Ann Marie Docherty - Chair
Ann Marie became passionate about recovery during her career as a pharmacist and this has continued during her membership of the board of Moving On, which she joined in May 2013, taking the role of chair in 2017. She has worked as a Regional Manager and HR Manager for Boots the Chemists and was involved in setting up new pharmacy chains in Norway and The Netherlands. Most recently she has worked as a pharmacy consultant for new chains in Bulgaria and Romania. She finds her involvement with Moving On very fulfilling and interesting and continues to be inspired by the Service Users she meets.
Stuart McMillan - Vice Chair
Stuart joined the board of Moving On Inverclyde in May 2015. He is an MSP and became Greenock and Inverclyde MSP in 2016 and was re-elected in May 2021. At present, Stuart is the Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee. He is also the Co-Convener of the Cross Party Group on Drug and Alcohol Misuse.
Stuart grew up in Inverclyde and still lives locally and understands how addictions can both harm individual lives but also the community. Inverclyde has faced economic challenges for many years and some people have followed the path into addiction. Stuart understands how vital partnership working between Government, Public Sector and Third Sector agencies is to address some of the underlying issues to help people out of addiction. Without genuine partnership working, then many more lives will be caught in the cycle of addiction.
Eleanor Robertson - Secretary
In the late 90s, I became involved in the Inverclyde Regeneration Partnership. This was an organisation set up to bring community groups together to set priorities for Inverclyde. One of the main priorities became drugs and the effect it was having throughout Inverclyde. A separate group, Inverclyde Forum About Drugs (IFAD) was set up to explore what could be done. It was through this group that the initial funding for Moving On was obtained from the Scottish Government.
It was during this time that I became a Board member of Renfrewshire & Inverclyde Primary Care Trust. This led on to my membership of Argyll & Clyde Health Board. At this time I also became Chairperson of Argyll & Clyde Alcohol and Drugs Action Team. I served as Chair in this organisation for 4 years.
I was also involved in the setting up and later as chairperson of Scottish Families Affected by Drugs. It was during this time I became involved in several national committees of the Scottish Government.
Ten years ago I was awarded my MBE for services to community health.
Since I retired I have been involved with Inverclyde Tourist Group and enjoy meeting the many passengers from the many cruise ships from all over the world who visit Inverclyde.
John Williams - Treasurer
John lives locally and before retiring was employed as an accountant with the NHS. On retirement, John became interested in becoming involved in the voluntary sector within Inverclyde. As well as Moving On, John is involved in Starter Packs which assists homeless people setting up in a new home; and Financial Fitness, which gives advice to individuals claiming benefits.
Anne Rutherford - Board Member
Anne worked as a GP in Inverclyde for 32 years. She had a lot of experience dealing with people in addiction and always felt a care for them. After her retirement, she was invited to join the board of Moving On Inverclyde. She has been very pleased and enthusiastic to be involved in helping with the recovery journey to move on from addiction to a meaningful and full life.
Angela Divers - Board Member
Angela currently works as a family support practitioner within the Inverclyde area for a third sector agency, with a focus on families affected by parental substance use. She previously worked in education for many years within a social and emotional behavioural setting.
Nick Thow - Board Member
Nick has more than twenty years’ experience in the public, private and third sectors, including fifteen years spent as a commercial solicitor, in the City and internationally. He fulfilled a personal and professional ambition when he moved into the third sector where he spent five years. Part of his time was spent working at Morton in the Community, and Nick has remained committed to supporting people based in Inverclyde as a result. Nick moved from the third sector into senior learning & development roles in the healthcare sector, and was delighted at the opportunity to contribute to supporting Moving On.
Brian McLaughlin - Board Member
My current role is Chief Executive of Greenock Morton Community Trust, which involves the day to day management of the charity and working closely with board of trustees to carry out our goals and objectives. The charity delivers projects across 4 key areas; Sport (Football and Hockey), Education, Employability and Health & Wellbeing.
I have been employed within the organisation for eight and a half years and roles have included; Football Project Manager and Development Manager.
I have been involved in community sport across Inverclyde since the age of 16 which includes coaching variety of sports, delivering MH Projects and employability support through my previous role at Street League.
I am extremely passionate about the third sector in Inverclyde and I am looking forward to contributing to making the area better by tackling societal issues and challenges residents face on a day to day basis.
Gillian McAlpine - Board Member
Gillian was born and raised in Inverclyde and continues to live within the Inverclyde community. Gillian has just recently joined the Moving On board, in November 2022.
Gillian currently works as a Social Worker in the Mental Health sector and has done so for 5 years. Many of the service users she works with also experience addiction, as mental health and addiction are often co-existing. Gillian works with service users to aid them in their recovery in mental health and addiction, by identifying and offering to the social supports that are required to aid recovery
Gillian highly values third sector services such as Moving On, as they are uniquely placed to offer the support required in a community setting.