PLACE FOR HOPE - Key Persons
Carolyn has been fascinated about the concept of peace since childhood and before joining Place for Hope, spent over 25 years working in the humanitarian, international development and peacebuilding sectors around the world, often in places of war, extreme poverty, repressive discrimination and exclusion of those most vulnerable. Her passion for peacemaking in its most holistic sense, is deeply rooted in her Christian faith and experiences around the world living and working beside people with different faiths, cultures, beliefs, worldviews and life experiences. Although Carolyn grew up in Australia, she settled back in her native UK in 2014 to focus on local peacemaking and conflict transformation and loves the 4 different seasons here (& really loves snow), cycling, and time spent with God and nature on long daily walks with her dog, Pace (Italian for peace).
David currently works for the Scottish Government within workforce reform. Previously, he worked with infrastructure, government and healthcare clients in his role as a management consultant with an international professional services firm, specialising in operational transformation and people & change. As a qualified executive coach, David enjoys supporting people into mature leadership.
Job Titles:
- Training Programme Coordinator
Gill has always loved learning and this has taken her into the world of youth and community work, further education teaching, and learning and development work. She lives in Dorset with her husband and teenage son, where she is also an LLM (Licensed Lay Minister) in Salisbury Diocese. She is passionate social justice, seeing God in everyday life and popular culture, reading and travelling.
Helen's passion for justice and peace has underpinned her development work for various ecumenical organisations over many years. Her role focuses on strategic planning, sustainability and fundraising. Helen is a member of the Methodist Church and lives near the sea in North Lancashire. She loves walking and birdwatching around Morecambe Bay, and at holiday times she and her husband can be found in their caravan anywhere in the UK!
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Director of Programmes and Partnerships for the UK Region of the Xaverian Missionaries.a
Hugh Foy is Director of Programmes and Partnerships for the UK Region of the Xaverian Missionaries.A lifelong, grassroots Anti Poverty and Trade Union activist, Hugh is a Teacher by profession, and has held a number of posts in Education and Social Work. Hugh is Vice Convenor of the Board of the Poverty Alliance, and a member of the National Steering group of the Scottish Living Wage Campaign. From 2017-2019 he served on the first Independent Poverty and Inequality Commission established by the Scottish Government.
John is a happily retired Church of Scotland Minister. After starting his working life as a brewer with Scottish and Newcastle, he served parishes in Edinburgh and East Kilbride, followed by a spell working for the Presbytery of Glasgow as Congregational Facilitator. He then joined the Interim Ministry team in the Church of Scotland, the post from which he retired. John is a volunteer practitioner with Place for Hope, and occupies the place on the Board set aside for a practitioner.
Job Titles:
- Reconciliation and Mediation Team Manager
Combining a passion for people with a head for strategy and process, Katie will develop a new reconciliation and mediation service for the Methodist Church and lead a team of practitioners in 3 pilot regions. She has extensive experience of project management within faith contexts and training in initial ministerial education as well as a background in academic theology. Katie loves being outdoors with her family and especially enjoys collecting rocks and shells with her daughter Ailsa for their games and craft projects!
Job Titles:
- Learning and Development Manager
Martina has a passion for justice, peacemaking and non-violence and brings many years of experience of developing, delivering and evaluating training and development programmes in the international, charity and academic sectors, including most recently facilitating conflict transformation workshops with faith and community groups around the UK. Her role involves the development and delivery of Place for Hope's set and tailored training programmes with faith communities, as well as supporting the training and development of our Practitioner team. Martina lives with her husband and teenage son and enjoys reading and walking, especially on the nearby hills.
Mirella Yandoli currently works as an interfaith and equality diversity and inclusion officer. Her main professional interests lie in the intersection of faith, equality and gender justice. Her role is split between managing focused dialogues with faith groups, education on the prevention of violence against women and the strategic development of the Church of Scotland's first equality diversity and inclusion group. Through this varied and challenging role, Mirella enjoys working with others to find creative solutions and ideas relating to justice and equality.
Job Titles:
- Communications, Client & Volunteer Manager
Natalie looks after words, websites and people! She is the main point of contact for those reaching out for support or training and ensures that the work, ethos and message of Place for Hope is communicated in a clear, accessible way. Natalie lives by the sea with her children. She plays roller derby, runs and loves outdoor adventures that include a swim in a loch or an ocean!
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Deputy - Chair of the Board
Muriel is a Church of Scotland parish minister serving in Cranhill in the east End of Glasgow. She was formerly a secondary school guidance teacher and is currently trying to learn the principles of non violent communication (NVC), having always been very interested in how we learn to talk to one another in respectful, creative and safe ways. Muriel is also on the board of Cranhill Development Trust in Cranhill.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Director of Regional Learning & Development
Richard Armiger is the Director of Regional Learning & Development. Richard has worked for the Methodist Church in learning and development for the last 14 years. Richard has a passion for enabling people to flourish and achieve their full potential as God intends for all his people. He has previously worked for the BBC and run his own media and training company Active Media Publishing. Richard is a trained trainer in conflict transformation and appreciative inquiry. He is an MBTI (Myers Briggs) accredited practitioner. Richard is a Local Preacher, MBA qualified and has an MA in Mission and the World of Work. He is married with two children, a daughter aged 15 and a son aged 18, and enjoys walking, photography and spending time with his family.