Celebrating Trustees Week 2025: Meet the Euan's Guide board members

For Trustees Week, we’re thrilled to introduce our trustees, who play a crucial role in shaping the future of Euan’s Guide. Our trustees provide invaluable guidance, insight, and support to help us better serve the disabled community and our service users. Each trustee brings unique skills and experiences, which together help our “small but mighty” charity fulfil its mission of making the world more accessible. We’re deeply grateful for their dedication and contributions. and we would like to thank them for their continued commitment to Euan’s Guide. Without further ado, get to know our trustees below!

Shonaig Macpherson

With her expertise in strategy, governance, and risk, Shonaig Macpherson became Chair of the Euan’s Guide board in 2022, having supported the charity from its earliest stages. Residing in the scenic Highland Perthshire, Shonaig brings her extensive experience from her trustee roles in the arts, sports, and policy sectors to help guide Euan’s Guide’s vision and growth.

Q: What is your area of expertise, current role, and place of work/residency?

Shonaig: My areas of expertise are strategy, governance and risk. I have a portfolio of trustee roles in arts, sport and policy. I am very lucky that I live in Highland Perthshire, not far from the Fortingall Yew.

Q: When and why did you first get involved with Euan’s Guide?

Shonaig: I became involved before Euan’s Guide was established. When Kiki and Euan first had their idea, I worked with them to shape it into a charity that would make a huge difference for so many. I became involved as I thought it was a brilliant idea and felt it was something that needed to be brought to life as soon as possible. I was delighted to be asked to Chair in 2022.

Q: What is your experience of / thoughts on disabled access?

Shonaig: Although there have been improvements in disabled access, there is a vast amount of work still to be done to ensure that everyone has access everywhere. User-generated reliable information is an essential part of improving accessibility. Euan’s Guide has an important role to play in facilitating and generating that information through our wonderful staff, volunteers and army of reviewers.

Q: What are you most proud of during your time as a Euan’s Guide trustee?

Shonaig: This is the most difficult question as there is so much to be proud of! If I had to pick one single simple thing it has to be Red Cord Cards and the difference they make every day by giving people peace of mind and safety.

Q: Can you tell us some of the high points or memorable moments during your time as a trustee?

Shonaig: The impact of our Access Survey over the last couple of years, amplifying the voices of our users, has been humbling. Helping to bring attention to the daily challenges faced by our users through prime-time TV coverage was a great achievement.

Q: Do you have any tips for someone who is considering becoming a trustee?

Be realistic about the responsibilities and time commitment involved in being a trustee. Choose an area that you are interested in and where your skills, expertise and experience are relevant. As a trustee, there is no such thing as a stupid question: speak up and express your opinions. It is why you are there.

Q: How do you balance it all?

Shonaig: I have learned to say No to lots of opportunities. Make sure that you don’t overextend yourself and have ample time to fulfil your duties as a trustee.

Q: Looking ahead, what are you most excited about for 2025?

Shonaig: The launch of our new website and app, with vital information on Transport Hubs, will be a significant milestone.

Aydin Kurt-Elli

Aydin Kurt-Elli has been a vital member of Euan’s Guide’s board for almost a decade, bringing his background in tech, data, and commercial entrepreneurship. His personal experiences and connections drive his commitment to accessibility, and we’re grateful to have him help Euan’s Guide grow as a go-to resource for people with accessibility needs across the UK.

Q: What is your area of expertise, current role, and place of work/residency?
Aydin: My expertise lies in tech, data, commercial entrepreneurship, and medical fields.

Q: When and why did you first get involved with Euan’s Guide?

Aydin: I was introduced by Scottish Enterprise, and also have a personal connection with Euan through a good friend.

Q: What is your experience of and thoughts on disabled access?

Aydin: We have a nephew who has cerebral palsy, so I have seen firsthand the need for better accessibility. Having worked with Euan’s Guide for almost 10 years now, I have a better understanding of accessibility (both physical and digital).

Q: What are you most proud of during your time as a Euan’s Guide trustee?

Aydin: I am proud to be part of a team that has grown the website’s visitors and user engagement and has positioned Euan’s Guide as the first point of contact for people with accessibility needs planning to explore places of interest.

Q: Can you tell us some of the high points or memorable moments during your time as a trustee?

Aydin: Supporting Euan’s Guide during challenging problems with our technology partners...  memorable but not for good reasons!

Q: Do you have any advice for someone considering becoming a trustee?

Aydin: Understand what role you will play, and don't be there for the sake of it. Trustees should have complementing skills, experiences, and cultural, personal and professional backgrounds (so, not pastry cutter).

Q: How do you balance it all?

Aydin: I am lucky that my lifestyle allows me to fit my support of Euan’s Guide into other projects comfortably, so it’s not an issue for me.

Q: Looking ahead, what are you most excited about for 2025?

Aydin: The launch of the new tech platform, of course!

Kathryn Townsend

Kathryn Townsend - Kat to the team - has been a trustee with Euan’s Guide for nearly a decade, inspired by the charity’s vision and impact on accessibility across the UK. She brings her expertise in financial services and accessibility to the board of Euan’s Guide. As the Head of Customer Accessibility at Nationwide Building Society and the Government Disability & Access Ambassador for the banking sector, Kathryn is committed to making financial services more accessible.

Q: What is your area of expertise, current role, and place of work/residency?

Kat: I work in financial services, to help make them as accessible as possible. My day job is Head of Customer Accessibility at Nationwide Building Society, and I also serve as the Government Disability & Access Ambassador for the banking sector.

Q: When and why did you first get involved with Euan’s Guide?

Kat: I’ve been working with Euan’s Guide for nearly ten years. I was so impressed with their vision and approach that I just had to get behind it. Before working at Nationwide, I worked at Barclays, who were headline sponsors of Disabled Access Day in 2015 and 2017.

Q: What is your experience of / thoughts on disabled access?

Kat: I’m passionate about everyone having equal rights and freedoms, and so when I see exclusion happening, I feel compelled to do something about it! Euan’s Guide shows businesses the value of investing in and supporting disabled access. It’s not only the right thing to do, but it also makes great business sense.

Q: What are you most proud of during your time as a Euan’s Guide trustee?

Kat: The annual Access Survey is a real highlight! We see huge engagement in this important activity, and it’s rewarding to see the impact it has when we release the headlines. Having access to recent data is important for the industry to be aware of – and take action from.

Q: Do you have any tips for someone who is considering becoming a trustee?

Kat: The lovely thing about a board of trustees is the breadth and diversity of experience that is brought together to support the charity. Successful boards bring together individuals with specific skills and experience so that you can feel like you add value in the areas you’re most experienced in.

Q: How do you balance it all?

Kat: I’m really lucky that at Nationwide, all colleagues get two days off per year to volunteer for their favourite charities. It’s great to use my allowance to support Euan’s Guide.

Q: Looking ahead, what are you most excited about for 2025?

Kat: It’s a really exciting time for Euan’s Guide, we have big plans – and big ambitions. I’m looking forward to seeing the team’s hard work land new and exciting initiatives in 2025 – all I can say is, watch this space!

Patrick Herridge

Patrick Herridge, also known as Paddy to us, joined Euan’s Guide as a trustee in 2018, bringing his experience in PR and marketing within the technology and media sectors. Patrick has used his skills to help Euan’s Guide reach a broader audience and advocates for better accessibility by investing his time and resources to support our charity.

Q: What is your area of expertise, current role, and place of work/residency?

Paddy: My background is in PR and marketing, specifically in the technology and media sectors. I’m currently an advisor to a range of organisations on everything from business strategy to crisis communications.

Q: When and why did you first get involved with Euan’s Guide?

Paddy: I knew Euan through my wife and was delighted to be asked to join as a trustee in 2018.

Q: What is your experience of / thoughts on disabled access?

Paddy: Euan’s experience, and then my work with Euan's Guide, really brought the issue into focus for me. The fact that a significant proportion of the population are being prevented from living their lives to the full by preventable access issues is ridiculous in this day and age. There are many problems in the world but disabled access is a widespread problem that has a clear route to making things better, and that’s a great reason to get involved.

Q: What are you most proud of during your time as a Euan’s Guide trustee?

Paddy: I think in general it’s the user growth that we’ve seen – every user visiting Euan's Guide is potentially someone whose life has been made a little better or easier by finding detailed and accurate accessibility information.

Q: Can you tell us some of the high points or memorable moments during your time as a trustee?

Paddy: Since we launched the Access Survey it has become a key data point in the accessibility world.  As the largest survey of its kind, it's an essential window into the challenges that disabled people and their carers face, and a problem understood is halfway to a problem solved.

Q: Do you have any tips for someone who is considering becoming a trustee?

Paddy: The best boards have a blend of different talents and, for me, it's about understanding where you add value and focusing your expertise on that area.  As a trustee, you can’t be involved in every detail so it's about sharing the workload and making the most of your joint skill sets.

Q: How do you balance it all?

Paddy: I’ve worked in, owned and run agency businesses all of my professional life and so handling multiple competing demands for my time has become second nature!  It's about being strict with the allocation of your time and resources and always keeping an eye on what needs attention at any given time.

Q: Looking ahead, what are you most excited about for 2025?

Paddy: There’s a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes that will transform the way that Euan's Guide looks and works online and on mobile.  This will be a major moment in the development of our service and I’m excited to see how this can help even more people in even more ways.

Shona Thompson

Shona Thompson, a Scottish Chartered Accountant with over 25 years in finance and HR, focuses on ensuring Euan’s Guide operates efficiently and that its staff are supported in a positive work environment. Living in Edinburgh, Shona’s dedication to our charity’s mission has grown over many years and is now deepened by her commitment to honouring Euan MacDonald’s legacy.

Q: What is your area of expertise, current role, and place of work/residency?

Shona: I am a Scottish Chartered accountant with over 25 years of financial and HR experience in the commercial and the voluntary sector. I have worked in a variety of different roles, but as a Trustee at Euan's Guide my main responsibility is to look after the money; make sure that it is spent most efficiently and effectively, and the people; to make sure that staff are happy and working in a safe and friendly environment. I live in Edinburgh, with my husband, two daughters and an energetic, but very cute, dog.

Q: When and why did you first get involved with Euan’s Guide?

Shona: I've been aware of Euan's Guide since it was founded and have been inspired by the work that Euan, Kiki and the team have done in the last 10 years. I am now at a stage in my life where I am able to use my skills, experience and knowledge to help others. Sadly Euan MacDonald, our founder, passed away a few months ago, after a long battle with MND. I am committed to continue the work that he and Kiki started and ensure that his legacy continues. Now, more than ever, we are all driven to succeed. 

Q: What is your experience of / thoughts on disabled access?

Shona: I am ashamed to say that I hadn't really thought about it until Euan and Kiki brought it to my attention many years ago. Since then, I am pleased that things are slightly better, but there is still a long way to go. In this day and age, there is no reason why people with any kind of disability should be excluded from any event or venue, or face a negative experience.  

Q: What are you most proud of during your time as a Euan’s Guide trustee?

Shona: The growth that we have experienced - from what started as an idea to now employing 8 members of staff, reaching so many people, and having so many hits on the website. Any successful grant/award is a proud moment. The Access Survey gives us such important information to shape our work, and more recently, the Travel with Confidence project will ensure that all people in society can be mobile in a safe way. It is a very exciting time to be involved at Euan's Guide. 

Q: Can you tell us some of the high points or memorable moments during your time as a trustee?

Shona: Each day we help someone have a better experience through our accessibility information is a highlight.

Q: Do you have any tips for someone who is considering becoming a trustee?

Shona: To get the most out of the role, you need to put a lot in, and that requires a time commitment, along with a passion for the work that the organisation does. That said, it is a very rewarding role and selfishly you also get a lot of it, you learn a lot and you get to meet some amazing people. My advice would be to go for it! You never know where it will lead you. 

Q: How do you balance it all?

Shona: It is hard, especially with young children, and many other work commitments. However, along with the regular meetings that you can plan for, there are always ad-hoc phone calls and emails. Like everything in life, it is about prioritising what needs to be done and when, and setting realistic deadlines. However it has to remain fun and worthwhile, there is no point juggling and stressing if you don't enjoy the majority of what you do. I have been lucky to find that in most of the things that I do!

Q: Looking ahead, what are you most excited about for 2025?

Shona: Holidays!! I love spending time with my friends and family, and I have a milestone birthday at the end of this year that I plan on spending most of 2025 celebrating!

Paul Ralph

Paul has been a Euan's Guide trustee for just over a year - but before taking up the role of a board member, he was the Euan's Guide Access and Inclusion Director for ten years, so he knows us well! 

Paul’s passion for access and inclusion is driven by personal experience of life as a disabled person and many years of working in social services, social enterprise, and the voluntary sector. He champions the transformative power of inclusive tourism and the opportunities it can bring to businesses. With his rich tapestry of skills, he advises on the development and operation of visitor attractions and hospitality settings to welcome disabled visitors, and he's a prolific Euan's Guide reviewer with over 500 reviews!

Paul has gained recognition for multiple achievements, including the establishment of Disabled Access Day, advocating for digital accessibility, campaigning for environmental access, and promoting a holistic approach to creating visitor experiences that are accessible and inclusive for disabled people.

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