The Team
Inverness Foodstuff relies on an amazing team of more than 70 volunteers. We simply could not provide the services we do without our dedicated volunteers who help with a wide range of activities including: sourcing supplies, preparing and cooking food, and managing front of house. We have a small operational team and are overseen by a Trustee Board.
Operations Team
Pam Urquhart, Operations Manager
Pam is responsible for the overall running of Inverness Foodstuff, supporting the team and all our participants. When not writing funding applications or developing our volunteer programme, Pam seeks out new partners to enhance the support and services provided for participants.
Al Edwards, Catering and Training Supervisor
Al’s domain is the kitchen, finding creative ways to make nutritious meals from supermarket surplus. Al is also responsible for managing stock levels, ensuring environmental health standards and safety requirements are maintained and training volunteer cooks.
Morven Ball, Co-ordinator (Hilton)
Morven is responsible for ensuring the smooth running of operations at Hilton, recruiting and supporting volunteers and helping to bring new services to the Hilton project.
Michelle Arris, Administrator
Michelle is our part-time administrator as well as one of our dedicated volunteers.
The Trustees
The eight Trustee Board members are:
Stuart Black, Chair
Stuart attended Inverness High School and is a graduate of Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities. He has held senior positions in the public sector in the Highlands with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the Highland Council. He was appointed Chief Executive of HIE in January 2022. He has served on the boards of voluntary organisations, most recently the Economic Development Association for Scotland (EDAS), and is an elder at Ness Bank Church, Inverness.
Iain McKenzie, Depute Chairperson
Iain has worked in both the voluntary sector (over 30 years) and statutory sector (15 years) and has worked in the areas of homelessness, addictions, housing development and child care, working in Edinburgh, Highland and Honduras Central America.
Margaret MacDonald, Secretary
Margaret grew up in Inverness and between the years 1976 – 1991 – worked as secretary, and marketing assistant in Aberdeen, Milan, La Spezia and Zingonia.
From 1993 – 2017 – Margaret worked for Highland Council as secretary to Director of Housing, secretary to Director of Housing and Property, secretary to Director of Care and Learning.
Peter Mason
Peter attended Inverness High School before studying law at Aberdeen University. He has practiced as a solicitor in Inverness for over 30 years and is currently the Managing Director of Macleod & MacCallum, Solicitors.
In addition to joining the Board, Peter has worked as a volunteer for Inverness Foodstuffs since 2020.
Hilary Parkey
I believe that communities are happier, stronger and better places to live in if we recognise and value everyone and take part in making them work. I realised that I had time to put this into action a bit more, and got involved with Inverness Foodstuff. Having worked in housing policy for 30 years now, I’m very aware of the challenges that people face when they have nowhere settled and secure to call home. I’ve also just found out that volunteering is good for my health so that’s a bonus!
Steve Walsh
An ex-military officer, Steve is the Chief Executive of High Life Highland. His first involvement with Inverness Foodstuff was in arranging access to hot showers for members. More recently, High Life Highland and Inverness Foodstuff have joined in partnership to extend services to Hilton Community Centre on a satellite basis. Steve is passionate about supporting people in their hour of need and is particularly keen to support veterans and people with disabilities.
Sally Ferguson
Sally is the Homeless Senior Nurse Practitioner for NHS Highland, Inverness. Her background is in Mental Health and she has worked in many areas including Forensics, Drug and Alcohol and Community Mental Health. Sally was born and raised in Inverness and lived in Australia for eight years before returning to Inverness.
Stuart Smith
Stuart has been a Church of Scotland Minister for 30 years, and came to Inverness as Minister of Ness Bank in 2024. He values the exceptional work done by volunteers at Inverness Foodstuff, and the rich mix of people who gather there. He also climbs hills, watches rugby, and plants potatoes.
Barry Gilbert
Barry, together with his wife Lillian, moved to Inverness in 2016. Barry worked as a self-employed Estimator/Surveyor for a carpentry company in Kent for 18 years, however having had a stroke in January 2025, he fully recovered but immediately retired. Along with volunteering for Inverness Foodstuff, mainly on Saturdays, his interests include Ness Bank Church, gardening, looking after their chickens and pigs, cycling and he is looking forward to returning to hill walking – when his ‘wonky’ hip is replaced!