Yousaf’s links to Hamas – Holyrood Meeting With Former Hamas Leader
In 2008, Yousaf, then a parliamentary assistant to MSP Bashir Ahmad and his cousin Osama Saeed, arranged a meeting between Linda Fabiani the Scottish Culture and External Affairs Secretary and former *senior Hamas commander Mohammad Sawalha (described by BBC Panorama as the mastermind behind much of Hamas’ political and military strategy) who was accompanied by two other Hamas supporting activists, Anas Altikriti and Ismail Patel.
Iraqi-born Altikriti frequently voiced support for Hamas, saying it was “fighting back” against Israeli occupation. Patel, who founded the Midlands-based Friends of Al-Aqsa said: “The current political map of Palestine… will have to include Hamas and Fatah amongst other political groups. Hamas is a resistance movement against colonial oppression and the backbone of Palestinian resistance.
Soon after the meeting Yousaf and Saeed established an Islamic lobbying group, The Scottish Islamic Foundation (SIF). Its first chief executive was Saeed who had previously expressed support for Islamists including Anwar al-Awlaki, the extremist preacher who inspired numerous Muslim terrorists, but who, he said, “preached nothing but peace.”
The SIF was awarded £405,000 in grants from the SNP government and announced the country’s biggest ever celebration of Islamic culture in Glasgow for June 2009.
But the project collapsed and SIF was forced to repay £128,000 of the taxpayer funds it had received, with £72,000 already spent. Yousaf was also a director of SIF Ltd between May 2008 and September 2009.
Afternote: SIF was wound up after spending several hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money with almost nothing to show for it and with large sums unaccounted for. Humza Yousaf’s aunt and mother were employed by the charity which was placed on a watch list after being described as an entry-level group for Islamists.
Financial Aid to the Hamas-Ruled Gaza Strip
*Sawalha was Hamas’ West Bank military chief before being appointed to its political leadership. He reportedly fled the Gaza Strip in 1990 after being placed on a wanted list by Israel. Hamas had at the time been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the US, but the UK did not follow suit until 2021.
Sawalha attended the meeting at Holyrood as a representative of Islam Expo, which was funded by a £2 million grant from Qatar and held in London in 2006 and 2008.
The Expos, run by Sawalha, included an appearance by Sheikh Qazi Hussain Ahmed, a Pakistani politician who praised the Taliban as “just and honourable men.”
Lord Carlisle, a former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said: “Yousaf must address the circumstances in which he judged it appropriate to have close contact with Hamas supporters.
The international community has sent billions of dollars in aid to the Gaza Strip in recent years to provide relief to the more than 2 million Palestinians living in the isolated, Hamas-ruled territory.
The aid is intended to ease the burden on civilians of an Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed on Gaza when the Islamic militant group seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.
Israel says the heavy restrictions on trade and movement are needed to keep Hamas from enhancing its military capability, while critics view it as a form of collective punishment. Israel and Hamas have fought five wars since 2008, the most recent in 2023.
Israel closely supervises aid to try to ensure it bypasses Hamas. But the Hamas-run government benefits from foreign countries footing the bill for schools, hospitals and infrastructure, allowing it to conserve its resources, including the taxes and customs it collects.
Scottish Financial Aid to the UN’s Gaza Appeal:
Yousaf pledged to donate $1 million as Scotland’s humanitarian funding to the UN’s Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) appeal.
Sturgeon claimed to be a progressive individual focussed on delivering good things for Scots through the outwardly appealing but internally dictatorial corporate lobby.
But in the wacky world of the Scottish National Party the interests and concerns of the many are subsumed by the financial rewards for those who are willingly supplicant to the demands of the party leadership.
Scotland’s National Investment Bank
Set up by Sturgeon to make strategic investments for the common good of the people of Scotland it morphed into a tool for corporate business to capitalise on.
Travelnest Ltd, received £3 million in start-up funding, with more finance promised. The company specialised in providing infrastructure for the rapidly growing number of holiday homeowners enabling them to list and rent their properties.
Comment: Encouraging the uncontrolled market expansion of 2nd and 3rd home purchases in Scotland’s rural areas by primarily English residents can be likened to providing billets for 20,000 English soldiers who through claim of residence are extended the privilege of a vote in Scottish elections. Kiss any successful independence referendum goodbye!!!
Take a look at some of the other corporate networks involved:
The Chair of SNIB is Willie Watt. Watt is an Advisory Board Member of Scottish Equity Partners, a private sector Glasgow-based investment consortia which is already investing in projects into which SNIB is investing.
Carolyn Jamieson is a Non Executive Director of the Scottish National Investment Bank and is also an Advisory Board Member of Scottish Equity Partners.
She is formerly Chief Legal Officer at Skyscanner. Interestingly the new “Chief Entrepreneur” is also formerly a top executive at Skyscanner. Small world.
All of the foregoing fits neatly into a climate of patronage set up around the leadership of the Scottish Government sprawling beyond the corporate sector and into wider parts of public life.
The Chair of the Economic Recovery Group, is also the Chair of Buccleuch Estates and is also Chair of the National Galleries of Scotland board, alongside Andrew Wilson of Charlotte Street Partners who is also the author of the Growth Commission, alongside Willie Watt who is also the inaugural chair of the Scottish National Investment bank.
The Sturgeon founded National Investment Bank is in deep financial trouble: Its closure will cost the Scottish taxpayer’s billion of pounds
The bank has struggled to make a profit despite having £2bn of public funding ring-fenced for it. It made a £14.6m pre-tax loss in 2023/24. Its latest accounts were published on Wednesday and showed that some of its investments had plummeted in value, meaning that they were worth less and led to the loss of £58.4m. The value of its portfolio slid by a hefty £77m as its decisions to plough money into some Scottish companies turned sour.
Scottish taxpayers stung again as Sturgeon’s founded investment bank faces a significant financial loss as a company it backed goes bust
The struggling bank founded by Nicola Sturgeon to fund up-and-coming entrepreneurs and businesses faces yet another huge taxpayer-funded loss as M Squared Lasers goes bust owing the public purse £34m.
The Glasgow technology company, founded by Graeme Malcolm and Gareth Maker has run out of cash and ceased trading in the latest embarrassment for the flagship SNP project. 28 staff are being made redundant.
The bank has written off financial losses by:
Krucial, a satellite and digital technology specialist which closed after netting £2.9m of public cash.
Circularity Scotland, formed by Green Party minister Lorna Slater to run the Scottish Government’s doomed deposit return scheme which folded in 2023, with a loss of £9m. The Scottish Government are facing a multi million pound lawsuit from suppliers to the now closed venture
For many historians, the highlight of the latest MI5 declassification at the National Archives will be the multi-volume files on two of the world’s leading Communist historians, both British: Christopher Hill and Eric Hobsbawm. Christopher Hill’s file, which begins at KV2/3941, shows that he first came to MI5’s attention when he visited Russia in 1935 while an undergraduate at Oxford University. He returned to Russia in 1936 and joined the Communist Party. After WW2 MI5 considered Hill, then a Fellow (and later Master) of Balliol College as Q ‘one of the leading Communists at Oxford University’. In 1951 it applied successfully for a Home Office Warrant (HOW) to intercept Hill’s correspondence and telephone calls in the belief that this would increase MI5’s ‘knowledge of Communism and the Universities’ in general as well as of Hill’s own activities. The product of the HOW adds to our understanding of, for example, Hill’s decision to leave the Party in 1957 in protest against the leadership’s attempt to suppress criticism of the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian Rising in 1956. The Party leader, John Gollan, was overhead saying that Q ‘out of those who had left, he would not have done much to dissuade any of them, except Christopher Hill’. Hill wrote to Communist Party HQ in an intercepted letter which is on his file: ‘We have been living for too long in a world of illusions. It was a smug, cosy little world…’
Unlike Hill, Eric Hobsbawm, whose file begins at KV2/3980, remained a Party member after the Hungarian Rising, though he fell out with some Party hardliners. The veteran hardliner D N Pritt was overheard complaining angrily to Gollan about Q ‘that nasty piece of work, Eric Hobsbawm’. Other senior Party figures were annoyed to discover that he was writing for the Daily Mail and other non-Communist publications under the pen-name ‘Francis Newton’. Hobsbawm, however, continued to encourage young people to join the Communist Party. In the last volume of his file to be released, which goes up to 1963, he’s reported, for example, as congratulating the West Middlesex Young Communist League on what he called the ‘encouraging results’ of its recruiting drive. The files also contain copies of Hobsbawm’s Party membership cards for the early 1960s, as well as intercepted correspondence and transcripts of telephone calls.
The MI5 files which attracted most media interest in the last declassification earlier this year were those on WW2 deception operations by an MI5 officer using the alias ‘Jack King’, who posed as a secret Gestapo representative in wartime Britain, a subterfuge that enabled him to identify British Nazi sympathisers. Some of the pro-Nazis even passed him secret information, including details of research into the jet engine, in the mistaken belief that he would pass it to Germany. Files in the latest release, beginning at KV2/3873, reveal for the first time that ‘King”s true identity was Eric Roberts. His file includes transcripts of conversations with Nazi sympathisers who suggested ways to damage the British war effort and assist a German invasion.
What is BlackRock? It is one of the largest vulture funds ever to gain control, by stealth of the financial affairs of entire countries and the people that live there. Its mode of operation is to buy up the debt of troubled organisations/companies and in doing so establish absolute control over the resources and land of nations. Any profits gathered to the pot are transferred to the many transnational companies who invest in BlackRock. The name of the game is profit which is largely achieved through the ruthless pruning of labour costs and the evasion of taxes through the use of a maze of subsiduary companies headquartered in offshore locations. Those who monitor the activities of hedge funds such as BlackRock need only to reflect on past/present turmoil in Ukraine, Greece, Nigeria, Congo, Argentina, Ecuador,, Panama, Peru, Indonesia and many other countries.
Who runs the USA government? Those who thought that Obama and Biden ran the country are deluded. BlackRock pulled all the strings!!
Larry Fink’s BlackRock dicatated the foreign and financial policies of President Obama’s and Biden’s governments. To achieve this he placed his investment executive Brian Deese in government to lead the National Economic Council, (NEC) effectively serving as the top economic advisor to Obama and Biden. Fink also added his former chief of staff, chief executive and longtime Democrat, Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo, to serve as one of the top official’s at the US Treasury Department.
And the UK is in BlackRock’s sights. Starmer, a devotee of Obama and Fink has had recent meetings with both of them discussing the expansion of “Freeports” and similar ventures which will remove the power of the voting public forever. No more unncessary elections to Westminster. BlackRock will appoint them. But faced with reality many voters chose to act like fools.
Contrast the as yet undisclosed agenda for the future of the UK; with Norway which nationalised oil and gas exploration and its production and refinement ensuring the control of all profits remained with the electorate. and Poland which introduced control measures, against the wishes of the EEC ensuring 90+ % of land would be owned in perpetuity by Poles.
Mark Twain said; ‘it’s easier to fool someone than to convince them they have been fooled’
It’s a new era for the World Economic Forum, and I feel that it neatly bridges past and future.
Today, the Forum’s board of trustees announced that André Hoffmann and Larry Fink take over as interim Chairs of the organization, following the departure of Klaus Schwab.
With that decision, the Forum is turning a page, and entering a new era, in which building bridges on the global stage is obviously harder, but as needed as ever.
I’m excited about their chairmanship, and I think those who wish the Forum well should be too. Why?
Andre and Larry bridge the past and the future of both the organization and the world economy.
First, they are both long time trustees and stewards of the Forum Spirit and its vision. There’s a clear choice for continuity in their appointment.
Before ESG became political plutonium, Fink endorsed it and included it in his leadership agenda. It’s something he talked to me about for “Stakeholder Capitalism”. If he later changed tack, it was arguably for good reason: shareholder democracy and stakeholder capitalism require business leaders to listen to their stakeholders.
As for Andre, his holistic approach to capitalism, including social, environmental, human, and financial capital, is a blue print of how capitalism could and should evolve going forward (I’m so convinced to have co-authored a book on the subject with him).
They also bridge the US and Europe, and their differing approaches to capitalism and democracy.
Andre is a true Swiss, and that’s what the Forum’s HQ needs. The Forum was always global in its reach, and inspired by the American way from the get go, but it is and remains Swiss and European in its DNA. For the organization to thrive in a changing world order, it needs a Swiss steward at the top.
Yet similarly, the organization cannot retreat to the old continent. The US economy is more vibrant and dynamic, and its political power is at a 21st century high. As such, you need an American at the helm, and few American business leaders are as influential as Fink.
There is much left to say still about the past and ongoing changes at the Forum. I am among many who have questions still. But for now, I couldn’t think of better news than this. Best of luck to them and to Børge Brende and the entire Forum leadership and team.
Britain i.e. England appointed Blaise Metreweli as the next MI6 chief, set to assume office in Oct. 2025. Her grandfather, Constantine Dobrowolski, was a Nazi collaborator from Ukraine who defected from the Red Army in 1941, aligned himself with Hitler’s intelligence apparatus, participated in the mass execution of Jews & resistance fighters, & signed his letters with Heil Hitler. Official wartime records from Soviet & German sources identify him as The Butcher.
Now his granddaughter has been chosen to take control of the British intelligence service at the very moment when Scotland’s decolonisation movement is gathering strength. This is not fiction. The appointment & timing are real. Overwhelming symbolism. A descendant of fascist terror will oversee the very agency charged with defending what remains of Britain’s colonial architecture. Scotland will see its national liberation monitored and potentially sabotaged by a person whose bloodline is tied to one of the darkest legacies of 21st authoritarianism.
British media have tried to reframe the appointment as a milestone for inclusion. Progress! The headlines speak of the 1st woman to lead MI6. The story ends there for most readers. Scotland cannot afford such selective amnesia. Metreweli’s agency is not a passive institution. It has long functioned as an active defender of colonial rule. In Kenya, Malaya, Ireland, etc., MI6 has worked to break freedom movements, especially linked to Scotland.
Scotland’s struggle is not regional adjustment but a national movement confronting a colonial structure that continues to disguise itself as a union. Metreweli has not yet taken office, but her appointment represents a conscious decision by the English state to reinforce its security apparatus in anticipation of what lies ahead. The aim is to block change. The British establishment sees clearly that Scotland’s demand for independence is not a constitutional debate; but a threat to the entire imperial legacy embedded in the internal architecture of the fake ‘UK’.
Metreweli bears no personal guilt for her grandfather’s crimes. The problem lies in the structure she has been chosen to lead. MI6 has never undergone decolonization. Its methods have changed, but its objectives remain intact. Surveillance, disruption, media manipulation, and psychological operations now target those who speak the language of self-determination. Scotland’s movement is treated not as a democratic project but as a national security risk.
The choice of a Nazi’s descendant to lead this agency cannot be dismissed as coincidence. It reflects an ongoing refusal to confront the violent inheritance of British power. The postwar state absorbed elements of fascism rather than reject them. Metreweli’s appointment fits within this long pattern. The timing reveals the fear. Clear message. The state will use every means available to preserve control.
Scotland’s response must be one of absolute clarity. The world must be told that this is not a matter of local governance. This is decolonization. The British state does not grant freedom. It prevents it. The naming of Metreweli is not about the future. It is about preserving the past; built on domination, silence, erasure.
Scotland has no obligation to wait for approval from those who rule over it. The appointment of The Butcher’s granddaughter to MI6 is a mirror showing what the Anglo-British state is willing to do, how far it is willing to go. Liberation is no longer an aspiration but an imperative. Scotland is an English colony. Decolonization is essential. Saor Alb
June 14, 2025: White Paper: Russian Connections to Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein – Prepared by: Stephen Pain & Zoosemiotics
Executive Summary This document outlines the known, alleged, and circumstantial connections between Russian individuals, organizations (including criminal and intelligence services), and the networks surrounding Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. While definitive conclusions of illegal activity remain outside the scope of available public evidence, the documented proximity of both Trump and Epstein to Russian-linked entities merits serious analysis.
Section 1: Donald Trump and Russian Connections
1.1 Russian Business and Political Ties Felix Sater: Russian-American businessman, convicted felon, and longtime FBI informant. Partnered with Trump via Bayrock Group. Had links to Russian organized crime, including Semion Mogilevich.
Semion Mogilevich: Considered the “boss of bosses” of the Russian mafia. Has deep ties to FSB and GRU. Sater had business ties with individuals close to Mogilevich.
Aras and Emin Agalarov: Russian oligarchs who hosted the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. Helped facilitate the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Kremlin-linked lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.
Trump Tower Moscow: Proposed deal during 2015–2016 campaign, involving Russian officials and Sater. No deal finalized, but active communication occurred during the election period.
1.2 Intelligence and Surveillance Miss Universe 2013 was held at Moscow’s Ritz-Carlton, a site believed to be under FSB surveillance. Allegations (unverified) suggest possible kompromat was obtained.
Russian intelligence agencies (FSB/GRU) are known to deploy “honeytrap” and kompromat tactics through hospitality and luxury networks, such as beauty pageants and clubs.
Section 2: Jeffrey Epstein and Russian Connections
2.1 Recruitment and Exploitation Networks Jean-Luc Brunel: Ran MC2 Model Management. Recruited many girls from Eastern Europe and Russia. Worked closely with Epstein.
MC2 Model Management: Allegedly used to supply Epstein with underage girls, some of whom came from Russia and Eastern Europe.
2.2 Intelligence Interactions Dossier Center (2024 Report) revealed Epstein’s communications with Sergei Belyakov, a former Russian Deputy Minister with FSB Academy background.
Belyakov allegedly helped Epstein obtain visas and introduced him to networks associated with Russian elites and economic forums (e.g., SPIEF).
No confirmed record exists of Epstein physically entering Russia, but intent and facilitation networks were active.
Section 3: Shared Themes and Overlaps
3.1 Modeling Agencies as Vectors Trump Model Management: Brought in Eastern European models, many without proper work visas.
MC2 Model Management: Focused on similar demographics, often underaged, with known abuse by Epstein.
Both organizations operated in elite social spaces attractive to intelligence and criminal exploitation.
3.2 Use of Pageants and Events Miss Universe (Trump) and elite parties (Epstein) both served as environments where powerful men and vulnerable women were brought together — classic conditions for kompromat.
Overlapping presence of oligarchs, FSB-linked figures, and modeling talent increases plausibility of indirect asset recruitment or surveillance.
3.3 Russian Mafia Both Trump (via Sater and real estate) and Epstein (via social contacts like Brunel) existed in ecosystems where Russian organized crime — often intertwined with FSB — played a role in money laundering, trafficking, and elite access.
Section 4: Conclusion While no direct, proven collaboration between Epstein and Trump involving Russian intelligence has been uncovered, their shared use of modeling pipelines, proximity to Russian elites, and interest from intelligence services — especially the FSB — reveal an environment highly vulnerable to foreign influence and exploitation. The overlap in locations, methods (pageants, models, exclusive events), and persons of interest (Sater, Brunel, Agalarov) suggests a complex network where illicit and state interests may have intersected.
Further investigation — especially with access to Russian visa records, surveillance archives, and intelligence files — is necessary to fully assess the depth of these entanglements.
Part Two: White Paper: The Under reported and the Unknown Aspects of Trump and Epstein’s Relations with Young Women
Executive Summary This white paper investigates the lesser-known and under-reported aspects of Jeffrey Epstein’s and Donald Trump’s associations with young women, specifically focusing on the trafficking and exploitation of Russian and Eastern European girls.
While definitive legal conclusions are limited due to systemic opacity, the paper outlines financial trails, witness suppression, and immigration manipulation, drawing from lawsuits, investigative reporting, and government settlements.
Section 1: Recruitment and Exploitation of Russian & Eastern European Women
1.1 Jean-Luc Brunel and MC2 Model Management Operated as a primary recruitment channel for girls from Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, and other post-Soviet states.
Brunel, Epstein’s close associate, allegedly trafficked “over a thousand girls” under the guise of modeling contracts. Recruited girls were often as young as 14–16 and sent to Epstein’s U.S. properties.
1.2 Modus Operandi Victims were brought in using tourist, student, or fraudulent marriage visas. Modeling contracts provided a false veneer of legitimacy. Some underage girls were married to U.S. citizens to secure longer stays—allegations made in lawsuits against Epstein’s estate.
Section 2: Financial Evidence
2.1 Deutsche Bank Settlement (2020) Deutsche Bank was fined $150 million after regulators discovered transactions from Epstein to “Russian models and women with Eastern European surnames.” Internal emails acknowledged the risk: staff noted the pattern but allowed transactions to continue.
2.2 Structured Payments and Hidden Transfers Payments were typically small and recurring—hallmarks of trafficking-related financial flows. These transactions took place between 2013–2017, aligning with allegations in civil suits.
Section 3: Absence of Testimony and Legal Barriers
3.1 Anonymity and Intimidation Most Eastern European victims were never publicly identified; many appeared as “Jane Does.” Threats, NDAs, and fear of deportation discouraged testimony. Women were often dependent on Epstein’s network for housing, money, or legal status.
3.2 Immigration Leverage Victims on temporary visas feared exposure if they cooperated with investigators. Some may have been incentivized—or coerced—to leave the U.S. quietly after Epstein’s first conviction in 2008.
3.3 Nadia Marcinko (a.k.a. Marcinková) Slovak national, Epstein’s pilot, and alleged participant in abuse. Invoked the Fifth Amendment during questioning; granted immunity in earlier plea deal. Reported missing in 2024, with no clear status update.
Section 4: Ties to Trump’s Modeling and Pageant Networks
4.1 Trump Model Management Recruited Eastern European models, some underage, working without proper visas. Allegations of exploitative labor and overcharging for rent, with models’ passports withheld.
4.2 Miss Universe Moscow 2013 Co-hosted by Kremlin-linked Agalarovs. Held at Ritz-Carlton Moscow—alleged to be monitored by FSB. Provided an ideal platform for both recruitment and kompromat tactics.
Section 5: Analysis & Implications Patterns of trafficking, financial secrecy, and strategic silence suggest systemic abuse. Russian and Eastern European girls were both high-risk and high-value within these networks. Lack of public testimony may stem from coercion, cultural stigma, or legal exposure.
Conclusion The fate of many Russian and Eastern European girls in Epstein’s and Trump’s shared orbit remains undocumented. Financial records, recruitment strategies, and immigration manipulation point to a coordinated system of exploitation. Yet the stories of most victims remain silenced by fear, bureaucracy, and untraceable departures. Without transparency, justice for these women remains elusive.
Shirley-Anne Somerville – Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice
responsible for:
Baby Box
benefit automation
human rights
minimum income guarantee
national mission for tackling child poverty
Office of Chief Social Policy Advisor
Scottish Government benefits (development and delivery)
Scottish Welfare Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs)
social justice, tackling poverty and inequalities
Social Security Scotland
third sector, social enterprises and Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)
UN treaty incorporation including United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
Kaukab Stewart – Minister for Equalities
Specific responsibilities are:
displaced peoples
diversity, inclusion and equalities; including disability, older people, women, gender, LGBTI, religion, race, and Gypsy Traveller community
Equally Safe strategy
faith and belief
New Scots strategy
population and migration (inc. Ministerial Taskforce on Population)
refugees and asylum seekers
social isolation and loneliness strategy
Rebecca Don Kennedy CEO – Equality Network
Equality Network: The Network is run by a Board of Trustees, who are all volunteers. They oversee the organisation, take strategic decisions, and are ultimately responsible for all our activities. The Network aims to create lasting improvement in the situation of LGBTIQ people in Scotland.
The day to day work of the organisation is delegated by the Board to our staff –There are currently 9 full-time staff and 6 part-time staff.
The Trustees
Dr Kevin Guyan (Convener)
Dr Kevin Guyan is a writer and researcher whose work explores the intersection of data and identity. He is the author of ‘Rainbow Trap: Queer Lives, Classifications and the Dangers of Inclusion’ (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025) and ‘Queer Data: Using Gender, Sex and Sexuality Data for Action’ (Bloomsbury Academic, 2022). Kevin is a Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the Gender + Sexuality Data Lab. Further information: kevinguyan.com
Judi Syson (Deputy Convener)
Judi has supported LGBT+ community organisations since joining the LGBT Health & Wellbeing board in 2004, and served as their chair for 5 years. With a background in STEM innovation and clinical research Judi brings leadership and people management experience to the Equality Network Board, along with a youth charity management perspective as a current trustee for the YMCA in Edinburgh & Scotland. Judi enjoys participating in LGBT community activities with women’s hill walking groups, the Loud & Proud Choir and watching rugby. linkedin.com/in/judisyson
Daniel Clayton (Treasurer)
Daniel qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2002. He is an Investment Management specialist and has held several senior roles within Audit and Risk, Investment Operations, Investment Change and Product Design and Strategy. He has worked for several leading companies including PwC, Aegon Asset Management, Citi, Standard Life Investments, First State and Abrdn. He has a keen interest in promoting LGBTIQ representation at senior levels within the financial services industry and has been an active part in both establishing, chairing and being part of LGBTIQ networks within the various companies he has worked for. Currently he is the Inclusion and Diversity Lead for the Investment Office at his current employer, Scottish Widows. Daniel is the Treasurer of the Equality Network and oversees the financial governance, controls and overall financial position of the charity.
Cecilia Righini: Cecilia Righini is the Founder and Creative Director of Studio Lutalica, a non-profit design agency supporting women and LGBTQ+ communities. With a focus on intersectional feminism and sustainable practices, Cecilia leads projects that empower diverse identities. Their work has been recognised with awards for its impact in the creative industry. Cecilia also serves on the board of Proud Futures and is a visiting practitioner at in Design Management at UAL: London College of Communication. linkedin.com/in/ceciliarighini
Christina Tatlow: Christina is currently on a short sabbatical from our Board.
Katherine O’Donnell: Katherine O’Donnell is a journalist and writer of more than 35 years’ experience in print, broadcasting and digital media. She has a longstanding interest in human rights and equality. She is a former night editor of The Times and the only trans person ever to have held a senior editorial role in the UK national press.
Peter Hope-Jones: Peter is a civil servant with twenty years’ experience in different roles in the Scottish Government. Currently working on higher education institutional stability, he previously led on taking the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill through the Scottish Parliament, and has also been Private Secretary to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Head of Human Trafficking Policy, and Interim Chief Executive of Parole Scotland.
Stella Sibbit-Johnston: Stella works in international education, with experience living and working in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and Scotland. She brings a global perspective to the Board, and as a migrant and a parent is passionate about intersectionality within the LGBTIQ community. Having recently completed the Radius Employee Network Leadership Programme, she leads the EDI Committee in her workplace.
Tristan Grayford: Tristan Grayford is a software engineer and author who moved to Scotland from Jersey in 2014 and joined Equality Network’s board in 2024. He is the co-founder of the End Conversion Therapy Scotland Campaign and QUILL Scotland. He has previously worked at the Scottish Parliament and written policy for multiple political parties. In his career he has chaired LGBTQ+ employee networks and spoken on panels from the risks of Generative AI to inclusive practice in tech and genre fiction.
Staff:
Chief Executive Officer: Dr Rebecca Don Kennedy (she/her)
Finance and Business Coordinator: Claudia Russo (she/her)
Communications Officer: Chris Timmins (he/him)
Branding and Publications Officer: Nathan Skye (he/they)
Training Officer: James H. Verardi (he/him)
Community Engagement and Development Officer:Ruth McGill (she/her):
Disability and Neurodiversity Officers: Mel Maguire (she/her) Rowan Alison (they/them)
Policy Coordinator: Erin Lux (she/her)
Policy and Campaigns Officer: Christopher Clannachan (he/him)
Policy Officer: Eleanor Sanders White (she/her)
Scottish Trans: Strives to be inclusive and open, to challenge discrimination and to consult, involve and inform the individuals and the communities for which we work.
Partnership is a key part of our approach, and much of what we do involves working in partnership with diverse LGBTI people, other trans and LGBTI organisations, and with organisations working in the wider equality and human rights field.
There are currently three full-time Scottish Trans staff within the Equality Network:
Scottish Trans Manager: Vic Valentine (they/them)
Scottish Trans Policy & Public Affairs Officer: Florence Oulds (she/her)
Scottish Trans Community Engagement Coordinator: Oceana Maund (They/Them)
Scottish Trans is also currently hosting a fourth full time member of staff, as part of the Scottish Government’s NHS Gender Identity Services Strategic Action Framework 2021-2024:
Lived Experience Officer: Ryan Butter (he/they)
Government Finance: 2024 Scottish Government grants : £576,316 of which £450,000 was spent on staff costs.
LEAP Sports Scotland: Scotland’s LGBTIQ+ sports charity campaigning for equality, visibility and greater participation for LGBTIQ+ people in all areas of sport.
2024 Scottish & Local Government grants : £126,000: Total funding all organisations £550,000 of which approx £320,000 was spent on staff costs.
LGBT Youth Scotland: Scotland’s national charity for LGBTQ+ young people, aged 13-25. Supports young people in all aspects of their lives through the provision of youth work, supporting them to use their voice to create change in equality and human rights.
2024 Scottish Government grants: £1,871,046 of which £1,500,000 was spent on staff costs (17 Operational 32 Project work)
Stonewall
Stonewall Equality Ltd: Over the past 35 years, Stonewall has primarily focused its activity in two key domains – influencing legislation and policy, and creating change through research, programming and leadership development.
Stonewall has played a very significant and important role in changing the law to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people. This includes:
The repeal of Section 28: We were founded in direct response to Section 28, the homophobic legislation that prevented young people learning about homosexuality in schools.
Equalising the age of consent: The Sexual Offences Amendment Act (2001) lowered the age of consent for gay and bi men to 16, aligning the age of consent with heterosexuals.
Lifting the ban on military service: Until 2000, LGBTQ+ people were banned from the British military, often dismissed or stripped of medals. Stonewall campaigned to end this discrimination, leading to the ban’s repeal in 2000.
The right for LGBTQ+ couples to adopt: The Adoption and Children Act came into effect in 2002 and allowed unmarried couples, including LGBTQ+ couples, to apply for joint adoption.
Marriage equality: The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act made history by legalising same-sex marriage in Scotland 2014,
2024 Scottish Government grant: Around £110,000 of which £3000 was SG membership fees. Note Company folded but S.G. maintained the funding support.
LGBT Healthy Living Centre: LGBT Health and Wellbeing was set up in 2003 to improve the health, wellbeing, and equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) people in Scotland. It provides responsive support services, a social programme for the community to connect with each other in sober and safer spaces, and supports mainstream services to become more inclusive.
Trustees
Yorath Turner: Chair (he/him)
Yorath is currently Head of Digital Capability and Talent in Scottish Government and leads the Digital profession development as well as initiatives responsible for building digital skills, capability and diversity across the public sector in Scotland. After 10 years in the finance sector, he joined the UK Civil Service in 2015 and has worked in a number of central government departments in Whitehall and beyond. He has experience in a range of HR roles from business partnering, strategic workforce development, and organisation design and development. He is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD.
Jon Dye: Vice Chair:
Jon graduated from St Andrews with a degree in Mathematics and went on to train as an accountant with the international accountancy firm PwC. After 10 years with PwC, Jon joined the Clydesdale Bank. Since then, Jon has held a number of senior Finance roles in the commercial and third sector. Jon has also been a Trustee and Officer of a number of local and national charities. Jon sits on the Audit, Finance and Funding sub committee of the Board.
Daniel Clayton: Treasurer (he/him)
Daniel qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2002 with PwC where he worked for 6 years as an auditor. He has held a number of senior positions in financial service companies, specialising in investment management operations. Daniel has a keen interest in and experience of: operations, audit (internal and external), risk, finance, project management, financial controls and strategy. He has taken an active part in equality groups at the companies he has worked for, in particular the push to gain fair LGBT+ representation in senior roles at financial service companies.
Zyra Evangelista: (they/them)
Zy is a PhD researcher at the University of Glasgow. Their primary area of research is LGBT+ psychology, with a specific focus on LGBT+ inclusion and well-being. They are currently one of the University of Glasgow Future World Changers, the PsyPAG representative for the British Psychological Society Psychology of Sexualities Section, and Book Review Editor for the Psychology of Sexualities Review. Outside of academia, Zy has been selected as one of the See Me Proud LGBT Community Champions and has co-founded the LGBTQI+ basketball group, the Rainbow Glasgaroos. Zy is bringing in their experience in psychology to help address issues related to anti-LGBT+ prejudice, stigma, and discrimination. Zy’s work in improving LGBT+ inclusion in higher education can contribute to developing policies and programmes that promote diversity, inclusion, and well-being across the LGBT+ community.
Robin Gay: (he/they)
Robin is currently the Student Voice Manager at Edinburgh University Students’ Association, where they oversee the Association’s democratic processes and support for over 1500 student representatives. They have previously worked directly with marginalised student communities, including Black and Minority Ethnic, disabled, and LGBT+ students, and empowered elected student representatives to campaign on a range of issues affecting these groups. They bring a range of experience to the Board including membership engagement, community development, and effective governance.
Nick Ward: (he/him)
Nick graduated from Edinburgh University before moving to London and becoming a secondary school teacher in some of the most challenging schools in the UK. He completed a Masters in Leadership at UCL and entered the charity sector, becoming the regional director for a large teacher training charity. He was also an elected councillor for the borough of Islington. After nearly 10 years in London he returned to Edinburgh and is now the Director of the National Autistic Society Scotland. He is a keen history geek and runner and is a member of the LGBT+ running club Frontrunners.
LGBT Health and Wellbeing is comprised 0f 26 full time staff.
The strategic aim is to attract and retain the best possible team of staff. We do this by ‘offering clear pathways to volunteering, employment, and development within the organisation ensuring the team feels supported, valued and listened to.
We recognise that being an LGBT+ person, or an active ally, whilst serving our community can cause particular and nuanced challenges for colleagues. Exposure to continuous microaggressions and political or media negativity that might otherwise be avoided, and an impact on our social relationships or use of queer spaces can risk having a detrimental impact on the health and wellbeing of colleagues.
Above our competitive Terms and Conditions of employment, colleagues are offered monthly support and supervision meetings, externally facilitated peer supervision, access to an Employee Assistance Programme, access to Learning and Development opportunities, and a Staff Wellbeing programme.
We aim to nurture a culture where colleagues feel empowered to provide direct and continuous feedback to their managers and our People Support Coordinator about their experience as an employee, and for them to ask for what they need. We also conduct an anonymous annual staff survey in order to proactively check-in with our team.
The organisation continues to secure new contracts with a range of partners, along with the extension of previously-awarded contracts.
NHS Lothian (£205,500)
Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership (£136,045).
The Scottish Government (£68,400) continue to fund specific projects and services within the organisation.
Edinburgh Integration Joint Board provides some core funding (£101,456).
2024 Scottish Government grants: £895,000 of which £870,000 was spent on staff costs.
2024: Total Government grants to LGBTIQ+ Equality support organisations: £3,578,000. Staff costs around 60%
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