Annual Report 2004

During the course of 2003/4, the organisational changes which we have made began to bear fruit. The new Trustees are finding their feet and in addition to the work undertaken this year, we have been able to plan for the next two years with a sense of confidence lacking in the past.

The support of the Gordon Small Trust has been of huge benefit to us, and has provided the essential stability we require to develop our work, as is anticipated in our strategic plan. Our ability to employ a Development Worker to take on much of the detailed work involved in the organisation of lectures and seminars is a specific example of the use we have made of the support of the Gordon Small Trust.

This, together with our ability to assume a degree of financial risk, has made the task of selecting and developing ideas immeasurably easier and is enabling us to expand our efforts.

We have collaborated with the Howard League during 2004, and we continue to look for opportunities to work in Partnership with other organisations who aspire to work within our fields of interest. We also organised a Lecture under our own banner which looked at the development of resilience in children, and this was very well received. We followed this up with a successful small-group-based seminar which considered practice implications. One disappointment this year was that the detailed planning of the Lecture had to be put back for a little over 8 weeks, because of the ill health of a major speaker. Happily, all is well now, and, on reflection, it is surprising that, over our years of experience, this is the first occasion on which such a delay has occurred.

We have been very happy to welcome three new Trustees this year.

Margaret Daniel is a Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist working within an NHS psychotherapy clinic in Glasgow. One of her tasks involves the clinical supervision of senior staff, and she is currently working towards a master’s degree.

Desmond Ryan is a research Sociologist who is working on a project funded by the Scottish Executive on spirituality in health and social care.

Duncan Tennant is a Manager at St Johns Hospital, Livingston, who has a strong interest in the areas of work in which the Trust moves.

During this year, the Trustees have put together an accurate database of individuals who are interested in our work, and it is the intention of the Trustees to develop and expand this over the next two years. We must thank IBM, who provided the invaluable services of Michael Ambjorn. Michael gave much assistance in working up the database as well as developing our Website (www.sutherlandtrust.org.uk). The Trustees hope that these resources will provide a sound base and will help to inform us about future ideas, as well as give us reliable feed back about the success of past work. Additionally, an accurate and up to date database may help us to raise the funds required to continue to develop our Awards scheme.

The Trustees are also continuing to map the places in Scotland where Psychodynamic work is being undertaken, and this too will enable us to further develop our base, as well as help us in our efforts to support such work whenever possible.

In essence, the Trust is in good heart. The organisational pieces are now in place to undertake the aims of the Trust, and the task now is simply to do so.

Brian Atwell (Convenor)

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