Our people

Richard Frazer

Director, Chair

Richard has been minister at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh since 2003 and is founder and Chair of the Grassmarket Community Project. He is also Convenor of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council.

He has a longstanding interest in enabling people to flourish regardless of their background and has a passion for social justice and finding alternative pathways towards a viable and humane economy that includes rather than excludes and enables people and the planet to thrive. He has an interest in and has written on agriculture and pilgrimage walking and loves to cook, build and garden.

He is married to Kate a counsellor and psychoanalyst and they have three grown up children.

Jayne Chappell

Director, Vice Chair

Jayne has over 17 years of experience in the social enterprise sector, and is currently Finance & Development Manager with Social Enterprise Network Scotland. In addition to overseeing the finances for the organisation, she also co-facilitates the Employability SEN, a national network of over 250 social enterprises that deliver employability outcomes. In this wide-ranging role Jayne supports, promotes and connects social enterprises; raises awareness of their contribution to Scotland’s employability landscape and consults with and represents members’ interests. She believes social enterprises are the foundation for a fairer, more inclusive Scotland and is proud to be part of that community.

Nicky Findlay

Director, Treasurer

With over 30 years’ experience in various accounting and finance roles, Nicky is currently working as Head of Finance & Estates at a special needs school locally and prior to that had spent eight years working at a specialist alcohol & drugs charity based in Aberdeen. Nicky has also worked within the oil & gas and service sectors in various finance and management roles. In 2006, after a career change, she completed an MSc in Property Economics and undertook academic research for a further year. She hopes to put to use her skills and experience as a GCP Trustee, in supporting the team at this very exciting time in the future development of the organisation.

Rob Trimble

Director

For the past 25 years Rob has worked with charities focused on supporting individuals and communities facing deep-seated problems and complex issues. His principal role was as Chief Executive of the Bromley by Bow Centre in East London for 20 years, where he rolled up his sleeves; built a team and radical culture; and in the process helped create an internationally recognised model of excellence in community health and regeneration. His approach is to challenge conventional wisdom by working at the grassroots and applying the entrepreneurial principles he learnt from his earlier career in business. 

Rob continues as Associate Partner at Bromley by Bow Health, which delivers primary care services to 52,000 patients, living in some of the most diverse and deprived estates in the UK. He recently stepped down as founding chair of Settle, a charity focused on preventing homelessness for care-experienced young people and was Patron of the Reader Organisation, a national charity promoting the therapeutic value of shared reading. He hails from Orkney and lives in Fife.

Greig Honeyman

Director

Greig is a retired lawyer having been a Private Client and Family Business partner at Shepherd and Wedderburn. He was regarded by his clients as a “ man of business”. Although no longer a practising lawyer, Greig remains a trusted advisor to many families, businesses, charitable trusts and individuals.

Greig joined the Grassmarket Community Project Board in March 2023. In addition to his many appointments, Greig is also Company Secretary of the Greyfriars Charteris Centre.

Joanne MacDougall

Director

Joanne MacDougall joined us in September 2018. She is a communications professional with more than 20 years’ experience in both the public and private sector. Previously working on a number of internal and external campaigns for the City of Edinburgh Council, Joanne currently manages the marketing, PR and communications for Hub South East - a development partner delivering community infrastructure in partnership with public sector bodies in Edinburgh, the Lothians and Scottish Borders. Through this work, Joanne lead fundraising efforts to handover more than £76,000 to GCP and has since been a great advocate and supporter of our work.

Joanne is married to Ramsay and has a 15 year old son, 13 year old daughter and a lively cocker spaniel named Cyprus, who loves a pup cup at Coffee Saints!

Jo Elliot

Director

Jo Elliot has been a Trustee since retiring as a merchant banker in the early 2010s. He is Session Clerk of Greyfriars Kirk and also a trustee of Greyfriars Charteris Centre. His other appointments since then have included Court membership of the University of Dundee, board membership of the Church of Scotland’s social care arm Crossreach, and trusteeship of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Helene van der Ploeg

Chief Executive Officer

Catherine Jones

Social Enterprise Director

Catherine was Deputy General Manager at Edinburgh Zoo for 16 years, with responsibility for dozens of restaurants and kiosks, managing multi-million pound budgets and serving one of Scotland’s largest visitor attractions. Following this she was training manager for Macdonalds across multiple stores.

Catherine manages the largest team at GCP, many of whom have support needs. She nurtures talent many employers ignore. Her team were integral to the success of the GCP receiving Scottish Enterprise of the Year Scotland and Best Performing Business awards.

Perry O’Bray

Head of Members Services

The newest member of the Senior management team - Perry has spent the past 8 years working with vulnerable children and adults in schools and social work organisations. Most recently managing Outreach & Day services with Scottish Autism.
Perry is a huge advocate of hobbies and is often out walking in the hills, swimming at Lothian beaches or creating art and writing songs at home studio (shed). Sharing these passions and exploring creative ways of supporting people has been a big part of Perry’s career so far and he is really looking forward to influencing and being part of an innovative and energetic community.

Jane Davidson

Finance Director

Jane is a Chartered Accountant and joins us to support our financial endeavours, on a part time basis. As a former Chief Executive of a large successful social enterprise in the Highlands, she contributed to the local community, tackling exclusion in areas of high deprivation, and learned a lot about the charity sector.

Jane is also an experienced Non Executive Director in the charity sector and has a focus on governance and opportunity. She is particularly interested in criminal justice, education and intentional support. She spent many years in the National Health Service and government, in various finance roles and as Chief Executive; her background in financial and risk management and broad management experience adds to the diversity of our team.