Mark is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and has worked in the construction industry for the past 24-years. He moved to Inverness in 2000 having worked in the Highlands and Islands for a number of years, whilst commuting on a weekly basis from Glasgow.
Mark and his family moved to Culbokie in 2005 and his son attends Fortrose Academy.
Mark and his family moved to Culbokie in 2005 and his son attends Fortrose Academy.
Bruce Morrison - Community Council Appointee
Appointed by Ferintosh Community Council
Bruce's career was made up of 15 years as a research scientist in industry and the remainder in business development and general management. Now retired, Bruce and his wife, Carolyn, have lived in Culbokie for 17 years, including seven years experience as a community councillor.
Bruce's career was made up of 15 years as a research scientist in industry and the remainder in business development and general management. Now retired, Bruce and his wife, Carolyn, have lived in Culbokie for 17 years, including seven years experience as a community councillor.
Angie Morris - Director
Elected 26/11/18
Angie has lived in Culbokie for 17 years. Having taught in a sixth form college in Hampshire, secondary schools in South Wales and as voluntary secretary of the Henville Educational Foundation in Hamble, her background is in education and the performing arts. Since moving to the Highlands, Angie has taught Higher Drama at Eden Court Theatre and worked at Inverness College UHI in various roles, initially as Schools Liaison Development Manager and for the past six years as lecturer/programme leader for the HNC Acting and Performance course. Recently retired, she still enjoys teaching part-time.
In 2015 and 2016, Angie mentored a small team of Fortrose Academy students as they planned and organised two successful Culbokie Gathering events for different charities, and in 2017 she organised a Silent Auction as part of a community fund-raising event, aptly titled ‘The COOLbokie Gathering.’
Angie has lived in Culbokie for 17 years. Having taught in a sixth form college in Hampshire, secondary schools in South Wales and as voluntary secretary of the Henville Educational Foundation in Hamble, her background is in education and the performing arts. Since moving to the Highlands, Angie has taught Higher Drama at Eden Court Theatre and worked at Inverness College UHI in various roles, initially as Schools Liaison Development Manager and for the past six years as lecturer/programme leader for the HNC Acting and Performance course. Recently retired, she still enjoys teaching part-time.
In 2015 and 2016, Angie mentored a small team of Fortrose Academy students as they planned and organised two successful Culbokie Gathering events for different charities, and in 2017 she organised a Silent Auction as part of a community fund-raising event, aptly titled ‘The COOLbokie Gathering.’
Niall MacDonald - Director
Elected 26/11/18. Niall move to the Highlands from Bridge of Allan some 3 years ago to take up a leadership position within a local Employee Owned business in Alness. He moved to Culbokie just over 2 years ago as he believed there was a great community spirit in the village and was drawn by its great location and the beauty of the Black Isle. Niall, an engineer by profession, has worked in manufacturing for over 40 years now holding senior positions in Supply Chain, Human Resources and Technical Support. He has a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Strathclyde University. In addition to his kids and grandkids his passions involve football (an adopted Staggie !!), walking and cycling.
Gwyn Howroyd
Gwyn has lived in Culbokie for 4 years after having moved around many places as a child, which has given her a great appreciation for the sense of community in the village. She is currently finishing an Open University degree in Maths and its Learning, and is very involved with the Inverness ladies rugby team for which she is vice-captain. Gwyn is a Unit-Helper with the Fortrose Brownies and helps out with the high school's debating team as well as being involved with adult learning in Dingwall. In her spare time she enjoys walking and occasionally gardens if it needs to be done.
Becoming a Director
Directors play an important role in the Trust. The Board of Directors is a formal body of elected (majority) Trust members and appointed/co-opted (minority) others, drawn together for the specific purpose of ensuring the organisation is properly run for the benefit of its members. Directors may be young or old, working, retired or unemployed. For instance they may be a joiner, cook, teacher, farmer, solicitor, stay at home parent or a volunteer play leader. In fact, the more mixed and diverse the Board of Directors, the more representative of the local community it is likely to be and the wider skills range it is likely to have. However, all Directors will be well informed about and take a healthy interest in community issues and activities and be keen to see the Trust make a real difference to the community.
Directors for this voluntary role are recruited through a due process as defined in theTrust’s governing documents. Directors are expected to serve up to three years.
Within the Board of Directors, appointments will be made to key roles e.g. Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Secretary etc.
If you are interested in supporting the community by becoming a Director please contact info@culbokiect.org
