EVOC Board of Directors:
- Convener: Jan-Bert van den Berg (Artlink)
- Treasurer: Jacqui White
- Vice-Convenor: John Hinton (Move On)
- Appointed Director: Deirdre Henderson
- Gary Dewar (Families Outside)
- Rhona Hunter
- Glenn Liddall (People Know How)
- Su Millar (Bridgend Farmhouse)
- Chris Smith (Gillespie Macandrew)
- Marit Boot
- Melissa Highton (The University of Edinburgh)
- Ran Majumder
- Simona Testa
Convenor: Jan-Bert van den Berg (Artlink)
Jan-Bert has worked for Artlink for over 25 years. Artlink supports the right to participate in cultural life regardless of disability and promotes diversity by drawing on lived experiences to inform arts responses which are relevant and enduring. He is a member of the TSSG and Compact and firmly believes that the Third Sector has an important role to play in constructively and assertively contributing to building
Treasurer: Jacqui White
Bio coming soon.
Vice-Convenor: John Hinton (Move On)
John has worked as a Housing Officer and Community Worker and gained a postgraduate diploma in housing. Having worked for the Big Issue in Scotland, John was one of Move On’s founders, establishing the company in 1997. Since then, he has led Move On through more than twenty years of growth and development. Move On works to unlock the potential of vulnerable young people and those affected by homelessness in order to improve their lives. Move On supports and empowers people to raise aspirations, increase confidence, take control over their own futures and achieve their goals. Services include: employability (including work experience and paid traineeships), personal development and pre-vocational training, mentoring, befriending, volunteering, aftercare, peer education, guidance, advice and information. In a bid to diversify income streams and ensure longer-term sustainability, Move On has developed social enterprise approaches capable of delivering social and environmental impact, while at the same time generating income through trading. In 2012, we established our “FareShare” food re-use social enterprise in Glasgow’s Whiteinch, tackling food poverty, reducing food waste and offering high quality employability opportunities. In 2018, we set up “Move On Wood Recycling” in Granton, North Edinburgh, offering training and volunteering opportunities, while recycling and re-using waste wood. John is a non-Executive Director of the Scottish Mentoring Network, FareShare UK and also a board member of the Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations Council (EVOC).
Appointed Director: Deirdre Henderson (Interim Senior Policy Manager, Scottish Government)
Deirdre is a multi-award winning Community Learning and Development professional, registered with the Standards Council for Community Learning and Development for Scotland, and the UK Public Health Register. More recently, she received the 2019 UK Public Health Register Award for Innovation in Public Health for Collaborative Working and was a finalist for the 2019 Improving Public Health Practice award. Other awards include; Partnership Working, Tackling Inequalities and Improving Health, and a best run service award. She has also presented her work at best practice learning events and written about my work in sector publications. She has worked in a variety of settings for both statutory and third sector employers; community development, youth work, adult education, literacies, health, volunteering, and the arts. She has also volunteered with, founded, and chaired many different voluntary agencies and charities.
Gary Dewar (Families Outside)
As a Social Worker and Community Educator Gary’s background is in work with children and young people and families in both local authorities and the voluntary sector. As a practitioner Gary has worked across Scotland and in England in a variety of settings, from community-arts projects, to group work with children and adults, to supporting vulnerable and at risk young people in educational settings and delivering intensive whole family work. Gary has managed a range of teams across sectors and is always looking to create supports that are relationship-focused, rights-based and able to address the full range of issues families face – from complex trauma and loss, to social isolation, to poverty and inequality. Gary is currently Head of Family Support at Families Outside, leading a range of support services across Scotland for families affected by imprisonment.
Rhona Hunter
Rhona is a social worker and has worked in both the statutory and voluntary sectors. Rhona worked for Fife and Edinburgh Councils before moving to the voluntary sector in 2001. Rhona has worked with Action for Children, Scottish Drugs Forum and was laterally Chief Executive of Circle. Rhona has a particular interest in supporting families experiencing disadvantage and is committed to improving outcomes for children by addressing intergenerational issues, poverty and discrimination. Rhona is also a Trustee of Edinburgh and Lothian Trust Fund.
Glenn Liddall (People Know How)
Glenn Liddall is Founder and Chief Executive of People Know How, a charity focused on social innovation. Working with people, communities and organisations and their ideas for positive social change. Glenn has over twenty-five years of experience in the third sector after spending his early working life in retail and hotel management. He first volunteered for a number of charities and then trained in counselling going on to manage a drug and alcohol service where he developed a number of new services. Glenn was GIRFEC lead for a large national charity prior to setting up People Know How.
Su Millar (Bridgend Farmhouse)
Su was formally co-opted onto the Bridgend Farmhouse Board in February 2021. She has worked in the Third Sector in different roles for over 30 years now, most recently with LifeCare Edinburgh which she left after 17 years at the helm as CEO. Su’s is keen to draw from these perspectives to contribute to the work of EVOC to help deliver its Mission and new strategy in very challenging and changing times, with sustainability being a key focus for all. Su is a member of the Third Sector Strategy Group(TSSG).
Chris Smith (Gillespie Macandrew)
Chris is lead partner in the corporate department at Gillespie Macandrew and is dual-qualified in Scotland and in England & Wales. He joined the firm as a trainee in 1992 and became a partner in 2002. He has substantial experience assisting clients with mergers and acquisitions and corporate structures for projects, as well as expertise in intellectual property matters and advising businesses in the high tech and food and drink sectors. Chris has a particular interest in advising family businesses, having grown up in a family business. He works in concert with our land, succession planning and tax specialists to ensure an integrated approach to our advice for family businesses. Chris is actively involved with Business Gateway’s support services for early-stage businesses, and acts as a volunteer mentor to young entrepreneurs for the Prince’s Trust Youth Business Scotland. Outside the office, Chris’s interests include singing in a choir, creative writing and live music, particularly the blues.
Melissa Highton (The University of Edinburgh)
Melissa Highton is a senior manager in higher education with a particular interest in digital participation, knowledge activism, diversity and inclusion, and adult education. She is Assistant Principal for Online and Open Learning at The University of Edinburgh where she works to ensure that all members of the university: staff, students and alumni are able to engage online as lifelong learners and share knowledge openly to make the world a better place. Melissa has led a number of organisational and digital transformation programmes and gives her time as a mentor and volunteer to open source and open education projects.
