Highland Third Sector Mentoring Scheme

As an experienced and enthusiastic Pupil Support Assistant for over 20 years, I have had a passion for supporting people with all aspects of pre and school life. As Mentor/SQA Assessor for Newstart Highland, my efforts concentrate on supporting volunteers and trainees, who need help and encouragement to focus on their future employment/training lives. As a former PSA, I have a good understanding of how to establish their learning needs and styles  to access learning then I provide encouragement and  support  for them to progress in their training. Other duties I undertake are job searches, CV building and interview skills. As an adult my passion for learning new things became reignited when I had my own Childminding business, where our group became the first to achieve a PDA certificate in Early Years and Childcare. Never losing my lust for learning I attended UHI in 2018 studying Contemporary Art Practice, as a mature student. My current position as Newstart Highland as a Freelance Mentor /SQA Assessor is enjoyable and interesting, where I use my many skills and work/ life experiences, while delivering various training and development programmes to adults.

Carrie Kirkegaard is the manager of Lochaber Hope’s community hub, New Connections in Fort William. The hub is a central location where groups, cafes, events, and information sessions take place and where the Lochaber Community can feel welcomed and looked after. Carrie has been in this role since October 2022 and came to the third sector from hospitality- namely restaurant, bar and hotel management. Day to day she manages the hub staff, building and events, works closely with other local organisations and develops the services and reach of the Hub. She benefited from a Mentor in the first months working at Lochaber Hope and looks forward to paying-it-forward in whatever way she can. Outside of New Connections you will usually find Carrie with her cats, a podcast and either her crochet or a book in hand!

Christine is an experienced life coach who also holds an operations role with the charity Growing2gether which mentors young people throughout schools in Scotland.

Curious and reflective by nature, she enjoys weaving well-being, vocation, and lifelong learning into coaching and mentoring conversations. She believes in the interplay of being and doing, is passionate about exploring the fullness of who we are and learning to trust our inner wisdom.

Christine's background in the third sector is within educational organisations that have a holistic approach to life. For five years she was the Guest Department Manager of findhorn.org. She then served as the founding Executive Director of centresnetwork.org, also for five years, a small charity supporting an international membership, and was a member of the Advisory Board of clearskycenter.org.

She believes relationship dynamics, open communication, teamwork, and creativity are important aspects for an organisation to thrive and blend a practical and intuitive approach with a focus on all aspects of sustainability.

Gordon is an experienced construction professional with over 18 years of experience in the industry. He studied Architectural Technology at Napier University in Edinburgh and embarked on a career with the Highland Council as a Project Co-ordinator for five years. During this time, he completed a Diploma in Construction Project Management and gained valuable experience managing construction works in school properties throughout the Scottish Highlands.

Gordon then joined Morrison Construction, where he has worked for 18 years and has progressed to the position of Construction Director. He has managed many projects throughout his career, from small projects to £20 million projects, coordinating operatives, sub-contractors, programme of works, commercial goals, and health & safety coordination. Gordon is a dedicated mentor and has over 15 years of experience mentoring apprentice joiners and trainee/assistant site managers. He is also a member of the Building Highland Board, which manages an annual turnover of £60 million. Overall, Gordon is a highly skilled and experienced construction professional with a passion for mentoring and a keen eye for detail.

Gwen has a background of work in the Third Sector, many roles which have been focused on engagement with health and / or social care related work, much of which was around developing networks and ensuring people's experiences were represented and heard and included at planning levels regionally and nationally. 

Gwen currently works as the Scottish Care Independent Sector Lead for Care Homes in Highland, but previous management roles have been as Local Support Fund Manager with Scottish Drugs Forum a Scotland wide post, service manager at RASASH the Rape Crisis Centre covering Highland region, Regional Engagement Manager with Diabetes UK. Gwen relocated to Highland 9 years ago, from Argyll and Bute when she was recruited by HTSI in an Adult Services Commissioning role for Third Sector.

Gwen had previously trained in counselling delivering drug and alcohol counselling in Argyll and Bute as well as therapeutic support work both paid and as a volunteer with Argyll and Bute Rape Crisis. 

Her qualifications include BA in Integration of Health and Social Care and a Post Graduate certificate in Understanding a Resilience Landscape.  

I'm a hardworking and committed leader with a strong record of initiating, managing and embedding organisational change to achieve growth, support sustainability and develop service quality. I am invested in the values and principles of the third sector, and I try hard to ensure that those values drive my personal and professional behaviour and thinking. My 20+ years background in management has been in the NHS and third sector. I have a keen interest in the promotion of social justice and human rights. I live in Edinburgh with my husband and our 3 year old beagle, Isla. Outside of work, I'm a keen rugby supporter and I dabble in amateur photography. 

Jaci Douglas is the Chief Executive of the Care and Learning Alliance (CALA)  - the largest early years and childcare charity in the north that delivers a wide range of children, family and play services across Highland and beyond.  She is the 3rd sector representative on Highland Council's Education Committee and Health, Social Care and Wellbeing Committee as well as Integrated Children's Services Plan Board and Reducing Poverty Working Group.  Before CALA, she was an Independent Councillor for Badenoch and Strathspey for a decade and during that time held senior roles including Co-Leader of the Opposition and Opposition Budget lead and Childrens Champion.  She has been a Board member of Cairngorms National Park Authority, NHS Highland and Inverness College UHI. Previous to that she lived abroad in the USA and Scandinavia for many years including running an international outdoor play space in Oslo and her own baking company outside Seattle.

She also sits on the community development organisation Voluntary Action Badenoch and Strathspey (VABS).

She is married with four daughters and has recently moved to Clachnaharry. In her spare time she reads widely and loves to travel.

Jim is passionate about his job, striving to identify opportunities for local people that provide tangible benefits to the individuals that receive them, in terms of securing employment or providing them with the correct skills and experiences to improve their employability credentials or to progress to further training initiatives or education.

His personal enthusiasm and commitment complement a thorough understanding of social impact drivers and the wider directives and targets from the Scottish Government. Jim’s knowledge of training and employment initiatives and schemes, as well as his community engagement approach are second to none and he has fostered an enviable, and exemplary, track record of delivering 100% KPI Outcomes, and in most cases greatly surpassing contracted obligations, on all projects completed to date by Morrison Construction.

Linda has worked in management roles in the manufacturing and renewables sectors and is now retired.  She has practical experience of all aspects of running a company having been managing director and then finance manager, and has an MBA from the Open University.  Experience in the third sector has been through a number of volunteer roles – as Chair of the Young Enterprise Scotland Highland & Moray volunteer team, as trustee of Brook at UK level, and co-founder of BOOM! Community Arts.  This has encompassed everything from events organising, and fundraising to governance and policy writing.  In her spare time Linda enjoys spending time with her family, gardening, walking, and listening to podcasts.