Lucy McGreal
Lucy trained at Liverpool Hope university. Lucy is a Clown, collaborator and facilitator working with theatre companies in Scotland and Europe including Tenterhooks theatre company creating work for walkabout and young audiences.
Colin Moncrieff
Colin trained at the RSAMD in Glasgow and has worked as a performer across the UK for over 20 years. Colin persistently sings songs of fruit and vegetables with The Barrow Band and is a member of Tenterhooks Theatre Co. Colin has studied clowning with Angela De Castro, Pierre Byland and John Wright.
Hilde McKenna
Hilde studied music and drama at Glasgow University, and with teachers including Angela De Castro, Philippe Gaulier. She has performed with various companies including Plutot la Vie and Solar Bear and is involved as performer and facilitator with Loop Theatre.
Bec Phipps
Bec graduated with a B.A. in Communications (Theatre/Media) from Charles Stuart University in Australia. She has since studied with Philippe Gaulier and Angela de Castro. She has worked with Giant Productions, Te Pooka arts collective and Licketyspit theatre company.
Fiona Manson
Fiona trained at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her work with Fish and Game theatre company, including The Polar Bears Go Wild, has been performed at Unicorn Theatre, Imaginate and Take Off theatre festivals. Fiona trained in clowning with Phillippe Gaulier and John Wright.
Fiona Ferrier
Fiona trained at Playspace Clown School, Sydney in 2002, and with Jos Houben, John Wright and Pierre Byland. Fiona has created clown shows in co-production with Mull Theatre and The Clown Conpsiracy, and is Co-Artistic Director of Dirliebane Theatre Company.
Nicholas Bone
Nick trained at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and subsequently with Anne Bogart, Magdalena Schamberger and Pierre Byland. He is Artistic Director of Magnetic North Theatre Productions andregularly with In The Making, a collective of dancers and performers.
Carmen Pieraccini
Carmen trained at Langside College and has worked in TV with BBC Scotland and STV. She has also appeared on stage as a member of various theatre companies in Scotland across the last 10 years. She joined Hearts & Minds as a Clowndoctor in 2009.
Sita Pieraccini
Sita is a performer and musician based in Glasgow. She studied sculpture at Edinburgh College of Art then went on to study physical theatre through The Adam Smith College, Fife. She has trained with Angela De Castro, The Actors Space and Theatre Ad Infintum.
Sheila MacDougall
Sheila is an Edinburgh-based freelance artist, performance maker, educator and facilitator. She is a member of In The Making, a collaborative site-specific movement based performance collective. Sheila has over thirty years’ experience in the practice of Viewpoints (with Anne Bogart) and Six Viewpoints (with Mary Overlie) that she utilizes in all aspects of her work. She is a former lecturer in theatre at San Diego State University and Queen Margaret University.
Zoe Darbyshire
Zoë trained at the Conservatoire in Glasgow where she was awarded a bursary to further study for a year at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in clown. She has had a successful career in the performing and visual arts, including 15 years with Hearts & Minds in a diversity of roles.
Suzie Ferguson
Suzie Ferguson is a therapeutic clown, theatre maker and outside eye inspired by performing in non-theatre settings and putting the audience at the centre of the creative process. She has a degree in Hispanic Studies and has trained with many clowns since 2006. She is one third of Tenterhooks’ core creative team co-creating and performing in productions including MESS (2021) and was co-creator and performer in Curious Shoes (2017). Suzie joined Hearts & Minds in 2010 and was Artistic Director 2017 – 2021.
Rachel Colles
Rachel trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and trained in clown with Pierre Byland and John Wright. Rachel is Co-Artistic Director of Dirliebane Theatre Company creating and touring clown theatre shows for children and young people.
Maria Oller
Maria is an actor, director and also teaches acting. Maria has been working as a Clowndoctor and Elderflower since 2001. She has trained and performed all over Europe and is currently also the Artistic Director of Lung Ha’s Theatre Company (www.lunghas.co.uk).
Diane Thornton
Diane studied acting at Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh and began her career at the National Theatre, London. After training with Philippe Gaulier, she co-created theatre with young artists in communities impacted by war and conflict. She is a core team member of Tenterhooks (tenterhooks.org), co-creating and performing in productions including MESS. Diane joined Hearts & Minds in 2006.
Ben Winger
Ben trained at Queen Margaret University, graduated in 2010, and shortly after discovered clowning. He is an actor, clown, and theatre-maker and has been involved in productions with theatre companies across Scotland including; National Theatre of Scotland, Grid Iron, Paines Plough, Stellar Quines, Lung Ha, and The Royal Lyceum Theatre.
Sarah Miele
Sarah trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She is an award-winning performer, theatre maker and arts facilitator with a strong movement practise and a background of working with children and young people with additional support needs. She is also Artistic Director and co-founder of The Audio Story Company, making live performances and experiences for young people and family audiences.
Ronan McMahon
Ronan has performed with Blue Man Group, Tenterhooks Theatre, Catherine Wheels, Visible Fictions, and Sprog Rock. He is a graduate of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and he trained in clowning with Angela de Castro.
Callum Douglas
Callum trained as an actor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and has since worked widely as a performer and creative workshop facilitator with companies such as Catherine Wheels, Visible Fictions, Perth Theatre and RCS. He is currently studying for an MSc in Dramatherapy, which he feels greatly compliments and expands his work as a Clowndoctor.
Ryan Duncan
Ryan trained as an actor at Rose Bruford College, London. He is an actor and theatre maker and has performed and created with companies such as Lung Ha and Plutot La Vie, Big Telly and Creation Theatre.
Our office team
Sean Donnelly
CEO
Diane Thornton
Co-Artistic Director
Lucy McGreal
Co-Artistic Director
Joanne Brown
Head of Development
Ruth Butterworth
Office Manager
Janice Taylor
Finance & Admin Officer
Shirley Monteith
Marketing & Communications Officer
Ben Winger
Digital Engagement Officer
Board of Trustees
Bob Irvine, Chair
Bob is a former Senior Civil Servant in the Scottish Government with wide ranging experience including strategic leadership in cultural policy, education policy, and project management and governance. He has previously served on the boards of a number of charitable organisations in the cultural sector.
John Beattie
Araib Sultan
Araib Sultan is a Senior Manager in Deloitte with over 11 years of experience in financial services. He specialises in providing Audit and Assurance services to investment management, private equity, and retail banking clients, with expertise in International Financial Reporting and International Auditing Standards as applicable in the UK. He has also been involved in various charitable organisations for over 8 years.
Kevin Carter
Kevin is an experienced senior marketing leader. For the past 20 years, he’s worked across most of the marketing disciplines including brand, events, sponsorship, marketing production and digital. Kevin heads up Brand and Marketing Operations at Aegon alongside providing marketing support to the LoveOliver charity as a Trustee.
Kirsty Tough
Kirsty has worked in marketing and communications for over 15 years. Kirsty is currently Head of Marketing at the Centre for the Moving Image, the role involves all aspects of marketing and communications for two cinemas (Filmhouse and Belmont Filmhouse) and Edinburgh International Film Festival at a strategic, planning and tactical level.
Gary Ward
Gary is a registered mental health nurse. For the past eleven years he has worked with people living with complex mental illness. He has extensive experience delivering training and education within the NHS. He is currently an operational manager and part of the senior leadership team for mental health services within the NHS, with strategic and operational responsibility for a wide range of services.
Our Ambassadors
Phyllis Logan
Phyllis Logan is an award winning actor best known for her role as Mrs Hughes in the ever popular TV series Downton Abbey. She is our Ambassador for the Elderflower Programme of work and is keenly involved in the Elderflower campaigns to raise money to support our work to help people living with dementia. Phyllis has had personal experience of family members living with dementia, which is why she agreed to be our Ambassador and she sent this message of support.
“I am so pleased to be a supporter of Hearts & Minds and proud to be an honorary Elderflower. I hadn’t been aware of this wonderful charity before, but was immediately inspired by their compassionate and joyful approach in helping to improve the quality of life for dementia sufferers and their families. My mother had cognitive impairment, and my mother-in-law had Alzheimer’s for many years. I know so many people with similar stories, and the impact on family life can be devastating. With the fantastic work that Hearts and Mind do, families can feel that their loved ones are being cherished and respected. And that is a priceless gift.”
Gavin Oattes
Gavin is an award-winning entrepreneur, International keynote speaker and bestselling author. Based in Edinburgh his motivational talks are about happiness, kindness, empathy, playfulness and laughter – all values shared with the work of Hearts & Minds and the Clowndoctor & Elderflower Programmes. His latest book Life Will See You Now has become a bestseller during this pandemic and is helping people get through lockdown. A former primary school teacher, he has the ability to get into the heads of kids and in his bestseller, Diary of a Brilliant Kid: Top Secret Guide to Awesomeness, co-written with Andy Cope & Will Hussey, they have created a ‘tweenagers’ atlas to life!
Gavin Oattes said: “It’s an honour to have been asked to be an ambassador for such a wonderful charity. I love everything Hearts & Minds stand for and I can’t wait to get stuck in and help make a bigger difference.”
Chris Forbes
Chris is an award-winning actor, writer, and comedian. Star of BBC’s Scot Squad and one of the most in demand comics in the UK, he is a regular panellist on Breaking the News and has achieved widespread popularity as The Other Murray Brother alongside Judy Murray.
Chris said:
“In my time as a volunteer for the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity, I saw first-hand how much joy and happiness the Clowndoctors brought to children and families in their darkest moments. It’s such a precious gift and therefore I am so proud to be an ambassador for the Hearts & Minds charity.