Directors & Trustees

The current Board of Trustees is:

Chair – Susan Griffin

Secretary – Carolyn Wilson

Treasurer – Monique Riddle (Co-opted Trustee)

Committee Trustees – Gordon Findlay, Fraser Mackenzie, Gordon Watson, Fiona Macdonald, Mary Tiles, Suzanne Irvine, Fiona Dendy.

Co-opted Committee Trustees – Councillor David Fraser (Independent), Councillor Chris Ballance (Green), Dominic Thierry (representing Glen Urquhart Community Council), and Youth Trustees (awaiting confirmation for 2023).


Trustees

Carolyn Wilson – Secretary

“I moved to ‘Drum’ 20 years ago and I have always loved the sense of community that there is here. I became involved with the Hall quite soon after I came here, and since then I have enjoyed being able to contribute to various local groups and organisations. I still look after the Hall accounts, and I’ve met so many people through doing them!

I absolutely loved being part of the team that made Loch Ness Hub happen. When I’m not busy with GURCA stuff, I enjoy walking and running with my dogs on the many beautiful trails in and around Glen Urquhart.”


Susan Griffin – Chair

“I moved to Glen Urquhart almost years ago and was talked into getting involved in Community activities from almost Day 1. Secretary of the Glenurqhuart Highland Gathering since 2013, I have been involved in the Glenurquhart Care Project and some 6 years ago was honoured to be nominated as Chair of GURCA.

I have so enjoyed living in this fabulous community where there is a real passion to get things done and lots of really positive ideas for developing our community for the better. It’s been a privilege to lead GURCA during the period of the Loch Ness Hub project and to see what a fabulous facility we now have in community ownership.
My day job involves Project Management and I’ve been involved in delivering a range of projects including renewable energy projects, housing and community/charity buildings.”


Monique Riddle – Treasurer

“I moved to Bunloit in 2008 even though at the time I was still working in Edinburgh. I spent many years commuting back and forth at weekends and holidays, until last year when I was able to retire and finally enjoy the ability to stay here permanently.

I have been a member of GURCA for many years but with more time available, I was able to accept the request to become a Trustee and to take on the role as GURCA Treasurer. Having spent my career working for large corporates, primarily in IT project management, retirement is giving me the opportunity to get more involved locally and getting to know more people.

I love horse-riding, and for the past ten years I have kept a horse at Borlum Farm. Now with more time available I am also finally able to get stuck into my garden as well as getting out into the hills more often.”


Gordon Findlay

“My wife and myself moved to Drumnadrochit in 2016 and after giving up our day jobs and city life, we now run a B&B on the Village Green. We’ve enjoyed settling into the community here.

For us it’s a great place to live and it’s a nice contrast with our previous life being able to see people each day to wave and have a wee chat with when you’re out and about. My only disappointment as an Edinburgh boy is that I’ve only met one other Hearts fan since moving here!

I became a GURCA Trustee in 2018, hoping to be able to lend any useful skills or experience to some of the exciting local projects being talked about at that time. I’m really pleased to have been able to work with the other Trustees on the project to buy the old visitor information centre and toilets and to be involved in the establishment of the Loch Ness Hub. It’s great to see the Hub up and running and hopefully it will be a source of benefit to the local community in the years to come.”


Fiona Macdonald

“I was raised in Fort Augustus and went to secondary school in Glenurquhart. My last two years at school were spent back in Fort Augustus, initially as the only girl at the now closed Benedictine Abbey.

After university I graduated in classical singing and piano at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and headed to London where I lived for years, singing anything from opera to session work with bands. But BBC Radio is where I’ve worked for more than 30 years, writing and presenting news and current affairs programmes for the World Service and Radio Scotland. That’s continued ever since I moved back north to Bunloit. Two sets of twins and one Archie later, I’m still here and looking forward to working with GURCA.”


Fraser Mackenzie

“I was brought up in Kyle of Lochalsh and attended the University of Aberdeen between 1969-1974 from where I graduated M.A. (Hons) and later M. Ed. I moved with my wife Josie to Drumnadrochit in 1975 when she became sole History Teacher at Glen Urquhart High School.

I was an English Teacher/Principal Teacher of Guidance at Inverness High School from 1974 to 2011. I played regularly for Glenurquhart Shinty Club from 1975 to 1989 and have been Treasurer of the Club from 1976 to present. I have also been Vice Chairman of the Glen Urquhart Highland Games since 1982. I have also served a five-year term as a Director of Soirbheas, our local Renewable Energy Charity.
I have attended the meetings of the Glenurquhart Rural Community Association since the late 1970s and became a board member in 2003 as the representative of the Shinty Club. I remained as a Trustee when GURCA was re-constituted in its present form as a SCIO
On behalf of GURCA, I have edited the Glenurquhart Bulletin since 1999.

I have also worked as a freelance journalist/broadcaster and have edited and produced the annual Shinty Year Book (published by the Camanachd Association) for the past five years.”
Beyond that until the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 I was the shinty correspondent for a national newspaper. As a Gaelic speaker I am passionate about Highland culture and local history in the course of which I have made a special study of the Cairns and Monuments of the Highlands and have contributed articles on that subject to a number of local and national publications.”


Gordon Watson

“Originally from Glasgow, a work opportunity brought me to Drumnadrochit in 2005.I love the opportunities to enjoy the outdoors we have here in the highlands, and spend my free time running, cycling, walking, and observing our nature and wildlife.

I became involved in various groups concerned with looking after our surroundings, notably as a founder member of the Glen Urquhart Greenspace Group. The Greenspace Group then became part of GURCA, and I was elected a trustee.
I’m involved in all areas of GURCA’s remit, including being chair of the Hall Committee, but I maintain a particular interest in our efforts to promote healthy, connected outdoor spaces, which contribute to our ecology and give opportunities for active travel and recreation. I also act as a Volunteer warden with the Woodland Trust, and am an active member of Craigmonie Woodland Association.
In my professional life, I hold a law degree, but have worked for architects for over 25 years, looking after contractual agreements and risk management. I sit on the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland’s Contracts committee, and was elected an Honorary Fellow of the RIAS in 2017.”


Mary Tiles

I am a recent arrival; I came in late 2020 during a lull in COVID and after a rather fraught move from near Winchester.  I live in one of the new houses near the Co-op which I had not seen before the move; I knew it was new-build, heated with an air-source heat pump and would finally give me the spare bedroom I had lacked. I have since discovered that this is a great place to live and walk, and just wish I had come here while I was still able to take full advantage of the opportunities. 

I know I still have a lot to learn about the community, which is partly why I wanted to be involved with GURCA where I hope I can contribute.  I have been a trustee before (Winchester Action on Climate Change and City of Winchester Trust, where I coordinated responses to planning applications for Winchester). So I bring some knowledge of planning and the issues surrounding climate change.  For five years I taught courses  for the Open University on climate change and on the possibility of ethical tourism;  I am a retired university philosophy professor.  


Fiona Dendy

I moved to the Glen three years ago but have family links here extending back over a hundred years and have been visiting since I was three months old! I previously lived in Evanton for nearly twenty years and was an active committee member/trustee of three community groups there. I am retired but previously worked for a range of third sector organizations in the Highlands, mainly in Easter Ross.  

Since moving here, I have become involved in the local community as a Walk Leader for the Glenurquhart Walking Group and with the Heritage Group. I am interested in the heritage and history of Glenurquhart but equally keen that we work to make it a great place to live and work in today. I am impressed by the number of activities that GURCA is involved with and know they can only happen with input from volunteers.