Iain is a retired local government officer with many years’ experience in the public and voluntary sectors. He began his working life as a trainer in the voluntary sector working with young care leavers, and he has held a range of posts in the voluntary and public sectors, latterly working as a Clerk to various high level Committees within Glasgow City Council including the Children Hearing Committee.

Throughout his working life, Iain was a trade union activist and as a disabled person he campaigned for workers’ rights and disability equality. He has held the positions of Chair of the National Disabled Members Committee of his trade union UNISON and the STUC Disabled Workers Committee. Through these posts and as a Branch Secretary he promoted the social model of disability which clearly locates disability as being constructed by barriers such as inaccessible workplaces, lack of accessible transport and support, negative attitudes and the way society is organised rather than with disabled people themselves. From this emancipatory perspective, Iain negotiated support for disabled workers in employment and for those looking to access employment. This included speaking at TUC Annual Congress for disabled workers and representing STUC at parliamentary committee and working groups.

Iain became aware of GDA through networks and joined the Board and became Vice Convenor due to extensive knowledge, skills and experience in relation to Governance. Iain works closely with the Convenor, CEO and other Board colleagues in relation to Trustee compliance with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, i.e. to ensure that fellow Board members and Trustees comply with their duties around acting in the interests of the charity, reporting and compliance. Iain’s particular area of interest in relation to Governance is to work with the Convenor and CEO to regularly review GDA’s Plans and compare these against our governing document to check if anything needs to be changed or updated.

“Since retiring I have continued as a volunteer, holding a leadership position which allows me to influence policy and strategy, including access and equality issues. My “geeky” love of Governance and keeping an eye on our Plans has never been more useful than during COVID when GDA has had to respond rapidly to the extreme needs and inequalities created by the pandemic. I am proud of how GDA has acted and the organisation’s leadership role in preventing thousands of disabled people from falling through the gaps in the system.”

Iain has been married for 36 years, has a daughter and a son, and is a Partick Thistle supporter.