CIH Scotland

Callum is the National Director of CIH Scotland, having taken up the post on September 2018. He is also a trustee of Blackwood Homes and Care, joining the board in January 2023 and previously worked in for a public affairs consultancy and the third sector before joining CIH.

Technology and Digital Innovation Lead, Scottish Care

Nicola Cooper has worked in Social Care innovation for over 10 years and has specialist knowledge of technology design and implementation in aged care and dementia. She sees technology as a way to make life easier for humans when designed ethically and inclusively, and as an efficiency multiplier for sustainability in relational care.

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She is passionate about creating, making and mending systems, services and products that work well for the most vulnerable and invisible in society.

Currently she is leading on the implementation and spread of the Care Technologist role in social care. In previous work she has led on the development of self-management applications for long term conditions which are now widely used and adopted in Scotland.

Nicola Cooper

Technology and Digital Innovation Lead, Scottish Care

@digitalme_NC

@scottishcare

@CareTech_Scot

NHS Education for Scotland

Pamela has a background in co-designing learning opportunities to upskill the health and social care workforce to use digital technologies to improve people’s access to health, care and wellbeing services and information.

With over 35 years’ service in public sector health care and social care Pamela is a founding member of the Digitally Enabled  Workforce Team and leads national programmes of work including the development of theProfessional Development Award in Technology Enabled Care  which provides upskilling opportunities to the health, social care, social work and housing workforce. Pamela is also the Programme Co-ordinator for the Leading Digital Transformation in Health and Care for Scotland postgraduate programme delivered in partnership with the University of Edinburgh.


Lightning Reach

Dave Farquharson is the Partnerships Lead at Lightning Reach, where he helps organisations streamline their internal support offer whilst empowering their clients to build lasting financial resilience through personalised support. 

With over a decade of experience in partnerships and procurement across sectors, Dave has driven impactful collaborations at organisations like Beam, Sky and Optus.

Dave’s work is characterised by a commitment to social impact and how innovative solutions can tackle some of society’s most difficult challenges.

Consortium Procurement

Drew Frame is head of procurement at Consortium Procurement, with more than 15-years’ experience in public sector procurement. Moving from an in-house role at the NHS to Consortium Procurement, he leads on the strategic development of new and revised procurement solutions and oversees delivery of complex cross-industry procurement solutions and projects. 

Drew is CIPS accredited and is part of the Housing Sector Procurement Communities of Practice, sharing best practice to advise members across the UK.

Digital Office for Scottish Local Government

Meet Sharon, one of our Digital Telecare Project Managers. With an emphasis on housing sector engagement, Sharon’s passion lies in using technology to support independent living.

 With 20 years’ experience in telecoms and a further 20 managing Bield's Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC), Sharon is perfectly placed to support the migration from analogue to digital telecare - a role she has previously undertaken at East Renfrewshire Council. With her focus firmly back on housing, Sharon is actively engaging with colleagues to review service offerings, develop digital solutions and move things forward.

With my focus firmly back on housing and with 2025 looming, I am keen to directly engage with colleagues and move forward with a future focused approach to telecare in housing.

ink+tank and associates

Brand and web strategist and developer

Lucy’s colleagues say of her…

She has over 25 years of working in brand and web development in Edinburgh, London and New York.

Fanchea Kelly is an experienced housing professional and non-executive director

She was CEO of Blackwood Homes and Care for ten years, leading it to award-

winning status for innovation and co-design in design and technology for

Independent Living.

Previously she was executive director of Glasgow Housing Association, led

inspection teams at the housing regulator in Scotland, and was a senior leader in

local government. In this varied career she has chaired local and national forums on

housing and care and collaborated with many partners to create solutions which offer

choice to individuals and influence national standards.

Currently she is a non-executive director for Housing Rights in Northern, is on the

Board of the Observatory of Sport in Scotland and is an NHS Education in Scotland

facilitator for its programme of digital mindset for Boards.


 NHS Education for Scotland

Hilary has worked in various roles across the health and care sector and has led many digital transformation projects. With first-hand experience of the ways in which digital can empower staff and improve services, Hilary now leads several workstreams within the Digitally Enabled Workforce Team.

Hilary’s work is focussed on building digital capabilities across the wider health, social care, social work and housing workforce. Hilary has recently worked on the development of the Digital and Data Resource Hub and the Digital and Data Capability Framework.

Consortium Procurement

Alistair Merchant is head of commercial at Consortium Procurement, with more than 10-years’ experience in supporting public sector organisations to transform their procurement processes. 

He leads the commercial team and has an integral role in contributing to long-term strategic planning for the organisation, working collaboratively with the procurement, marketing, and policy teams to ensure that Consortium Procurement continues to deliver innovative, compliant, and effective procurement solutions for members.


Link Group

Rhona is the Welfare Rights and Debt and Money Advice Implementation Manager at Link Housing Association, where she leads a dynamic and highly skilled team delivering welfare rights and debt advice to Link tenants. 

With over 40 years of experience in the field of welfare and debt, Rhona has a deep understanding of the causes of poverty and the profound negative impacts this has on tenant’s lives. Using her extensive knowledge, she is passionate about seeking and implementing innovative approaches to addressing poverty having successfully delivered a broad range of initiatives including the award-winning Older People’s Advice Service and the Tenant Transition Advice Service. The current collaboration with Lightning Reach has already achieved good outcomes for tenants, empowering them to act themselves to address their financial difficulties.  Outside of work Rhona is a keen runner and keep-fit fanatic, particularly enjoying off-road running and walking.     

Scottish Care

Cheryl started her Social Care career as a Care Assistant in a Care Home in 1997. In 2001 she qualified as a Nurse and initially worked in a teaching hospital, then a Care Home in Wales, before relocating back to Ayrshire as a Day Sister in a local Care Home.

Following a short career break to start a family, she re-joined social care and gained further qualifications to work in Homecare. Cheryl is passionate about the role of technology in proving person-led care and support. She is keen to myth bust the idea that technology isn’t for older people – it is.

Aaron Colin Sheridan is a final year PhD student at the University of Strathclyde who is completing a research project on the oral and social history of council housing in Edinburgh. Previously he has worked as a research intern at the Scottish Government and at Places for People. He is currently a research assistant with the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research. Growing up in a former council house in Hamilton, Aaron experienced significant housing insecurity as a teenager and young adult which contributed to his interest in the social life, identities and reputations of council-built areas and has informed his research.