CCPS Staff

Yvette Burgess

DIRECTOR, HOUSING SUPPORT ENABLING UNIT

Yvette’s background is in housing management in the social rented sector, having worked in London and Bristol for housing associations and for a London borough.

She moved back to Scotland in 1999 to establish The Access Point in Edinburgh – a joint health, housing and social work service for people facing rough sleeping. In 2004 she joined CCPS to set up the Housing Support Enabling Unit (HSEU) and has led that service ever since. The HSEU is jointly hosted by the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) and is funded through the Scottish Government’s Better Homes Division.

In her free time, Yvette enjoys beach days with her greyhound, hillwalking and playing trombone in a big band.

Rachel Cackett

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Rachel has been CEO of the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland since July 2022, leading the work of the organisation to represent not-for-profit providers nationally.

Much of her work to-date has focused on realising the Fair Work agenda and influencing much needed sector reform. She has worked in Scottish social justice organisations for over 20 years and has a particular interest in working in membership organisations to develop a collective voice to influence.

Before joining CCPS she was the Scotland Director for the Samaritans, championing the work of their volunteer movement. This followed 12 years heading up the RCN’s policy unit, supporting their Scottish members, and campaigning roles with both the RVS and Shelter.

Rachel has a particular interest in politics, exploring wild landscapes with her family and dogs, swimming as meditation and sitting around outdoor fires looking at the stars (though does none of these things as much as she’d like!).

Nadine Cassidy

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

Nadine joined CCPS in 2019 as part of the admin team and has a focus on finances. She feels privileged to be able to support the work of her colleagues across the organisation in improving not-for-profit social care.

Nadine has worked in the third sector for over 15 years. She was previously an Advocacy Worker supporting parents of children with exceptional healthcare needs and is particularly passionate about disability issues. In 2015 she completed a Postgraduate Certificate in counselling studies at Edinburgh University to strengthen her skills.

Outside of work Nadine enjoys music and walks with her family.

Alison Christie

POLICY PROGRAMMES LEAD (WORKFORCE)

Alison joined CCPS as a Policy and Development Officer in 2016 and took up the position of Policy Programme Lead in April 2021.

She has a background in healthcare, changing careers in 2014 following a period of study at the University of Strathclyde.

Alison has worked in a policy role since 2014, previously in drug and alcohol policy.

Catherine Garrod

PROGRAMME MANAGER, COMMISSIONING & PROCUREMENT PROGRAMME

Catherine has worked for CCPS since 2012, delivering a variety of change projects to improve social care policy and implementation at national and local level.

For six years she led on self-directed support implementation to strengthen third sector providers’ and local authorities’ move to a more personalised and outcomes-based model of provision.

Catherine now manages our Commissioning & Procurement programme, working with Scottish Government, third sector providers and others on promoting the ethical commissioning and procurement principles and progress towards a more collaborative, outcomes-based model of commissioning.

Catherine previously worked for the Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living managing a disability information and advice service. She is passionate about improving social care policy and implementation, enabling rights for individuals and sustainability of third sector organisations. She enjoys working in collaboration with others to bring about change and find solutions to complex problems.

Jen Goff

POLICY AND PROJECTS OFFICER – NATIONAL SOCIAL CARE RESILIENCE AND REFORM

Jen joined CCPS in July 2023 in a new policy role focused on national social care resilience and reform.

Jen has worked in Scotland's third sector for more than a decade, starting out in frontline work supporting people with experience of injecting substance use. They later moved into sexual health and HIV support evaluation research.

More recently, they had the privilege of nurturing a team of community researchers to carry out participatory action research. In 2021, they retrained as a Person-Centred Experiential Psychotherapist focused on LGBTQIA+, relationally diverse and kink communities. In harmony with their role at CCPS, Jen is deeply grateful to have found a space where they can now meaningfully support both those providing and accessing third sector social care support.

Kyle Hylan-Corcoran

POLICY AND PROJECTS OFFICER – WORKFORCE

Kyle joined CCPS in July 2023 as part of the Workforce Development Team. He is currently involved in several working groups and projects related to workforce recruitment and training.

Prior to joining CCPS, Kyle received an MSc. Programme in Public Policy and Management from the University of Glasgow and a BA in Political Science/Justice and Law from American University in Washington, D.C. Kyle has also completed the University of Edinburgh’s Parliamentary Placement Programme, which culminated in an internship with Tom Arthur MSP in his Holyrood office.

Kyle is excited to deliver meaningful work to help CCPS members and the people they support.

Caroline Scott

RESOURCES MANAGER

Caroline has worked for CCPS since May 2010, when she started as an administrator and PA to the director. She has witnessed the organisation transform and expand in the intervening years.

She heads up our administrative function and is responsible for providing HR, governance, financial and secretarial support to the senior management team and other colleagues. She also services the board and supports the treasurer.

Prior to Covid, the admin team managed the logistics of an extensive programme of in-person events (including two-day, residential conferences). They also managed all communications with CCPS members and external stakeholders until the arrival of our communications and engagement team in early 2023.

Before joining CCPS, Caroline had nine years of experience working in museums, heritage and the arts. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and kayaking and generally spending as much time outdoors as possible.

Eilidh Shearer

POLICY AND PROJECTS OFFICER– CRIMINAL JUSTICE VOLUNTARY SECTOR FORUM AND CCPS

Eilidh works in the Criminal Justice Voluntary Sector Forum, which is hosted by CCPS, where she supports forum members to advocate for improvements in justice policy, legislation, and practice. Within CCPS, Eilidh carries out research and advocacy for wider social care reform.

Prior to joining CCPS, Eilidh worked in policy and engagement within the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Directorate in the Scottish Government. Eilidh also has experience in the third sector, supporting families and young people in difficult situations with the goals they identified; this included support around mental health, substance use, justice, and family relationships. Participation and amplifying the voices of people who have experienced services’ involvement in their lives has also been a focus in Eilidh’s career.

She is driven by the hope and confidence that we can build a more resilient social care sector which empowers people through meaningful relationships and community.

Chris Small

HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT

Chris leads our communications work, with responsibility for CCPS’s member engagement, parliamentary brief and brand.

Chris started his career as a journalist at the Scotsman newspapers before taking on various communications roles, including at the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland and the University of Edinburgh. He has also worked as web editor for the Scottish Parliament, reporter for the Times Educational Supplement Scotland and editor of arts and culture magazine Product, alongside many freelance writing and editing projects. Prior to joining CCPS he was Communications Manager at national charity Children in Scotland, where he led their rebrand and comms campaigning work.

In the early 1990s he was a college radio DJ in North America in the highly coveted 3-6am slot.

Ala Suboh

COMMUNICATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT OFFICER

Ala joined CCPS in February 2023 as part of the newly formed communications and engagement team.

She has over six years’ experience in project management within third sector organisations across different fields including education, disability rights, women’s empowerment and mental health services / research, and work with vulnerable communities in Palestine.

After pursuing a master’s degree in Developing and Evaluating Interventions at the University of Glasgow, she spent two years with NHS National Services Scotland as part of the Covid response and vaccination programme.

Ala has a passion for supporting communities and creating positive impacts where possible. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and cycling.

Anna Tully

COMMUNICATIONS & PARLIAMENTRY OFFICER

Anna joined CCPS in May 2023 as part of the newly created comms and engagement team, marking a shift in direction towards a more campaigning and public-facing role for the organisation.

She previously worked as a communications planning executive on Scottish Government marketing campaigns, with experience across various government portfolios.

Anna has a passion for making sure the voice of not-for-profit social care is heard.

Simon Webster

DIRECTOR OF POLICY PROGRAMMES

Simon took up the post of Director of Policy Programmes at CCPS in November 2022. Simon directs CCPS’s programmes on Commissioning and Procurement, Workforce, Children, and Digital. He is the CCPS member on the executive of the Criminal Justice Voluntary Sector Forum.

Simon was the Research Consultant in the Scottish Government’s secretariat for Lord Scott’s Scottish Mental Health Law Review and was Secretary to the Rome Review of learning disability and autism in the Mental Health Act.

He has an interest in human rights, particularly disability rights and children’s rights. Simon has experience of third sector management, local authority policy, direct provision of third sector social care, and policy management at a public body.

Fraser White

BETTER FUTURES AND INFORMATION OFFICER (HSEU)

Fraser joined the Housing Support Enabling Unit in December 2021. His role is focused on managing and supporting use of Better Futures, Scotland’s only dedicated outcomes-monitoring and management tool for housing support providers.

Having previously worked in local authority and consultancy research roles, Fraser spent a decade balancing full-time parenting with self-employed projects in cultural and social sectors in Scotland before taking up post at HSEU. He is pleased his work contributes to HSEU objectives to help housing support providers and services deliver positive outcomes for people they support.

Megan Williams

POLICY PROGRAMME LEAD – DIGITAL AND CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE, CCPS

Megan took up her current role in July 2023.

Her work on digital and data for social care builds on her two years of prior experience on the CCPS Workforce Policy team, where she had a focus on workforce data. Megan has an interest in evaluation, measurement, and the puzzle of how to demonstrate social care’s impact without creating too many reporting requests for the people working in and leading our social care services.

She previously worked for a variety of third sector organisations on mental health, poverty, and girls’ education, in service delivery and programme management roles. She holds a Masters degree in Global Mental Health and has experience of the NHS on mental health strategy implementation. She is also a trained counsellor for Childline and has been taking young people’s calls with the helpline for two years.