Members of Council
Professor Graeme Millar CBE
Chair of the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, Graeme Millar has occupied several positions in the health & consumer field over many years, such as the Scottish Consumer Council, Edinburgh Sick Children’s NHS Trust, Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland, Southern Scotland Electricity Consumer’s Board, Scottish Construction Forum and Common Services Agency NHS Scotland as well as private sector board appointments with Dunfermline Building Society, Fletcher Jones, Lomax Mobility Ltd, the Food Standards Agency and the Scottish Rugby Union.
“Having been involved in the health service here in Edinburgh, Lothian and, during my time at the Common Services Agency, throughout Scotland, for around 30 years, I believe that the work of the Sick Kids Friends Foundation is invaluable in ensuring that our children receive the very best possible care, facilities and that their families are supported in every possible way. Our work always enhances the health service provision. We never do the job of the NHS…our aim is to provide the extra that really makes a difference, to put the icing on the cake and the cherry on the icing. I am enormously grateful to all our supporters for their tremendous commitment to our aim of helping Sick Kids get better!”
Kay Blair
I run my own marketing and communications company, Business Perceptions, specialising in the financial sector, I am a member of the Scottish Consumer Council and serve on the Financial Services Authority's Consumer Panel, which means that I am well placed to make a strong contribution to the financial and governance aspects of the running of the charity as well as its marketing and public relations. I am a Trustee and also sit on the Audit Committee, where we scrutinise the workings of the charity and ensure that all procedures are robust and followed scrupulously. It is always helpful when links between the charity and companies can be formed and, through my many contacts, I have managed to bring together companies who wish to support charity and the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, and together they develop projects which make a real difference to the children and their families.
Ken Brown
As a former bank manager, my financial background and skills have been very useful at a time when the Sick Kids Friends Foundation has been growing exponentially. They are particularly helpful in my work as a Trustee, especially when considering financial planning such as budgeting, cashflow and investments. In addition, I have become involved in other ways, helping to build flatpack furniture for the Parent Accommodation Project and the Drop In Centre, working in the gardens at the respite and residential houses for children with complex nursing needs, and considering the strategy for our new Community Programme.
Stephanie Donaldson
I am a mother of four children and each one of them has benefited from the 'Sick Kids', especially the A&E department! My youngest has been hospitalised overnight several times and I would find myself trying to sleep in an armchair next to his bed. The last time, however, I was given a mattress and found that these were provided by funds raised for the Sick Kids Friends Foundation. Our stay in the hospital was so much improved by this that I decided I would like to help. My career in fine art and my association with Lyon & Turnbull enabled me to be closely involved with the biennial exhibition "Postcards for Sick Kids". I have also been able to indulge a personal interest - gardening - working with the volunteers who maintain the Sensory Gardens at the Respite and Residential Houses.
Andrew Dunlop
Having been a GP for 20 years and also a parent, I understand many of the pressures which having a sick child brings. We are at a period in history where never before have we enjoyed the huge developments that medical science has brought to the health of our children and young people .I have had the privilege of sitting on several committees examining the models for enhancing children’s services within Scotland in the 21st century. I look forward to seeing these implemented in the future. In my time on the Council I have been involved in many discussions on our grant making policy and am proud that we have supported such projects as the Drop In Centre and the Smart Wheelchairs for Braidburn School. The extra provision, which the Sick Kids Friends Foundation funds really makes a difference to children in the hospital and their families.
Catriona Johnson
My background in Paediatric Nursing and also now in organisational effectiveness, combined with my role as a parent have given me valuable experience when it comes to considering projects for funding. I am committed to ensuring excellence in delivering services but also ensuring that we are always enhancing NHS provision, never replacing it. I am always keen to be involved in fundraising efforts and in encouraging others to get involved...there is so much that we can do to make life in hospital better for children and their families!! We need to provide excellent care for our sick children now and at the same time be part of the planning process which will lead us to do it even better in the future.
Mark Little
I was appointed Regional Director for Scotland for Barclays Wealth back in December 2005. Prior to this, I was Head of Global Autos Research at Deutsche Bank for seven years and a Fund Manager and Sector Analyst at Scottish Widows Investment Management. I am a qualified Chartered Accountant and practiced first with Price Waterhouse until 1991.
Through my work, I am no stranger to the need of charities to have a governance structure underpinned with financial knowledge and understanding. I sit on the Audit Committee and am also on the Trustee Management Board. I am also hugely committed to our fundraising activities and have raised funds through both Jail ‘n’ Bail and the Sick Kids Open Golf Challenge in the past. I am particularly keen that we help children now, but also plan well for the future….for the future of the hospital and for the future of provision of care through research into many different conditions like autism, which has such an effect on the lives of affected children and their families.
Isabel McCallum
When the Sick Kids Friends Foundation was formed I was Director of Nursing at the hospital and it has always been a pleasure to be one of the hospital representatives on the Council. My role as Director of Nursing for Lothian University Hospitals Trust meant that I was able to form a vital link with the wider hospitals community and advise the Council of the strategic direction in the whole of NHS Lothian acute hospital services, including the children’s hospital. Now as Project Director for Reprovision of the hospital I am working with staff in all disciplines to plan what is needed in the new hospital. That gives me a unique picture of all the services provided and how the Sick Kids Friends can add to them to make them the very best for children and families.
Gordon MacKinlay
My interest in charitable input at the hospital is no secret, as I was involved in setting up the TASK Appeal to build the New Wing. I have remained involved ever since and am proud to highlight so many successes since we formed the charity. As a surgeon I am of course very pleased that we have the most advanced keyhole surgery operating theatre system, OR1, in place, which means that we can help many more children with such procedures and also contribute to training the next generation of keyhole surgeons through the live video link which it provides. Our new CT Scanner was also highly significant as it provides much more precise images which are so vital when we are working in theatre.
Grant Macrae
I have an audit background with experience in listed companies, family businesses, charities and all segments of the public sector including NHS. My interest in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children began when my own children were patients and I was auditor of the then NHS Trust . In addition to being a Director of KPMG Audit LLP, I am a Board member and chair the Finance and General Purposes Committee of Edinburgh World Heritage, as well as the Audit Committee of other charities. I am also Convener of the Public Sector Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and a member of its Technical Policy Board. Hence I am able to bring experience from many other charitable and public bodies to my involvement on the Sick Kids Friends Foundation Trustees Management Board, Council and in my chairing of the Audit Committee.
Fay Millar
I first got involved with the Sick Kids Friends Foundation because of my retail experience which the then Board thought would be useful in the revamping of the hospital shop run by Sick Kids Friends Foundation volunteers. Since then I have been involved in a variety of responsibilities….making the annual selection of Christmas cards, sitting on the Board of Task Trading Plc, our trading arm, designing a colour scheme and choosing furniture for PJ’s Loft and the Drop In Centre, assisting at events and helping to devise the highly successful Girly Get Together!! I am also on the Steering Group of the Drop In Centre, which I really enjoy, as it is such a good project and is achieving even more success than projected in its first year.
Alan Smith
My 20 years as a GP and parent of a disabled child, have made it very clear to me that, when it comes to caring for Sick Children, there is so much more to be done than the National Health Service can do alone. I am particularly keen on projects, which really make a difference to the lives of children when they are in the hospital or at home. I was pleased to be one of the very early supporters of the Drop In Centre, as I recognise the importance of supporting families, not only through the early days following diagnosis, but also long after when often the nature of a child’s condition means that unexpected problems or challenges can arise at any time. I am particularly interested in the new Community Programme and look forward to playing a part in its development.
Shona Stewart
I am a housewife, mother, grandmother and former primary school teacher, so I guess I know a bit about children!! I have been on the Council for several years and first got involved through helping with fundraising through the Carols for Christmas Concert. I have also assisted in planning of the Girly Get Together event, and attend all the Council meetings. I was particularly interested in our plans for Family Accommodation and the Drop In Centre.
Director
Maureen Harrison
As Director of the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, my function is to oversee all the work of the Charity. My role involves working with the Trustees and Council of the charity to determine the needs for funding and then to work with our staff and wonderful army of fundraising volunteers to raise what is needed. In the past six years I have been very involved too in charity legislation through my role as Chair of the Institute of Fundraising in Scotland, so I should be well equipped to ensure that, as a charity, we are satisfying all our legal, financial, Health and Safety and accounting obligations. Having been here for 10 years now, I particularly enjoy going out and talking about the wonderful work, which our supporters provide the funding for...our PJ's Loft, OR1 operating theatre system, the Drop In Centre and a million and one comforts for children in the care of the hospital. As time goes on we are continually adapting our work to stay aligned with developments in the delivery of children's healthcare and now I am working with Council members, healthcare staff, families and other organisations to develop a new area of work for us assisting children and families who are being cared for at home and in the community. I very rarely hear children crying in the hospital, but I bump into parents with tears in their eyes nearly every day...I know that we can make a difference to their time here, which is why I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to help make Sick Kids even better.
