Meet the team

Healthy Valleys employ a team of dedicated staff which include management, admin, team leaders, project workers and casual workers.

In addition, we are lucky to have the support of an amazing team of volunteers without whom we would not be able to deliver the breadth of services we do.

We are governed by a Board of Directors that meet quarterly to drive strategy and direction.

The trustees are all volunteers and are drawn from different backgrounds to ensure the charity has the best mix of business, financial, marketing and health advice.

The trustees are supported by officers of South Lanarkshire Council and NHS Lanarkshire.

The Board

John Dalrymple - Chairperson

John is an experienced social worker who has spent most of his career working in services for people with learning difficulties in Scotland. He is currently the Director of Radical Visions.

He worked in a variety of roles including Principal Officer for Learning Disabilities for Strathclyde and Resettlement Project Manager at Lennox Castle Hospital.

John was the first employee and chief officer of Partnership Housing (now INSPIRE), and co-founded Support for Ordinary Living. With Simon Duffy and others he was a founder of ALTRUM, and sits on the Board of In Control Scotland.

John contributed to the Scottish review of learning disability services, The Same As You? (2000) and was instrumental in establishing Values Into Action Scotland as an independent Scottish agency in 2007.

John lives in Biggar, South Lanarkshire, with his wife Moira, and is keen on Hearts, jazz and Scottish self-direction.

Dr James Torrens

Jamie is currently a GP working in Clydesdale. He has worked as a GP in this area for 5 years.

Jamie also has positions in NHSL including Weight Management Service and in Mental Health. Jamie joined the board in 2019.

He is passionate about social prescribing and how this can unite communities. Jamie is a keen sailor and uses his spare time to travel.

Margaret Wilson

Margaret was Human Resources Manager with North Lanarkshire Council, Health and Social Care Partnership and retired in 2017. She has been a volunteer with Healthy Valleys since November 2017 in the Resilient Families Team and has been a Public Partner with Healthcare Improvement Scotland since 2018.

Margaret is married, has four sons, four grandchildren and two Gordon Setters. She is a Committee member and past President of the Upperward Mountaineering Club been an active member of Greyfriars Church and School Board Member/Chairperson of both Robert Owen Memorial Primary School and Lanark Grammar School.

Margaret keeps fit by attending her favourite Body Combat class, hillwalking in Scotland and has climbed/trekked in Spain, Morocco, Nepal and Tibet.

Paula Harrison

Paula is currently a director of Automatic Protection Limited based in Biggar. She was educated at Biggar High School and gained a BSC(Hons) in Immunology and Pharmacology, an LLB and a Professional Legal Practice Diploma from Strathclyde University.

Paula then moved from Glasgow to Edinburgh and took up post as a solicitor in an Edinburgh law firm in their commercial contract department.

Paula now lives in Biggar with her husband and three children. She is a true geek at heart who enjoys board games, jigsaws, puzzles, hospital and crime tv dramas and socialising with her friends and family.

Having benefited herself from the opportunities that a consistent family and friend support network provides, Paula is passionate that this is something that everyone should have in their life and is excited to be involved in an organisation that has this belief at its core.

Richard Orr

Richard is the Development and Communications Manager with the national charity, Winning Scotland, and is passionate about helping young people live healthy lives and fulfil their potential.

He leads fundraising and partnerships across the public, private and third sectors, and also oversees marketing, business development and audience engagement. He has written for a number of newspapers and magazines, and has published two books including the 2008 bestseller, Be A Winner.

He is a freelance presentation and media skills trainer with UK-leading agency, Pink Elephant Communications, helping companies all over the world get their message across.

He loves spending time with his wife and children, with any spare minute spent playing and watching sport, especially football, rugby, tennis and squash. He helps fundraising efforts at his children's primary school.

Laura McIntyre

Laura McIntyre is 40 years old and lives in Lanark. She currently works with the Scottish Fire and Rescue service as a Station Commander based in East, North and South Ayrshire.

She has been in the fire service since 2003. Prior to that she completed her honours degree in Sport and Exercise Science.

Outside of work she is keen on keeping herself as fit as she can. She used to be very involved with basketball in both a playing and coaching role and had many great experiences doing this over the years.

She also enjoys spending time with her wife and dog Alfie. She enjoys trips away in their campervan and walks in the woods!

Karen McGuigan

Karen is currently a Health Improvement Co-ordinator and Public Health Advisor for NHS Lanarkshire. She has worked for NHS Lanarkshire for 16 years and was one of the original members of the group that secured funding to develop the Health Valleys initiative.

Her first degree is in sport and she also has a Masters degree in Public Health from the University of Glasgow. Karen joined the Board in 2015.

She is passionate about empowering communities to improve health and wellbeing and recognises the valuable role that the third sector plays in this.

Karen spends her spare time with her husband and two young sons and enjoys running to keep fit and healthy.

Staff

Management

Lesley McCranor - Executive Manager
Julia Miller - Operations Manager
Karen Forrest - Finance Manager

Finance and Administration

Olena Pidhirna - Finance Assistant
Lorna Diplacito - Clerical Worker
Claire Hamilton - Clerical Worker

Management

Lesley McCranor - Executive Manager
Julia Miller - Operations Manager
Karen Forrest - Finance Manager

Finance and Administration

Olena Pidhirna - Finance Assistant
Lorna Diplacito - Clerical Worker
Claire Hamilton - Clerical Worker

Team Leaders

Fiona Frame - Resilient Families
Stephanie Girdwood - Resilient Communities (Mental Health & Wellbeing)
Amanda Taylor - Resilient Communities (Food & Nutrition)

Business Development

Jane Masters - Business Development Worker

Team Leaders

Fiona Frame - Resilient Families
Stephanie Girdwood - Resilient Communities (Mental Health & Wellbeing)
Amanda Taylor - Resilient Communities (Food & Nutrition)