Isobel Grigor
Chief Executive

It’s my job to create the culture and environment in which our work at Calman with young people can flourish, to build and support our senior management team, set out our strategy and vision for the future in line with the organisation’s values and establish the business on a sound financial footing. I am also the link between our Board of Management, who give the organisation its strategic lead, and what we do day to day at Calman.

What I like most about working at Calman is having the opportunity to create an environment in which young people who have had a struggle can prepare to face the future with confidence and the ability to do well. Seeing young people work alongside our staff in this business environment, producing quality goods with pride, meeting the needs of customers and becoming good employees, is absolutely inspiring. These are our Highland citizens of the future, and it is an extraordinary privilege to be involved with them. This is a great job, and working alongside a wonderful team of colleagues means I enjoy turning up to work every single day. (As does my little dog, Millie, who is thoroughly indulged by the whole team.)

First and foremost, what enables me to do my job is seeing what works for young people and listening to what they tell us. I have worked in this sector for a long time and this, combined with a couple of degrees, means I have an understanding of what works and what we need to do at Calman to become more and more effective.

My role is to lead the day to day operations of the Calman Trust. This involves working with the great staff that we have to ensure that all the services that we offer are of a consistently high quality, and continues to meet the needs of the wide range of people that we work with.

It is hard to say what I like most about my job, as there is a lot of variety. I am fortunate to work with a great bunch of folk, both staff and young people, and it is really satisfying to see them all coming together to make a fun environment that is also challenging and enables individuals to learn and work towards shared goals. I also get a chance to be involved in the development of the organisation, and it is very satisfying when after a lot of hard work, you can see your plans and ideas becoming a reality.

I have worked with young people in various different capacities for about 15 years, and never find that I stop learning. Prior experience was in the commercial world in wine shipping and retail, and although a very different environment, I was able to develop a range of skills which I find very useful in my present job.

My job is really interesting, has a lot of variety and through development work I can shape how the training opportunities fit into the overall development of the organisation. The thing I like most about the job is seeing young people enjoy learning and achieving their goals - it’s amazing to see how people develop and move on to great things. What I like most about working at Calman is it’s a great team where young people and staff work together and know by working through challenges together anything is possible.

I have a background in learning & development both in delivering specific qualifications and in helping people prepare for, find and keep their job or college place. I have managed learning centres helping to develop trainers to work effectively with the people they are training either in learning centres or in the workplace. The most valuable experience I have is what I have learned from young people I have worked with which really helps me plan training opportunities that help individual young people achieve their goals.

Jo Mackay
Housing Support Team Leader

My role as team leader requires me to line manage both the Alness and Inverness Housing Support teams. Alongside this I also provide housing support for young people aged 16-25, this can include many different areas such as advice, attending meetings with the young person. Basically supporting them to make the transition to independent living as smooth as possible.

Calman has been a great place to work. Working with the young people has been an interesting experience, there really isn’t a dull day. My colleagues are so supportive and without that structure it would be so difficult work at the same level.

Previously I have worked with another housing support agency and also supported people with learning difficulties to manage independence in their own tenancy. I have had the pleasure of working with Calman for a number of years now and each day there is something new to learn.

Doreen Sutherland
Senior Housing Support Worker

I provide housing support to young people. This consists of identifying the needs of the young person and supporting on a planned basis. I help and support young people to develop the skills to manage and maintain a tenancy independently. As the Senior Housing Support Worker I also provide advice and guidance to the team in Alness.

What I like most about my job is working with young people to achieve their goals which can be challenging and diverse. I enjoy all the different features of the job; it’s an ongoing learning process for me. Its great being part of a very supportive, practical and fun team.

Previously I worked as a manager of a busy post office, this proved to be a very valuable learning curve that helped me to deal with challenges differently. I enjoyed the variety of the work and getting the ‘craic’ with folk. It was very much solution focused work which I feel is very relevant to my job today.

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