Social Covenant Steering Group: member biographies

Biographies for members of the Social Covenant Steering Group.

Dr Caroline Gould

Caroline lives on the Isle of Skye and works for a local charity for disabled people and advises on accessibility of buildings and services and training of staff. 

Tommy Whitelaw

For five years Tommy Whitelaw was a full-time carer for his late mother Joan who had Vascular Dementia. Since 2011 he has engaged with thousands of carers through his ‘Tommy on Tour’ blog and is National Lead for Caring and Outreach with the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland’s Carer Voices project.

Marion McArdle

Marion McArdle has an adult daughter who has profound multiple learning disabilities and complex health needs.

Shubhanna Hussain-Ahmed

Shubhanna cares for her youngest child, who is autistic with a significant learning disability, as well as managing the health and care needs of her mother. She also provides support to her husband who was diagnosed with a degenerative neurological condition a few years ago. She is currently the Partnership Development Officer at the Coalition of Carers in Scotland.

Dr Jim Elder-Woodward OBE

Jim has cerebral-palsy and is also an experienced campaigner for disabled peoples’ rights. He was also a member of the IRASC advisory group.

Cathie Russell

Cathie has been campaigning with Care Home relatives Scotland to protect the rights of loved ones in nursing and residential care. She is a former corporate communications manager at South Lanarkshire Council. 

Dr Pauline Nolan 

Pauline Nolan is policy manager at Inclusion Scotland which runs the Scottish Government funded people-led policy panel, a diverse group of people who all have lived experience of adult social care support.

John Whitfield

John has usher syndrome type two and has been severely deaf from birth, then began losing his sight in his late teens. He now has less than 5% vision left, and has lived experience of dual sensory loss for over 50 years. Formerly a board member of Deafblind Scotland, he now has a role as a Training and Participation officer, delivering training and talks to both the public and private sector, promoting equality and support for those with dual sensory loss.

Martin Robertson

Martin has a rare dementia, and prior to diagnosis he was a professional carer, so he has seen both sides of the system. He lives in rural Aberdeenshire and understands the specific issues regarding rurality.

Ann Marie Penman

Ann Marie's firsthand experience as a parent and carer for her teenage daughter, who has a significant physical disability, drives her to advocate for better support for carers and individuals using self-directed support. She actively speaks up for her daughter and others across various local and national platforms and is a founding member of the West Lothian SDS Forum, working to improve self-directed care locally. Ann Marie is committed to ensuring that carers and those needing support have their voices heard and valued in the ongoing improvement of care services.

Christopher Fisher

Chris is from Argyll and Bute and his lived experience with addiction recovery support services has motivated him to help others along their recovery journeys. He provides support to others as a volunteer for WeAreWithYou and is an active contributor to the Scottish Drugs Forum.

Brian Wilson

Brian is from Dumbarton has been working with WeAreWithYou for the past two and a half years. He has lived experience and has been clean for five and a half years.