KEN LOACH

Ken Loach is an award-winning British film and television director. He is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his commitment to social equality, which are evident in his body of work. His films include Cathy Come Home, Kes, My Name Is Joe, The Angels’ Share andI, Daniel Blake.

PAUL LAVERTY

Paul Laverty is a Scottish lawyer and screenwriter, who has worked with director Ken Loach on over a dozen feature films, including the Cannes award winners The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Sweet Sixteen and I, Daniel Blake. His screenplays are meticulously researched and delve into complex social issues, such as migrant labour, unemployment and conflict.

DAISY CROOKE, EVENTS & COMMUNITIES OFFICER

After volunteering with Take One Action back in 2014, Daisy developed a keen interest in the inspiring and impactful potential of film. She channelled this interest during her master’s degree in Arts & Society at Utrecht University before setting up and coordinating a free, sustainable film festival in Amsterdam in October 2018.

Before joining TOA as Festivals Assistant in 2019, Daisy worked at a variety of arts initiatives in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. She is excited to be part of the Take One Action team and to help the organisation deliver on its commitment to connecting films, communities and campaigners to cultivate the stories at the heart of positive change and question unjust systems.

XUANLIN THAM, CURATOR

After attending their first screening at Take One Action, Xuanlin was struck by how the festival provided an answer to a crucial question: cinema is an incredibly powerful storytelling tool, but how do we harness that power to create transformative change, here and now? Attending the festival played an important part in solidifying Xuanlin’s research interests as a university student, shaping their commitments to environmental justice theory, ecofeminism, the politics of care, and more-than-human politics.

Xuanlin is excited to continue expanding cinema’s storytelling role in the social change ecosystem – and explore new frameworks through which we can build greater solidarities for human and more-than-human flourishing.

LINDSAY DUNBAR, CHAIR

Lindsay Dunbar is a cultural leader, project manager and innovation producer based in Inverness.Lindsay has 15 years of experience nurturing creative projects with a community or rural focus with specific expertise in developing specialism and area-focused networks, rural touring, youth engagement, events and communications. She is driven by new ways of engaging audiences and exploring how culture can create positive actions and change.

KEITH ARMSTRONG, TRUSTEE

Keith is a Director at one of the UK’s major energy companies. Working as part of its retail leadership team, he focuses his time on managing energy efficiency and fuel poverty support programmes (which have funded improvements to hundreds of thousands of homes over the past 5 years) and manages the delivery of business change and transformation.  He joined the board in 2011 after being inspired by Take One Action’s screenings and events.

JOSEPH CRERAR-BLYTHE, TRUSTEE

Joseph is an experienced PR and communications professional working within the Scottish cultural sector. Over the last ten years he has worked with some of the country’s leading cultural organisations, including the National Theatre of Scotland, Glasgow Film Festival and its sister Glasgow Short Film Festival and Glasgow Youth Film Festival events, The Arches, the Edinburgh Mela, and as a freelance journalist. A keen cinemagoer, he is a staunch believer in the power of journalism and documentary film, and a passionate advocate of the vital role culture can play in transforming lives and communities.

ANGUS NELSON, TRUSTEE

Angus is Head of Nordoff Robbins in Scotland, a leading independent music therapy charity, with centres in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Fife. His current remit covers the delivery of music therapy services, income generation from all sources and public affairs in Scotland. Angus has more than 20 years’ experience working in the voluntary sector for charities that focus on medical research and service delivery, the arts, the environment and international development. For more than half that time he filled senior roles, responsible for strategic planning, leading teams and managing high level external relationships.

OLIVER GOULDEN, TRUSTEE

Oliver is a digital creative and campaigner, currently working at Uplift on campaigns to set in motion a just transition away from fossil fuel production. Before joining Uplift, Oliver worked in politics to widen democratic ownership of the economy, and in the charity sector. From short form social media content to documentary film, Oliver is particularly interested in the role audiovisual storytelling and digital culture plays in movement building and social change. 

MEG O’NEILL, TRUSTEE

With a background in campaigning for climate, refugee and gender justice, Meg currently works at the national housing and homelessness charity Shelter Scotland as a Senior Community Organiser, building grassroots community power around local housing issues. Meg has been involved with Take One Action since 2017, first through partnership and now as a trustee. As well as a passion for activism and campaigning, Meg is a life long film/TV fanatic – she spends her spare time watching everything from B- movie horrors to the MCU franchise.

MAEVE GRINDALL, TRUSTEE

Maeve is a project officer working in the Community & Priority Groups team at See Me Scotland, the national programme to end mental health stigma and discrimination. She has a passion for supporting and developing creative approaches to tackling stigma and building confidence and capacity. She brings many years’ experience in volunteer development and dupport for a variety of voluntary sector organisations as well as her community engagement experience. Maeve has a love of cinema both as a joyful collective experience and an opportunity to create real social change.

MAILI FRASER, TRUSTEE

Maili is a participatory filmmaker, artist and facilitator from the Highlands who works in solidarity with young people and communities using the arts collaboratively as a tool for self-expression. Having previously worked at Eden Court as Arts Practitioner for Film they are currently an Arts and Wellbeing Keyworker at Cyrenians in Edinburgh and facilitate various creative community wellbeing projects on a freelance basis. Maili is especially interested in how the transformative power of film and the arts can be utilised to bring together ecofeminism and climate justice; trans and queer liberation; access, inclusion, and disability justice.