Our People

Iain Forbes - Chair

“I am passionate about people of all ages being given the opportunity to optimise their potential, so I am immensely proud to be Chair of includem. It’s an honour to work with such an experienced and knowledgeable Board, and to support the includem team as they overcome challenges to provide crucial support to children, young people and families.”

The commitment, skills, dedication and flexibility needed to make a positive difference were all on display. Having joined the board at the beginning of the pandemic restrictions I am aware of how fantastically well we adapted to the enforced restrictions by providing continuous high-quality support to so many young people and families across Scotland. My fellow trustees all reflect the intrinsic values; the desire to improve lives; enable every young person we support to achieve their potential. It is my great privilege to be Chair of includem.

John Fanning - Trustee

“I’m incredibly proud to serve on includem’s Board of Trustees. The dedication of the staff and the work they do in improving the lives of young people is awe inspiring.”

John Fanning is a Chartered Accountant with extensive finance leadership experience in the private, public and third sectors. His most recent roles have been interim finance director roles in the charity sector. Prior to that he was the Director of Finance at Registers of Scotland (Scotland’s land registration service) and Director of Corporate Services at the Scottish Police Services Authority.

Kevin O’Hare - Trustee

"includem’s inspiring work − helping children and young people realise their full potential − benefits all our communities; it is a privilege to join the board and seek to build on these achievements."

Kevin has held a series of senior strategic communications roles in the Police, Scottish Government and public sector. Previously, Kevin worked in Scottish newspapers and was Chief Sub-editor at The Herald in Glasgow. He has an MSc in Public Relations from Stirling University and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Donna Bell - Trustee

Donna is Director of Mental Health and Social Care at Scottish Government.

Donna is Director of Mental Health and Social Care at Scottish Government. She has previously led on a number of Scottish Government policy areas: Response to COVID-19 in Health and Social Care; Mental Health; Police; Improvement, Attainment and Wellbeing in Learning; Early Years; Youth Justice and; Finance. Educated at Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities and the University of California, Berkeley, Donna initially worked in Financial Services, before joining the Scottish Government in 2002

Stuart Kennedy - Trustee

“I was introduced to includem through a client I have worked with for several years. From the moment I met several colleagues, I was really enthused to learn about the work being carried out helping children and young people across Scotland and wanted to get involved.”

Stuart is an IT professional with over 10 years’ experience, currently specialising in Cloud Computing for all major ERP suites and has been a member of the Includem board for almost 3 years. His career experience combines both technical knowledge and service management, over a broad spectrum of customer industries including: manufacturing, retail, financial services, healthcare and public sector.

Bruce Marks - Trustee

“In the 10 years I’ve been on the Board at includem, the one thing all staff demonstrate consistently, every day is the belief that no child or young person should ever be written off.”

Bruce Marks is a Chartered Accountant and is a Director at KPMG LLP. He brings significant experience in Operational Financial Management and Corporate Governance and has provided accounting and financial advice to a range of charities over the course of the last 15 years.

Kirsty MacArthur - Trustee

Kirsty became a Director and co-owner of Glasgow based environmental consultancy, MacArthur Green in 2011. She manages the company’s legal obligations, governance and commercial risks. MacArthur Green is focussed on renewable projects, providing ecology and ornithology advice.

Prior to MacArthur Green, Kirsty worked as an Associate for multinational law firm Pinsent Masons LLP, where Kirsty specialised in environmental and consenting matters in the renewables energy sector. During her time at Pinsent Masons, she was seconded to the ScottishPower Renewables' legal team for one year. Her legal and commercial experience means she ensures MacArthur Green offer robust technical advice based on a solid understanding of the legal and commercial demands faced by renewable energy developers, and their business risks. Kirsty qualified as a solicitor in 2004. She subsequently went on to gain a Diploma in Environmental Law and Management. In 2020 she became a Law Society of Scotland Accredited Specialist in Cyber Security. Kirsty remains a registered solicitor and continues her interest in law as a part time Commercial Awareness and Commercial Contracts Tutor for the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at Glasgow University. Kirsty is also a member of the Law Society of Scotland’s Sustainability Committee, which oversees the development and implementation of the Society’s strategic objectives relating to sustainability matters for the legal profession in Scotland, showing leadership to the Scottish legal sector.

Mike Stevenson - Trustee

Mike is an International Speaker, whose journey from rough sleeper to multi award-winning entrepreneur demonstrates that our destiny is never set in stone. He founded Thinktastic, an innovations agency, voted Scottish Small Company of the Year in 2006. With over 30 years in Marketing, Mike worked with several leading brand names including M&S, British Gas, Sky TV, SSE and Standard Life - winning nine Communicator in Business Awards in the process.

As a business leader, his community involvements were recognised with three successive Business in the Community awards for Raising the Attainment of Young People while his investments made him one of only 21 UK company directors to be awarded the inaugural Community Mark. He was a founder member of Glasgow’s Heatwise, later the Wise Group, and then of multi-award-winning creative agency, Design Links. In his earlier, life he worked in steel, construction, wine and then as a community worker. He is a TEDx and Leadercast speaker, a media commentator on leadership, creativity and innovation, an occasional columnist for the Sunday Times and a two-times host of Disney Institute Master classes.

Jacqueline Cassidy - Trustee

Jacqueline Cassidy joined The Fostering Network in February 2022 as Director for Practice (UK) and Scotland. She works with fostering families and professionals to ensure that all children have the best possible care. Throughout her career, she has focused on supporting children and young people most recently as the Director for Scotland and Wales at the school based mental health charity, Place2Be. Previously, she spent a decade at the national children and young people’s charity, Children in Scotland where she worked with colleagues and partners to develop a range of programmes to support improved practice and policy outcomes for children and young people. Prior to that she managed a young people’s charity, the Kent People’s Trust, and spent several years at the Westminster think tank, the Social Market Foundation.

Jacqueline has an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and in 2019, she received a Churchill Fellowship and conducted research on intergenerational co-located child and elder care. She is Trustee of the Intergenerational nursery and organisation, Ready Generations and also Trustee of includem who help children, young people and families realise their potential. Jacqueline is passionate about the mission of includem to ensure that all children and young people have the best possible support to achieve their full potential. She is committed to #KeepingThePromise

Lesley Taylor - Trustee

Lesley Taylor has been an Educational Psychologist in Scotland since 2008, coming from a background in academic research and residential child care.

Lesley has experience across a wide range of educational psychology practice, particularly in relation to trauma-informed practice and developing mental health supports.

Hannah Paylor - Trustee

Hannah Paylor is a Policy Advocate at Carnegie UK, a social change foundation working across the UK and Ireland to improve collective wellbeing.

Hannah brings experience in using participatory research, advocacy, and communications to influence policy at local, national, and UK level.

Meet the Team

Lisa Weylandt

Lisa Weylandt - Policy & Public Affairs Officer

Blair Melvin

Blair Melvin - Impact & Information Manager

Colin Brown

Colin Brown - Team Manager

Louise Davidson

Louise Davidson - Project Worker & Employee Forum Rep

Nicola Galloway

Nicola Galloway - Team Manager

Quddsia Iqbal

Quddsia Iqbal - Senior Support Services Officers

Stewart Philp

Stewart Philp - Team Manager

Martyn Walker

Martyn Walker - Communications & Public Affairs Manager

Sarah Young

Sarah Young - Project Worker

Our Board

Iain Forbes

Iain Forbes - Chair

John Fanning

John Fanning - Trustee

Kevin O’Hare

Kevin O’Hare - Trustee

Donna Bell

Donna Bell - Trustee

Stuart Kennedy

Stuart Kennedy - Trustee

Bruce Marks

Bruce Marks - Trustee

Kirsty MacArthur

Kirsty MacArthur - Trustee

Mike Stevenson

Mike Stevenson - Trustee

Jacqueline Cassidy

Jacqueline Cassidy - Trustee

Lesley Taylor

Lesley Taylor - Trustee

Hannah Paylor

Hannah Paylor - Trustee

Senior Management Team

Martin Dorchester

Martin Dorchester - Chief Executive

Drew Collier

Drew Collier - Director of Service Delivery

Lucy Neilson

Lucy Neilson - Director of Operations

Claire Barton

Claire Barton - Head of Services

Tracey Stewart

Tracey Stewart - Head of Services, Projects & Programmes

David Ferrier

David Ferrier - Head of Development

Our Partners

How we work

Commission Us