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Meet the People

Recognise yourself here?

We are daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, neighbours, activists, storytellers, people of colour, rural dwellers, urban dwellers, people of faith, queer, neurodivergent, people with disabilities, asylum seekers and refugees, people in recovery.

We are some of the people of Scotland.

Core Team

Image of the Core Inquiry Team. Sam Anderson, Co-Chair, Catherine-Rose Stocks-Rankin, Co-Chair, Deborah Menezes, Co-Lead, Amanda Wootton, Co-lead and Former Creative communications officer (2022-2023), and Darryl Gaffney Du Plooy, Former Co-Lead (2021-2023).

The people behind the inner workings.

The core team is a team who work towards the delivery of Social Action Inquiry Scotland. They are involved in the operational and dreaming sides of the Inquiry. Their skills and passions are in the areas of social action, research and communications.

In the Inquiry a co-model was adopted with the Co-Chairs and Co-Leads. This means that each individual in the ‘co’ brings different perspectives and experience, both working in harmony together.

The core team consists of; Sam Anderson (Co-Chair), Catherine-Rose Stocks-Rankin (Co-Chair), Deborah Menezes (Co-Lead) and Amanda Wootton (Co-Lead and Former Creative Communications Officer from 2022 to 2023). Thank you to Darryl Gaffney Du Plooy who was the Co-Lead from 2021 to 2023.

 

Please note: The Inquiry finished in December 2024, however, the team are happy for people to get in touch if they have any questions.

Guides

Group photo of the Core team and the Guides of the Social Action Inquiry Scotland.

The people guiding the journey of the inquiry.

These incredible people have a depth of knowledge and shared-experience of social action.  As an interdependent inquiry – meaning everyone involved has a dependence on each other – we didn’t feel the concept of an ‘inquiry panel’ would fit with being interdependent.

The inquiry needed people to guide it through its journey and through its choice points. Therefore, the Guides are involved 1-day a month, joining on the journey bringing a focus on asking the right questions and exploring different avenues.

Delve deeper into the perspectives of the Guides in the reflective piece On Being Part of Social Action Inquiry Scotland by Martha Smart, Guide for the Inquiry.

The group photo is taken from November 2022 of the 10 Guides and Core Team at one of the Guide Meets. [From left to right, back row: Neil Findlay (Guide), Sam Anderson (Core Team), Emma Thomas (Guide), Simon Suamu (Guide), Denisha Killoh (Guide), Martha Smart (Guide), Patrick Heyes (Guide), Deborah Menezes (Core Team), John Arthur (Guide). From left to right, front row: Catherine-Rose Stocks-Rankin (Core Team), Amanda Wootton (Core Team), Innocent Jakisa (Guide). Darryl Gaffney du Plooy (Core Team), Ghzala Khan (Guide), Lisa Callaghan (Guide).]

Communities

The people sharing their stories.

The depth and breath of social action across Scotland can be seen through the work of these communities. From making recovery visible to campaigning against racism in schools, these communities are moving towards creating positive change.

Social Action Inquiry Scotland partnered with 17 communities across Scotland for the Inquiry.

Storytellers

The people capturing the stories.

The storytellers had inside knowledge of the communities and who encourage the story to unfold and capture it into an art form to share with others.

Partners

The people joining the learning journey.

Our story began with individuals from seven organisations and charities coming together to be curious about the social action landscape of Scotland.

Being some of the biggest contributors to funding or advocating for social action and the third sector, our Partners wanted to reflect on the ways they are currently engaged with social action and whether they are helping or hindering it.

We are sharing the stories of the communities partnering with us and sharing our learnings so that together we can do things differently.

Our Partners are; SCVO, Royal Society of Edinburgh, Foundation Scotland, The National Lottery Community Fund, The Robertson Trust, Corra Foundation and Carnegie UK Trust.