Funding provided by:
Mission Statement
- to work collaboratively to incorporate local Independent Support in every aspect of social care design and delivery
- to ensure the needs and views of people accessing social care support and their support networks are valued and represented.
Download the SDSS Strategy 2022-25 here.
About SDSS
Self Directed Support Scotland represents organisations run by and for disabled people, our members support thousands of people across Scotland with their social care choices. Together we work to ensure that SDS is implemented successfully so that people have full choice and control over their lives. We do this by:
- Supporting our members in the delivery of their services to provide local independent information, advice and support to those at each stage of their social care journey.
- Signposting individuals at each stage of their social care journey.
- Representing our members nationally to discuss SDS implementation.
- Showcasing good practice from those involved with SDS.
- Providing health and social care professionals, other voluntary organisations and educational institutions with the resources they need to champion SDS.
- Conducting research which recognises the power of lived experience.
SDSS Annual Reports
Articles of Association
Staff
Donald is our Chief Executive and leads on SDSS delivery and strategic vision. He works closely with the SDSS Chair, Trustees, membership and staff team in the formulation of strategy and objectives.
Donald brings over 27 years of diverse experience in social care, primarily leading organisations working in learning disability. He comes to us from Autism Network Scotland, where he led the implementation of the Scottish Strategy for Autism in partnership with Scottish Government, before establishing his own successful Autism consultancy.
Involved in self-directed support implementation from its inception, exploring organisational responses in Glasgow, he has continued to work with people directing their own support through his own consultancy.
Get in touch with Donald:
By Email – Donald@sdsscotland.org.uk
Michael is our Communications and Policy Manager who contributes to and delivers our communication strategy by raising awareness and sharing best practice through press, events, our website and social media. He also works closely with the SDSS team, our membership and stakeholders to shape SDS policy in Scotland.
With a background in private, public and third sector marketing and communications, Michael brings a wealth of knowledge and skills for engaging audiences and influencing change. Most recently, Michael worked for Alzheimer Scotland where he was introduced to self-directed support.
Michael has a passion for human rights, equality, diversity and inclusion and uses his skills and experience to deliver positive results for Self Directed Support Scotland.
Get in touch with Michael:
By Email – michael@sdsscotland.org.uk
Connect with Michael on Linkedin.
Mark is the Membership Development Executive for SDSS.
Mark previously managed and developed a Carers Advocacy Service at VOCAL, which is a carers organisation based in Edinburgh and Midlothian. Before that he worked as an advocate for people with learning difficulties, children and young people, and people using health services both in Scotland and the North East of England. Mark has also previously worked closely with disabled people’s groups and organisations to enable them to grow and develop in the way that they want, and to enable people to tackle the issues they are concerned with more effectively.
Mark has a love of history, archaeology and travelling and is currently trying to learn Mandarin and BSL!
Get in touch with Mark:
By Email- mark@sdsscotland.org.uk
By phone- 0131 475 2624
Jeremy is our Operations Manager and is here to implement a plan in conjunction with our team and stakeholders to continue to increase the effectiveness of the organisation and to take the lead on finance operations.
Following business and senior management roles in Edinburgh’s private sector, I’ve come from 6 years in development and financial management in an award winning Drugs and Alcohol charity. There I developed independent income and streamlined systems improving organisational effectiveness with finance, marketing, stakeholder management, fundraising and reporting.
While Operations Manager of SDSS on a part-time basis I am developing a fundraising support service for organisations with low capacity to manage fundraising events, engage their own stakeholders and connect with corporates and the public. Outside of work I currently support my local ex-mining community through our community council and regeneration project steering groups.
Get in touch with Jeremy:
By Email – jeremy@sdsscotland.org.uk
By phone – 0131 475 2626
Follow Jeremy Linkedin.
If you have difficulty accessing the staff list we have provided an alternative access page.
Board Members
Laura has been working for an SDS support service, Cornerstone Community Care, since 2015, having spent the last year managing the service. Cornerstone Community Care currently support over 600 clients in Aberdeenshire and a further 50-100 in Aberdeen with all things SDS. Laura helps support with option selection as well as practical support to set up and manage packages of
support. This has given her a unique insight into how SDS works in practice and what the potential pitfall are with the current roll out of the legislation.
Through this work, Laura has developed excellent working relationships with local authority staff surrounding SDS.
Cornerstone SDS is also in receipt of SIRD funding which has been used to develop their support service in Aberdeen City. Laura has a sound working knowledge of SDS and how it is practically
implemented. She has a passion for SDS and ensuring that it is implemented fairly across the country and does not result in a postcode lottery of what support is offered where.
Laura is keen to help shape the future of SDS and ensure that everyone is getting the same level of support from their local authority with regards to SDS.
Tressa has been CEO of Glasgow Disability Alliance (GDA) since 2006, steering GDA from its fledgling vision of supporting disabled people’s voices and tackling social isolation in 2001, to the multi-award-winning community of 5000 it is today. For over 25 years, Tressa has held senior leadership roles in third and public sector organisations developing people led programmes which
build on disabled people’s strengths and increase capacity to participate and contribute to their own lives, communities and wider society. During COVID, Tressa has led GDA’s Resilience and Recovery response to COVID, adapting all GDA supports and programmes and establishing new services including GDA’s Lifeline- delivery of essential food and medication, GDA Wellbeing and GDA Digital supports.
A disabled person herself, Tressa has expertise around equalities issues, particularly disability equality as well as the cumulative impact of multiple discrimination and intersectional impacts e.g. disabled women and disabled LGBT people.
Through GDA, Tressa acts as strategic collaborator with and advisor to both Glasgow City Government and Scottish Government across a range of areas including participative democracy. She is currently a member of the First Minister’s National Advisory Council for Women and Girls, the National Group working on Participatory Budgeting and is Deputy Chair of the Disability and
Carers’ Benefits Expert Advisory Group. Tressa is also a member of the Scottish Government Social Renewal Advisory Board and Glasgow City Council’s Social Recovery Task Force, responding to the impact of COVID.
Anne-Marie is an experienced board member and currently sit on GGCNHS Board as a Non-Executive Director. She is also the vice chair of East Renfrewshire Integration Joint Board, having previously been the chair. She sits on the Glasgow City IJB and is a member of the ILF Board. Further to this, she is the independent chair of the Thinking Differently Programme Board in East
Ayrshire HSCP.
Anne-Maire is recently retired from being the chair of the Community Brokerage Network Board (CBN).
As a Trustee, Anne-Marie brings a wide experience of both strategic and operational work, having previously worked for over 40 years in social work, holding senior posts in Glasgow City Council in Operations, Commissioning and latterly as the Head of Learning disability. She also led the first Scottish Government Test Site in Glasgow and has been involved in SDS from the
outset.
Anne-Marie lives with a disability and has an individual budget that she uses for her support.
Callum has recently joined the Board at Self Directed Support Scotland.
Callum currently works as a Development Manager for Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living, an Edinburgh based Disabled Persons Organisation where he coordinates the Self-directed Support Development Programme and Self-Management Programme. Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living provides a range of services to support Independent Living, developed and managed by and for
disabled people.
Callum previously has worked as Head of Service Support and Development with Victim Support Scotland and Project Coordinator for the MECOPP Gypsy/Traveller Carers programme. Callum holds an MSc in Social Work and LLB in Scots Law.
Michael is currently Chair of DG Voice, a disabled peoples’ organisation and Chair of LGBT Plus. Further to this, he serves on the Board of the Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership.
By joining the SDSS Management Committee, Michael would act as a liaison between the organisation and the disabled population of Dumfries and Galloway. He is looking forward to gaining a better understanding of SDSS, and to providing appropriate information to disabled people in the region.
Michael believes that all disabled people should have the choice to determine all aspects of their support and care.
Becs has a passion for promoting fairness for all. Starting out at the age of 14, she started her working life as a volunteer and then as a play-leader at Thames Valley Adventure Playground for disabled children. Here she learnt that with the right mindset and support, anything is possible. Following this, she trained and worked as a nurse, quickly realising that her strengths lay in working with people with new disabilities. Completing a degree with the Open University strengthened her interest in human rights and community development – getting to the ‘nitty-gritty’ and supporting people to be in charge of their own, ordinary lives became a driving force. A move to Scotland in 2004 saw a change in direction and Becs spent the next few years managing and facilitating peer support with Neighbourhood Networks. It was here that Becs first learnt about Self-Directed Support and the possibilities of the ‘SDS dream’. Redundancy and a period of time in the wilderness, led Becs to chance upon her dream job in 2013- as a Manager for Argyll and Bute’s independent SDS support service, Carr Gomm’s Community Contacts. She has been there ever since; further developing Community Contacts to cover Highland. She has been promoted and along with offering senior management to Community Contacts, she leads on participation, involvement and innovation with Carr Gomm.
In her spare time, Becs is also a trustee of a further three charitable organisations; she enjoys gardening and yoga.
Laura has been working for an SDS support service, Cornerstone Community Care, since 2015, having spent the last year managing the service. Cornerstone Community Care currently support over 600 clients in Aberdeenshire and a further 50-100 in Aberdeen with all things SDS. Laura helps support with option selection as well as practical support to set up and manage packages of
support. This has given her a unique insight into how SDS works in practice and what the potential pitfall are with the current roll out of the legislation.
Through this work, Laura has developed excellent working relationships with local authority staff surrounding SDS.
Cornerstone SDS is also in receipt of SIRD funding which has been used to develop their support service in Aberdeen City. Laura has a sound working knowledge of SDS and how it is practically
implemented. She has a passion for SDS and ensuring that it is implemented fairly across the country and does not result in a postcode lottery of what support is offered where.
Laura is keen to help shape the future of SDS and ensure that everyone is getting the same level of support from their local authority with regards to SDS.
Tressa has been CEO of Glasgow Disability Alliance (GDA) since 2006, steering GDA from its fledgling vision of supporting disabled people’s voices and tackling social isolation in 2001, to the multi-award-winning community of 5000 it is today. For over 25 years, Tressa has held senior leadership roles in third and public sector organisations developing people led programmes which
build on disabled people’s strengths and increase capacity to participate and contribute to their own lives, communities and wider society. During COVID, Tressa has led GDA’s Resilience and Recovery response to COVID, adapting all GDA supports and programmes and establishing new services including GDA’s Lifeline- delivery of essential food and medication, GDA Wellbeing and GDA Digital supports.
A disabled person herself, Tressa has expertise around equalities issues, particularly disability equality as well as the cumulative impact of multiple discrimination and intersectional impacts e.g. disabled women and disabled LGBT people.
Through GDA, Tressa acts as strategic collaborator with and advisor to both Glasgow City Government and Scottish Government across a range of areas including participative democracy. She is currently a member of the First Minister’s National Advisory Council for Women and Girls, the National Group working on Participatory Budgeting and is Deputy Chair of the Disability and
Carers’ Benefits Expert Advisory Group. Tressa is also a member of the Scottish Government Social Renewal Advisory Board and Glasgow City Council’s Social Recovery Task Force, responding to the impact of COVID.
Anne-Marie is an experienced board member and currently sit on GGCNHS Board as a Non-Executive Director. She is also the vice chair of East Renfrewshire Integration Joint Board, having previously been the chair. She sits on the Glasgow City IJB and is a member of the ILF Board. Further to this, she is the independent chair of the Thinking Differently Programme Board in East
Ayrshire HSCP.
Anne-Maire is recently retired from being the chair of the Community Brokerage Network Board (CBN).
As a Trustee, Anne-Marie brings a wide experience of both strategic and operational work, having previously worked for over 40 years in social work, holding senior posts in Glasgow City Council in Operations, Commissioning and latterly as the Head of Learning disability. She also led the first Scottish Government Test Site in Glasgow and has been involved in SDS from the
outset.
Anne-Marie lives with a disability and has an individual budget that she uses for her support.
Callum has recently joined the Board at Self Directed Support Scotland.
Callum currently works as a Development Manager for Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living, an Edinburgh based Disabled Persons Organisation where he coordinates the Self-directed Support Development Programme and Self-Management Programme. Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living provides a range of services to support Independent Living, developed and managed by and for
disabled people.
Callum previously has worked as Head of Service Support and Development with Victim Support Scotland and Project Coordinator for the MECOPP Gypsy/Traveller Carers programme. Callum holds an MSc in Social Work and LLB in Scots Law.
Michael is currently Chair of DG Voice, a disabled peoples’ organisation and Chair of LGBT Plus. Further to this, he serves on the Board of the Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership.
By joining the SDSS Management Committee, Michael would act as a liaison between the organisation and the disabled population of Dumfries and Galloway. He is looking forward to gaining a better understanding of SDSS, and to providing appropriate information to disabled people in the region.
Michael believes that all disabled people should have the choice to determine all aspects of their support and care.
Becs has a passion for promoting fairness for all. Starting out at the age of 14, she started her working life as a volunteer and then as a play-leader at Thames Valley Adventure Playground for disabled children. Here she learnt that with the right mindset and support, anything is possible. Following this, she trained and worked as a nurse, quickly realising that her strengths lay in working with people with new disabilities. Completing a degree with the Open University strengthened her interest in human rights and community development – getting to the ‘nitty-gritty’ and supporting people to be in charge of their own, ordinary lives became a driving force. A move to Scotland in 2004 saw a change in direction and Becs spent the next few years managing and facilitating peer support with Neighbourhood Networks. It was here that Becs first learnt about Self-Directed Support and the possibilities of the ‘SDS dream’. Redundancy and a period of time in the wilderness, led Becs to chance upon her dream job in 2013- as a Manager for Argyll and Bute’s independent SDS support service, Carr Gomm’s Community Contacts. She has been there ever since; further developing Community Contacts to cover Highland. She has been promoted and along with offering senior management to Community Contacts, she leads on participation, involvement and innovation with Carr Gomm.
In her spare time, Becs is also a trustee of a further three charitable organisations; she enjoys gardening and yoga.
Brenda Garrard has recently become a member of the SDSS management committee.
Brenda has worked for PAMIS (Promoting a More Inclusive Society) since 2001 and is committed to improving the lives of people who have profound and multiple learning disabilities and their family carers. She has worked on a number of various projects with PAMIS and is presently the manager of the PAMIS Self-Directed Support (SDS) project.
Enabling people with PMLD to access a life worth living is at the forefront of all PAMIS work. Self-directed Support and the ethos and vision behind SDS should enable all people with disabilities access to services that offer choice control and the necessary flexibility to not only receive appropriate care but to empower all to engage in society as valued citizens regardless of ability or disability.
Partnership working and supporting those who are committed to support the drive to make Self-Directed Support successful is important. PAMIS’ involvement with Self-Directed Support Scotland, as a member organisation, has been beneficial on many levels. As a member of the SDSS management committee Brenda hopes that she can contribute effectively to the work of the SDSS Team and in so doing contribute to positive change to the way people who require community support access and experience the SDS journey.
Angela is founding Board member of Self Directed Support Scotland and interim Chair. Her day job is Support Services Manager at Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living where she manages three Support Teams in Glasgow, East Dunbartonshire and South Lanarkshire to support people with information and advice about SDS.
Angela is also a founding Board member and current Convenor of Glasgow Disability Alliance (GDA). She has been working in the field of disability equality and independent living for more than 30 years. She previously worked in social work and third sector organisations, promoting equality, rights and the participation of disabled people in society with the support they need to do this.
As a disabled person I am passionate about organisations controlled and led by disabled people.
In her spare time, Angela enjoys socialising, reading, spending time with family and has recently became a grandparent for the first time to a beautiful baby boy!
Joanne is Self Directed Support Scotland’s Treasurer. Over the last 25 years, Joanne has worked for a variety of Third Sector/Voluntary organisations. Starting out as an employability advisor with Castlemilk Economic Development Agency, supporting long-term unemployed / disabled people into employment, training and education. Following this, she spent some time at a Money Advice Centre, Carers Centre before commencing her current role at Take Control East Dunbartonshire.
Joanne started at Take Control as an advisor, bringing her personal experiences as a young/adult carer and managing an SDS Direct Payment package for a parent to the role, and has progressed to Co-ordinator at Take Control East Dunbartonshire.
In her spare time, Joanne enjoys hill walking, mindfulness in nature and meditation.
Alternative access to board members list.