Our Board and Policies
Fèis Rois is governed by a Board of Directors that meets four times a year. Our AGM takes place each winter (usually end of November / beginning of December) and members of the public are welcome to attend.
Shona Henderson
Company Secretary
Shona is Assistant News Editor at the BBC and works out of the office in Inverness. She has worked at the BBC for over 20 years and first started to work for them in Glasgow. Shona was born and brought up on the Isle of Harris and is a native Gaelic speaker. She is interested in Gaelic poetry & song and how music unites individuals.
Appointed May 2018
Duncan Chisholm
Duncan Chisholm is one of Scotland’s most recognised and accomplished fiddle players and composers. Born and brought up near Inverness, Duncan has spent most of his life developing his unique musical voice. Duncan’s well-established musical career has taken him throughout the UK, Europe and the USA, through his solo work, his work with Julie Fowlis and with Wolfstone. In 2015 Duncan was appointed director of ‘Kin and the Community’, a youth based project led by Fèis Rois which aims to empower young people in a creative environment with skills in ethnology, film making and music composition.
Appointed November 2018
Jennifer Marshall
Chair
Jennifer is a solicitor, and she spent a number of years working in commercial law firm in the Central Belt. She returned to the Highlands recently to work for Highlands and Islands Airports as a procurement advisor. She speaks Gaelic and is interested in pipe music and Gaelic song. She has been involved in Fèis Rois as a teenager and adult for more than twenty years.
Appointed December 2019
Alex Urquhart-Taylor
Vice-Chair
Alex is a piper and director of a web development company, as well as being on the board of a community renewables project. As a young person Alex was a keen participant in many of Fèis Rois’ activities, including the Junior and Senior Fèisean, Masterclasses, the Ceilidh Trail, and many other projects. Alex views his participation in Fèis Rois’ activities as fundamental to his love and understanding of Scottish music, language and culture and hopes that by being on the board, he will be able to help many more people have the same opportunities and experience.
Appointed November 2020
Grace Stewart-Skinner
Born and brought up in the Highlands, Grace is a vibrant up-and-coming clàrsach player who has been surrounded by traditional Scottish music her whole life. She attended many fèisean in her school years and was delighted to be a part of the Fèis Rois Ceilidh Trail in 2019. Grace was nominated by Fèis Rois for a Hands Up For Trad ‘Inspiration Award’ and was presented with this award at the 2017 MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards. She recently graduated from Edinburgh University with a MA in Celtic Studies and is now pursing her musical career full-time, as a composer and performer. Grace is passionate about doing what she can to contribute to the Traditional Music scene being a welcoming, safe and inclusive place.
Appointed December 2022
Calum Macaulay
Calum is a Chartered Accountant and has worked in Inverness since 2005 providing advice to owner managed businesses mainly in the rural and hospitality and tourism sectors. Calum was brought up on the Isle of Lewis and is a Gaelic learner. Although he does not have any musical ability he is passionate about Scottish Traditional Music and the impact it can have on our communities and wellbeing.
Appointed in December 2022
Chloë Bryce
Originally from Easter Ross, Chloë developed her grasp of Traditional Music through her involvement in the Fèis movement. She attended Fèis Rois’ residential Fèisean growing up and went on to perform across the UK and internationally as a participant on the Fèis Rois Ceilidh Trail. Chloë studied Fiddle and Gaelic Song at the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music and graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2020 with First Class Honours in Traditional Music. She is currently based in Glasgow where she works as a freelance musician, while also undertaking a Masters of Education in Learning and Teaching in Gaelic Arts. Chloë has a deep regard for the old traditions embedded in Highland culture and is committed to contributing to the preservation of the music, language and culture of her home area.
Appointed November 2020
Carrie Forbes
After a 10 year career as an auditor, Carrie Forbes now works as a voiceover artist, Gaelic singer and freelance music tutor. Based in Tain, Carrie was a regular participant at Fèis Rois nan Deugairean during her secondary school years. More recently, Carrie has worked as a freelance tutor on the Fèis Rois Lullaby Project, Fèis Club in Tain, and in delivering music making workshops in Highland primary schools as part of the Youth Music Initiative (YMI). She is passionate about Scottish traditional music and the Gaelic language and is looking forward to spending some time on the Feis Rois Board.
Appointed December 2023
Tom Boyd
Tom has enjoyed a connection with Fèis Rois for over 15 years. That’s included much personal and family fun, but also collaboration through his work alongside the care experienced community. He is particularly interested in imaginative approaches to creating positive opportunity and change for those who can often find themselves ‘on the edges’ in our communities. He has worked alongside children, young people and families with experience of care for twenty years, in Highland and beyond. He stays in the Black Isle and works for The Promise Scotland.
Appointed December 2023
David Green
David has worked in a variety of public, private and voluntary sectors while building a self-catering enterprise on his croft. David chaired the Scottish Government Instrumental Music Group that recommended Councils cease charging for music tuition for SQA exams. He is a strong supporter of Fèis Rois for the many opportunities that benefited his family, helping their future destinations. Now, as a keen adult Fèis learner, David hopes that by listening to, and learning from the Fèis Rois team, he can add value in an enthusiastic and constructive manner.
Appointed December 2023
Megan Dale
Megan grew up in Ross-Shire, where she was part of Fèis Rois, attending the residential Fèisean in Ullapool and playing with the Kiltearn Fiddlers. She’s fluent in Gaelic, having gone through Gaelic Medium Education in Dingwall, and studied Celtic and Scottish History at the University of Edinburgh. Now living in Glasgow, Megan works at the Gaelic projects agency Astar Media, managing different projects with the Gaelic short-film competition FilmG as one of her priorities.
Appointed December 2023
Don Esson
Don enjoyed a career in education and has worked across the Highlands. He began his career at Dingwall Academy as a teacher of history. For the last 12 years, he was a senior leader for The Highland Council, latterly Area Education and Learning Manager. His previous remits included strategic leadership of education in the West Area, quality improvement, equality and diversity and young carers. He has a lifelong interest in Scotland’s history, music, arts, and languages. This includes a personal interest in supporting Gaelic education, music and culture. Don very much welcomes the opportunity of supporting our children and young people in this new capacity.
Appointed December 2023
Fèis Rois is committed to the Scottish Government’s Fair Work First policy and the vision that, by 2025, people in Scotland will have a world-leading working life where fair work drives success, wellbeing and prosperity for individuals, businesses, organisations and society.
Fèis Rois is striving to be an organisation which sees employees, freelance musicians and creative practitioners engaged in what we do, supported through training and development opportunities, and given effective voice, security and fulfilment through their work. We promote a respectful working culture and have progressive workplace policies in place.
Fèis Rois is an accredited Living Wage Employer, having been certified by the Living Wage Foundation. No employee is paid less than the Real Living Wage, with freelance musicians and artists paid in line with industry standard rates set by the Musicians’ Union and the Scottish Artists’ Union.
Fèis Rois is proud to be included as a case study in the ‘Fair work with freelance workers’ chapter of The Illustrated Fair Work Guide for Employers published on Creative Scotland’s website at The Illustrated Fair Work Guide for Employers | Creative Scotland
Fèis Rois has made a number of recent commitments to fair work that contribute to increased productivity and innovation, a greater ability to attract and retain employees, and reduced absenteeism. The most significant commitment Fèis Rois has made to Fair Work was in moving to a 4-day week with no loss of earnings for all staff in January 2022. This was a result of a period of dialogue and challenge where workers’ views were sought out, listened to and, ultimately, led to this significant change in working practice for the organisation. The organisation offers flexible working for all staff, as well as the option to work from home or from the office. This has a particularly positive impact for working parents, those with caring responsibilities and employees with disabilities.
Fèis Rois sets out its commitments to the five fair work dimensions of effective voice, opportunity, security, fulfilment and respect in detail in its Fair Work Statement (See the policies page on our website).
In summary:
Effective Voice: At Fèis Rois, we believe in empowering employees’ voices and establishing this through many avenues of engagement including all staff meetings and, at a minimum, monthly opportunities for employees to chat with their line managers in one-to-one meetings. Fèis Rois is a small organisation with only 6 FTE employees and has not been asked to recognise any trade union, but we would respond appropriately should that be the case in future.
Opportunity: Fèis Rois sets out its commitments to equal opportunities in its Equalities, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy. We run a fair and transparent recruitment process with all job opportunities being advertised, and by having regular open calls for freelance artists to work on projects. We regularly have opportunities for trainee musicians to work on our programmes and we support talent and leadership development in a range of different ways.
Security: Fèis Rois offers security to its employees by having collective agreements for pay and conditions, a clear and transparent pay scale which pays above the Real Living Wage, and fair opportunities for sick pay, pension contributions and maternity / paternity / adoption leave.
Fulfilment: Fèis Rois has an excellent reputation for providing opportunity and fulfilment for its workforce. There are clear opportunities for training, personal growth, and career development with an annual budget ringfenced for staff and tutor training. Individual members of the staff team have autonomy over their areas of the organisation and can use their skills to exercise some control and make a difference.
Respect: Fèis Rois fosters a culture of respect and dignity in the workplace where staff are free to work without experiencing these four unacceptable behaviours: bullying, harassment, discrimination and victimisation.