Change At The Helm
Dear Friends
I think it is important to be always learning from the past, while living in the present, but planning for the future. It is with the future development of the Trust in mind that I announced to the board last year that I would stand down as Chairman in 2019 having completed 34 years at the helm. (I thought our seafaring supporters might like the reference to the nautical).
Little did I think when the Trust was founded in 1985 that I’d end up chairing an international development agency, with Royal patronage, touching the lives of so many vulnerable people. Over these years we have seen many changes in our approach to our work. Perhaps our greatest was when we moved in 2002 from being a small grant making organisation to becoming a grant receiving organisation working in partnerships with others to achieve our goals (and of course Willie moved from being a board member to becoming our first employee). In just over eighteen months we changed from having a turnover of around twelve thousand a year to a turnover of just under a million.
It has been my great privilege to lead an organisation in which Chairman, Board, Chief Executive and staff have worked hand in glove to make our strap line “Connecting People To Change Lives” a reality.
It is now my great pleasure to congratulate Mr Alec Carstairs as my successor, and Professor Alasdair Munro as our new Vice Chairman. Both Alec and Alasdair have made outstanding contribution on the board, Alec with his financial background, and Alasdair from the world of science and medicine.
The board also resolved that I should continue to attend board meetings and be known as the Founder and Chaplain to the Board. Making these changes allows the board to have the benefit of a different style of leadership, while keeping continuity, and begins to prepare the Trust to think beyond the leadership that both Willie and I have shared together for many years.
Albert Bogle