Marlow Clark – Project Manager
Marlow joined Perth Six Circle Project in April 2004. Prior to joining the Project she worked in both management and training and development for various projects within the voluntary and commercial fields. She has lectured at Dundee College on a variety of subjects and maintains contact with the college and other learning centres throughout Tayside in her role as an External Verifier for the Institute of Leadership and Management of which she holds membership status. She is a qualified Assessor, Internal and External Verifier and holds a level 4 NVQ in Learning and development along with COSCA qualifications. Marlow is passionate about learning and development and is involved in both NVQs and VRQs up to executive management level and enjoys supporting others to reach both academic and personal potential.
Kevin MacQueen – Project Coordinator
Kevin joined Perth Six Circle Project in May 2015 as a Support and Development worker. Before joining the Project Kevin spent a considerable amount of time travelling around Europe where he was involved in football centered anti-racism tournaments. In October 2014, Kevin travelled to Malawi with the Scottish charity Mary’s Meals where he spent his time building latrines and classrooms for the orphaned children. These experiences have helped Kevin feel passionately about helping others fulfill their potential and to reach their goals and aspirations. In addition to his post at Perth Six Circle Project he has been a support worker with Turning Point Scotland since 2015 where he supports individuals with Learning Disabilities and challenging behaviour to live a more independent life. Kevin completed his SVQ 3 in Social Services and Healthcare in 2016 and moved into the role of Project Coordinator in June 2018.
Denny Cormack – Support and Development Worker
Denny joined Perth Six Circle Project in March 2009. Prior to joining the project she worked in the Estate Agency business, advertising and negotiating property sales. Denny also worked with Capability Scotland at Upper Springland providing both practical and learning support to adults with physical disabilities. She then went on to become the secretary to priests and religious brothers in the Redemptorist Community at St Mary’s Monastery in Perth. She was responsible for their Retreat and Course programmes and found this an interesting and rewarding post, meeting and helping visitors from international communities as well as those from closer to home. Denny’s role has evolved during her time at Perth Six Circle Project and she continues to be committed and enthusiastic, thriving on supporting service users and watching them progress to a point where they embrace life more fully. She loves being part of an exciting and dynamic team and brings an air of humour and positivity to each day.
Sam Cassels – Support and Development Worker
Sam joined Perth Six Circle Project in January 2018 as a Support and Development Worker. Before joining the Project, Sam spent nearly 6 years at Murray Royal Hospital where she worked mainly as an Occupational Therapy Technical Instructor within General Adult Psychiatry wards. Sam completed an HNC in Social Care and SVQ level 3 at Perth College; during this time, Sam had placement experience with different voluntary and statutory organisations within Perth. Sam takes an organised and motivated approach to her work, with a keen interest in community resources and collaborative working with other organisations. Sam enjoys the challenge of encouraging people to reach their full potential, live independently and avoid social isolation.
Sharon Feeney – Support & Development Worker
Sharon joined Perth Six Circle Project in June 2018. She is a qualified Trainer and Designer – through Training Accreditation Programme and before joining the Project, she spent 22 years in the Retail Industry, with the last 15 years in Learning and Development. Sharon also has a Diploma in Holistic Massage. Sharon has supported local schools through delivering workshops that help young adults build confidence and get ready for working life. Sharon is passionate about motivating people and seeing people develop.
Julia Brown – Development Worker
Julia joined Perth Six Circle Project in July 2011 as a Development Worker. Before joining the project she worked in learning and development for a variety of organisations within the public, private and voluntary sectors. She has taught at all levels, including Post Graduate studies. She holds a variety of qualifications, including a Master Diploma in Learning and Development, Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management, along with COSCA Counselling and ILM Coaching and Mentoring qualifications. She was involved in the Girls Brigade both as a participant and a leader, encouraging young people to try out new activities and to widen their horizons. Julia has excellent interpersonal skills which she has developed through her various roles and enjoys the challenge of motivating and influencing people to fulfil their individual goals.
Elizabeth Fotheringham – Volunteer
Elizabeth started volunteering at Perth Six Circle Project in July 2017 to help improve confidence and gain skills and experience to assist her progress her ambition of working with people. After leaving High School in 2011, Elizabeth volunteered at Invergowrie nursery before joining Helm Training in Dundee. This provided a placement the opportunity at Haddington House Nursey which swiftly led to an apprenticeship. During 2014-2015 Elizabeth began studying studied as a PDA Education Support Assistance to support her endeavours of helping those with additional needs. Her opportunities at the Project has evolved and she has found herself taking on the role of Office Administrator, supporting staff with office management procedures. Elizabeth has become a valued member of the staff team and her contributions help ensure an efficiently managed office.
Student Placement Opportunities
Perth Six Circle Project are passionate about learning and development and to support this regularly offer student placements, through colleges and universities. Over the years many students, particularly those working towards a qualification in social work, have gained valuable experience and good insight into the role of the Project and the lives of our service users. Many have kept in contact and one was part of our Management Committee for some time.
Student Feedback
James, a student from the University of Dundee, had this to say about his placement with the Project-
As part of my social work degree, I was allocated Perth Six Circle Project as my four months placement. Personally, I was made to feel extremely welcome and I found all the staff members very approachable and easy to talk to as they have created a fun and positive working environment. As a student, I was given a lot of autonomy and trust which helped me develop and build on the skills needed in future employment.
The work the project deliver is extremely valuable as they work with a wide variety of different people who face different challenges. They provide excellent opportunities for individuals to learn new skills whether that be practical skills like cooking, gardening or trying out a new sport to improve their confidence and social communication skills. The staff have a wide knowledge of other care services that operate in Perth and regularly have services visit the project which they feel would benefit individuals. The visits from other services were useful to the group as it made them aware of other services that could help support them.
The staff go out of their way to make sure they talk and get to know everyone at the project. One of my favourite aspects of the project is when everyone, including the staff eat around the table together for lunch. This provided a family feel to the project, where everyone chips in and respects one another.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Perth Six Circle Project, and would recommend it as a valuable learning placement to other social work students.
James
