We're delighted to draw on the expertise of a diverse and energetic board of trustees, who are passionate about fatherhood and committed to our young and fast-growing organisation.
We are always interested in hearing from others who would like to join us - if that's you, do get in touch! [email protected]
William Campbell (2016) (Chair)
Willie is the father of two daughters and now delights in having two young grandsons. His working life was spent in education, mostly in senior management posts in Secondary schools. When he joined the board he was an elected member of Fife Council with responsibilities for Early Years and Corporate Parenting where he was able with support from FNS research, to promote the involvement of father figures. Initially a music teacher and an organist, retirement allows him to devote some of his energies to being MD of a local choir and to amateur operatic.
Nichola Taylor (2016) (Treasurer)
Nichola is an experienced finance professional with experience in Retail, Financial Services and FMCG and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Nichola currently works for The Very Group, an online retailer and has been on the Fathers Network board for a number of years, providing financial oversight to the Fathers’ Network team. Nichola, herself a parent to two daughters, believes that a meaningful relationship with their fathers are critical to the development and wellbeing of children as well as being a foundational element of gender equity.
Dr. Martin Williams (2016)
Martin is a consulting psychologist and psychotherapist specialising in children, young people and families. In his many years of professional practice he has worked in schools, universities, hospitals, mental health clinics, counselling centres in the UK and abroad. He has also counselled couples and facilitated a wide range of courses and workshops including ‘Emotionally Intelligent Parenting’. Parenting is the most comprehensive, challenging and influential vocation and work we can ever do. As a proud father and grandfather he understands that it is 24/7, unpaid, undervalued and forever. And, although it can be very tough, it can also be the most satisfying and fulfilling role. It is his firm belief that parents make the biggest difference to the quality of life and mental wellbeing for their children and society as a whole. He is proud to serve on the Board of FNS and try to do his bit to help make his much missed friend, and founder of FNS, David Drysdale’s vision a reality.
Brian Caie (2017)
Brian has more than 30 years of experience in developing leaders, facilitating groups and consulting on organisation change. After completing a post-graduate diploma in what was then called Personnel Management, he had a twelve year career in a number of international oil companies, culminating in promotion to UK HR Manager for Mobil Oil Co. Ltd. He then switched careers, joining a niche change consultancy helping global organisations develop authentic leaders and effective teams. Much of the work there was in International Development for organisations like Dfid and UNICEF. Brian founded Sheppard Moscow Scotland in 1995 and held senior partner and board roles in the Sheppard Moscow group in UK and Asia over a 25 year period. He retired in 2012 to work as an independent consultant, mainly with Hay Group in NHS England on major government initiatives, in the Scottish university sector and in City financial services. During this time he facilitated several Board and Strategy development sessions for FNS in the David Drysdale and Sam Pringle eras, before joining the Board as a Trustee.
Brian co-developed the new dads programme for FNS on the back of an Edinburgh University research project, piloting it in Police Scotland and has also been involved in subsequent FNS projects for dads in Edinburgh University Information Services Group and the Scottish Parliament. He has four children, two still in full-time education, and four grandchildren in England and Australia. In 2020 Brian published his memoir, the Split Gate, where fatherhood and the lack of it are major themes.
Hayley Mitchell (2019)
Hayley is a Senior Associate at Johnson Legal where she has worked since 2015. She specialises exclusively in Family Law & has a particular interest in legal cases relating to children. Hayley believes that the best interests of a child are almost always served by ensuring a meaningful relationship with both parents, and the wider families, throughout the child's life. Hayley also recognises from her professional experience that support for the mental health of both parents is crucial to the wellbeing of their children.
Adele Frew (2020)
Adele did her diploma in children’s nursing training in Edinburgh and has been qualified for 18 years. She started her career in the neonatal unit in Yorkhill and has stayed in the same ward since. She is now a senior staff nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit in the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Glasgow. Over the last 2 years Adele has pioneered a whole-family approach in neonatal care, helps and supports dads within the neonatal unit and has developed a dads group within the ward.
Fergus Reid (2020)
Ferg is a Communications Director and Charity Trustee who works with FNS to develop its PR and stakeholder strategy. He spent twenty-three years leading PR agencies in London and Scotland before leaving to fulfil his dream of offering bespoke communications support for charities and social enterprises via his two businesses Stakeholder Comms and media production outfit Talking Shop Media. Ferg was part of the team which launched ‘Year of the Dad’ in 2016 and ranks it as one of his most rewarding professional experiences. He is a Dad of two and splits his spare time between holding Directorships of FNS; Money Advice Scotland and helping Scotland’s largest youth football organisation establish a new charitable foundation.
Jessica Moran (2021)
Jessica is a researcher interested in gender, parenting and social inequalities. After her MA in Anthropology, Jessica completed her MSc Social Research at the University of Edinburgh in 2015, where her dissertation examined ‘Workplace support and work family balance capabilities for fathers in the public sector’. Using focus groups she investigated the factors influencing fathers’ uptake of parental leave and benefits. Since then she has worked on several projects related to parental leave and engaging with fathers. From August 2016 Jessica was the Research Officer for Future Pathways, a support fund for people abused or neglected while in care in Scotland, where she developed skills in employing a person-centred, trauma informed approach to gather qualitative data, ensuring an ethical approach to in-depth interviews. Jessica is currently finishing her PhD at the University of Glasgow's Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, where she is funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Early Years Scotland (EYS). Her project is an evaluation of Learning Together Through Play, a ten-week parenting and child-development programme for fathers in prison with children aged 0-5. The programme aims to support and maintain positive father-child relationships to improve post-release family integration and reduce reoffending. Jessica is committed to research that improves the lives of children, fathers and families and passionate about listening to dads and children.
Shaun Sambrook (2022)
Shaun is the father of one daughter. Based in the North East of Scotland, Shaun is a chartered accountant with over ten years’ experience across corporate finance, audit and industry finance roles. Growing up within a family who fostered children, each coming from different backgrounds with varying needs, Shaun has developed an understanding for the importance of strong, meaningful family relationships throughout a child’s life. He also believes that teaching children how to understand and speak about their emotions from a young age is key to supporting their mental health throughout both childhood and adulthood. Shaun is passionate about ensuring children are brought up understanding gender equality, taking a proactive approach to challenge gender-normative roles both within and out with the family.
Nicky Miller (2023)
Nicky is the Head of Homelessness and Prevention at Turning Point Scotland, leading their work both nationally and across Europe. From starting his career at a local authority, focusing on Community Learning and Development, he has since worked extensively in the third sector which has included the management of a youth centre in the South of Glasgow.
Nicky was made aware of FNS in 2023 as he searched for an organisation that shared his views regarding the importance of meaningfully involving dads in children’s lives and a whole system/family approach. Through his own lived experience, he has encountered discrimination and poor practice from a number of local and national agencies who do not recognise that the outcomes for children are better when dads are involved meaningfully in children’s lives and where policy/practice does not provide equity between mum and dad. He now aims to support the work of FNS through a policy and practice perspective and, where appropriate, affect future legislation.