Our Board Members (Trustees)
Meet our Board of Charity Trustees – a passionate, influential, committed and knowledgeable team who volunteer their time to make sure we’re always working as effectively as possible.
As a registered Scottish Charity with the Scottish Charity Register (OSCR) we are governed by our Board of Charity Trustees, all of whom are appointed and co-opted by their fellow Board members. We advertise for Trustees as and when vacancies arise.
Fiona MacLeod, Chair
Originally from a farming background Fiona subsequently had a career in the international energy sector leading large scale multi-country teams.
She has broad business experience including HSE, marketing, branding and risk based change leadership. She chaired the Women’s Fund for Scotland and has held a number of board directorships including Virgin Money and Denholms.
Fiona adores all animals.
Carolyn McLeod, Trustee
A qualified solicitor, Carolyn has a breadth of experience in public sector leadership positions, the third sector, stakeholder engagement, performance management and governance.
She also has volunteering roles and has broad experience of committee work.
A lifelong animal lover, Carolyn has 2 dogs, Jack and Pepa.
Melissa Donald, Trustee
Melissa is an experienced veterinary surgeon and former practice owner. Her experience also includes hill sheep and beef farming and farm assurance schemes.
Melissa enjoys a variety of leadership roles to help improve animal health and welfare and inspire the next generation. She is a Past President of the Scottish Branch of the British Veterinary Association and of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
In her spare time Melissa enjoys keeping fit, running for her mental wellbeing and after her grandchildren!
Warwick Beresford-Jones, Trustee
Warwick’s background is in Statistics and Data Science.
For the 25 years he has worked with businesses to help them improve decision making through the use of data and interoperating the underlying trends. Throughout his career Warwick has had a number of leadership roles.
Warwick is married to Anne and they have a 12 year old son Oliver, and two black labs - Oscar and Teal. Warwick also enjoys mountain biking and cooking when he gets the time.
Niall Connell, Trustee
Niall is a veterinary surgeon who qualified from Glasgow in 1982. He was in mixed practice in Fife for 2 years, then worked for PDSA in 25 years in London and Glasgow. He suffers from Multiple Sclerosis and retired from clinical practice in 2009.
He now does assessments and occasional teaching at Glasgow Vet School. He was on the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Council for 10 years and is a past president and treasurer. He is still involved in some RCVS committee work.
He is married to Colette and they have three grown children, three grandchildren, a Border Terrier and a cat.
Helen Page, Trustee
Helen’s career has spanned the UK, USA, Europe and Australasia across almost 30 years.
Helen has worked in a range of sectors including financial, retail, food and drink and charity.
Prior to choosing to follow a career in Board and Advisory in 2022, Helen was the Chief Brand Officer of Virgin Money UK (formerly Clydesdale Bank) for almost a decade. During that time, Helen also served as the Chair of Virgin Money Giving.
Steven Naismith, Trustee
Steven is a highly commercial finance professional with more than a decade of experience. He’s currently part of the leadership team at Edinburgh Airport, Scotland’s busiest airport.
It is a privilege to be joining the Board of the Scottish SPCA. Championing animal welfare is more important today than it’s ever been, and he’s thrilled to play a part in making Scotland the best place in the world for animals.
Willie Finlayson, Trustee
Willis set-up FWB Park Brown in 1993 and has overseen its growth to become a market leader in executive search in the UK. Willie’s business acts for clients in a range of sectors across C-suite, Non-Executive and Chair appointments.
Outside of this, Willie was a Director and latterly Chair of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. During his tenure, the club enjoyed the most successful period in its history, winning the Scottish Cup and competing in Europe. He has three dogs.
Caroline Trotter, Trustee
Caroline has worked in the investment industry for over 35 years. In her most recent role at Aberdeen Standard Investments (now known as abrdn), Caroline was responsible for driving excellence in the management of key strategic client relationships and partnerships.
She is motivated in designing and delivering client-centric strategies while supporting the sustainable and profitable growth of an organisation.
Ed Alford, Trustee
Ed is highly impactful Global CIO with extensive Digital Transformation experience gained across a number of industry sectors including retail, oil & gas and consulting. He spent the lasty two years at the high street fashion retailer New Look transforming their technology landscape and prior to that was part of BP’s top 100 leadership team acting in CIO and Senior VP positions between 2012 and 2020.
In 2022, he was recognised by Computer Weekly as the 4th most influential UK tech leader in the private sector.