Four New Appointments to the RSABI Board

RSABI, the organisation supporting people in Scottish agriculture, has announced four new appointments to its board of trustees.

Jimmy McLean and Christine Bowie have each completed their terms of office and stepped down from the board, after three terms of service.

Dr Carolann Barrie and Andrew Sinclair have now joined the board as new trustees, each bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to their roles with the charity.

Andrew Sinclair farms in Perthshire in partnership with his father, Douglas, and his wife Ashley. He has previously been chair of Perth Show (Perthshire Agricultural Society) and is a past chair of Perthshire Agricultural Discussion Group.

Andrew recently completed his third year as chair of NFU Scotland’s Perth branch and has been a director of Perth and Kinross Royal Highland Education Trust for the past 15 years, as well as serving as a governor of Strathallan School.

Dr Carolann Barrie is a fully qualified GP with a wealth of experience across general practice and elderly care. Carolann currently works as a GP in West Lothian and has a keen interest in community-based mental health, continuity of care and multidisciplinary collaboration.

She also helps run the family farm in South Lanarkshire, where she manages a flock of 700 sheep. Living and working in farming herself she understands the real pressures faced by farming families and is passionate about ensuring accessible support is available to those in need.

RSABI is also pleased to welcome two new trainee trustees – Joanne Hiddleston and Aileen McIntosh – who have joined the board for a year following the competition of 12 month trainee trustee stints by Beth MacKinnon and Karen Stewart.

Joanne Hiddleston is from a family farm in Dumfriesshire and works as a project coordinator for the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET). She has a degree in Mental Health Nursing, specialising in child and adolescent care and has been an active member of her local young farmers club for over 12 years.

Aileen McIntosh comes from a farming and construction background and is a Chartered Surveyor working as Regional Lead for Scotland with Savills UK, in a role involving liaising with local authorities, landowners and community groups.

RSABI Chair Jane Mitchell said;

“We are delighted to extend a very warm welcome to our new trustees and trainee trustees and our thanks go to everyone who kindly applied for the four roles we advertised. The calibre of applications was very strong and we greatly appreciate the efforts of everyone who submitted an application,”

“We are very fortunate to benefit from a high calibre of trustees who offer their time and expertise freely and our new recruits bring a great balance of skills and experience which will bring great value to our board.”

Jane also extended the charity’s sincere thanks to former trustees Christine Bowie and Jimmy McLean (who also served as Chair) who recently stepped down from their roles, having each completed nine years in post.

She added;

“Our thanks go to both Jimmy and Christine for their exceptional service and for their commitment to the charity over a period of almost a decade as trustees.

“We are extremely grateful for their service, counsel and wisdom during this time and our very best wishes go to them both for their future endeavours,”

RSABI offers free practical, financial, and emotional support including counselling services, delivered quickly after receiving the initial enquiry. Its free confidential support service is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year, by calling 0808 1234 555 (calls won’t show up on phone bills) or through a confidential webchat service, available on RSABI’s website www.rsabi.org.uk.

You can find further information on the RSABI website www.rsabi.org.uk.

Photo L-R – Andrew Sinclair, Aileen McIntosh, RSABI Chair Jane Mitchell, Joanne Hiddleston & Dr Carolann Barrie