REAP - who we are

REAP is managed by a volunteer Board of Directors with a wealth of experience in the fields of social enterprise, sustainability, rural development, rural poverty and capacity building. The REAP Board is made up of the following people:

Donna Breen is the Development Worker in a Moray Recycling Training Enterprise that provides training opportunities for people with Learning Disabilities. She hails from Northern Ireland and holds a professional qualification in Youth & Community Work gained from The New University of Ulster and brings over twenty years experience of Community Development work in both local authorities and the voluntary sector with a particular emphasis on Social Enterprise.

Donna is very concerned to be part of the solution to the key social justice, environmental and ethical challenges society faces and aims to support REAP in its aims to address these issues in the North East of Scotland.

Sue Mitchell has a background in community arts and education work. Her varied career has seen her work as Education Co-ordinator at HMP Peterhead, Out of the Darkness Theatre Company for adults with learning disabilities and with the Moray Council Community Learning and Development Team. She has a joint honours degree in English and French and a postgraduate diploma in Community Education.

Sue was with Lead Scotland for almost 2 years before taking up her present post as Area Tutor Organiser with the WEA in Highland.

REAP's Staff

The work of REAP is carried out by our full and part-time employees based in our office in Keith. After ten years of business, the range and depth of knowledge and experience gained by our staff enables us to offer a comprehensive and efficient service to our clients and deliver a professional product to the community and voluntary sector. At present the REAP staff is made up of the following people:

Rod Lovie is the REAP Project Manager specialising in environmental matters with previous experience of working in the public, voluntary and academic sectors. Working for REAP he has developed outreach work with an emphasis on environmental work within a community development framework and supported volunteer groups involved in local environmental projects. Rod's consultancy work has included creating an Environmental Strategy for the local Community Planning Partnership and an economic impact study on a local paths network. He has created the latest REAP Social Audit and is training to be an accredited SAN social auditor.

Rod is currently also a lecturer in Permaculture for the UHI and has a MA (Hons) in Countryside and Environmental Management. He has previously worked for Scottish Natural Heritage and the Aberdeen Countryside Project and is involved in numerous cultural and environmental community groups.

Ann Davidson is REAP’s Outreach Worker, specialising in environmental work, community development and volunteer management. Ann has delivered community consultation projects for a variety of clients including NHS Grampian and a women’s Action Research Project. Ann has extensive project management, editing and publishing skills developed through her work on REAP’s monthly Green Diary. Ann delivers environmental workshops and training to a wide range of groups including children, young people, committees and community groups. These include carbon footprinting, carbon reduction and tree planting. Ann’s work on developing REAP’s carbon reduction pack for communities won us a Your Moray, Your Environment award from Moray Council in 2008.

Ann is a qualified youth worker and has a variety of work experience, including lecturing in sustainable development at Moray College, working in a bakery Co-operative and organic gardening. Ann's qualifications include a degree with distinction in Environment and Heritage Studies, PP1 in Youth Work and a BTCV Leadership Skills qualification.

Alan Stevenson is the REAP Office Manager. Alan specialises in desk top publishing and the maintenance of the IT system for REAP in addition to the daily management of the office, payroll etc. Alan also carries out secretarial and financial administration for a number of community organisations and social enterprises.

Alan graduated as a mature student from Loughborough University of Technology with a first class BSc (Hons) degree in Transport Management and Planning. More recently he graduated from the Open University with a BA having studied Social Sciences and Human Geography. He has, in addition, completed training courses leading to ILM qualifications at Level 3 and Level 4. Alan brings to REAP a wide experience of work including the public sector and self employment. Over the past three years he has developed a local community project which has added breadth to his knowledge and experience of the Third Sector.

Wilf Schenk is the REAP Outreach Worker who is leading our innovative new thermal camera project. Wilf's varied work experiences include managing a complementary health clinic and health care charity in Moray, the management of the finances of an independent local primary school as well as running his own recycled stationery and property maintenance business.

Wilf has a lifelong passion for things environmental, especially related to buildings and the build environment. For that reason he has been engaged in environmental studies with the Open University, the German Institute for Building Biology and in self-studies of holistic interior design for over a decade.