Our Board of Directors
Michael Leng – Chair
Michael was appointed a Director of GALE in November 2023. He has lived locally, part-time and full-time, for the past 11 years.
Michael previously lived in Nottingham where he worked as a NHS Psychiatric Nurse, Operations Director of a charity/housing association and Local Authority Specialised Housing Program Manager. Alongside his paid employment Michael volunteered as a secondary school governor for ten years including eight as Chair and for five years as Vice-Chair of a charity working in deprived communities.
With approaching 40 years’ experience in public and charitable service Michael is particularly interested in the importance of decent housing for all, tackling isolation and loneliness and building the role of community organisations in meeting the challenges communities such as ours face.
Michael first holidayed, with his family, in Wester Loch Ewe in 1992 and returned frequently until securing a building plot in 2009 for the construction of his home in 2012. Michael enjoys the amazing opportunities afforded by our magnificent landscape and is looking forward to introducing his grandchildren to the pleasures of a day out on the hills and time on and in the water.
Since his full-time relocation Michael continues to work remotely whilst being a volunteer driver for the Community Car Scheme and Trustee of the Aultbea Community Hub.
Lou Close – Vice Chair
Lou was born and grew up in West London, before moving to Surrey and later the Lake District with her young son. Now living in Kinlochewe, she continues to work as a freelance consultant and facilitator, as well as volunteering for three local charities, including GALE.
Lou is a Counsellor by training and has had a thirty year career in the public sector, including housing, health and predominantly social care, working from front line support work through operational and finally strategic management, before becoming self-employed.
As a freelance consultant, Lou mainly focuses on supporting individuals and teams to respond positively to the opportunity of change, helping organisations to continuously improve and evolves.
She most appreciates the breadth of different community projects GALE are able to support through the money raised, both from the shop and community café, and also the continuous commitment to fundraising of the team.
Janet Miles – Managing Director
Janet Miles is Managing Director of GALE. She is responsible for the strategic direction and leadership of the organisation, ensuring it delivers its mission and charitable purpose and creating an organisation that will grow and flourish. Janet is also a member of the Board of Directors acting as a link between the day to day operations and executive function of the staff team and the non-executive functions of the Board.
Janet started working for GALE in 1999 as a Local Development Worker. Back then the organisation was called LEAF (Loch Ewe Action Forum) and Janet was the only employee of what was then just a 2 year old Development Trust, one of the very first in Scotland. Since then the Development Trust Movement has been born and there are now well over 300 Development Trusts across Scotland. Janet serves on the Board of The Development Trust Association Scotland (DTAS), providing peer support to Development Trusts throughout Scotland.
Janet has a passion for community led regeneration and sustainable development and loves all things community ownership and empowerment. She would love to see a world where community owned assets and services are the norm.
Having achieved a BSc(Hons) in Horticulture many years ago, Janet is still a keen gardener in her spare time with an interest in self sufficiency. She grows much of her own fruit and veg and loves making jams and preserves.
Cory Jones – Director
Cory moved to Gairloch in 2010 after a career working in the outdoors as an ecologist, teacher and outdoor practitioner. He has worked for a number of third sector organisations including Field Studies Council and Wildlife Trusts. In 2014 he set up a Cooperative for health and safety training providers. Working with these organisations has given him fundraising, organisation management and governance skills.
As well as having been the Chair of GALE he has also served as Chair of Gairloch Community Council and a Board member of Wester Ross Biosphere.
He runs a successful outdoor activity business delivering kayak, canoe and mountain walking experiences and has focus on slow tourism activities with the aim to develop local partnerships to strengthen the area’s trading community.
Over the last ten years he has worked with GALE as a staff member, volunteer and running first aid training courses for the staff team.
Kate Gearing – Director
Kate is a Director of GALE. She is a retired GP and has joined GALE to act as a voice for the community. Kate started life in Hong Kong where she lived for eleven years, then boarding school in England followed by medical training in Ireland.
After marrying, Kate moved to South Skye where she worked part time as a GP while her husband worked in the fish farming industry. They moved to Cornwall with their children in the early 90’s, where Kate considers herself fortunate to have been able to care for her mother, mother-in-law and aunt until they died.
Kate took up partnership in a small rural GP practice until she took early retirement and the family moved to Aultbea. She then became a GP locum working on the west coast in Applecross, Torridon, Aultbea and Gairloch before finishing her career in the South Skye practice where she first started out.
Kate enjoys meeting and listening to people. She is a volunteer at GALE and on the befriending service. She welcomes people telling her their ideas and aspirations for our area and hopes to make a difference for our community.
Allan Templeton – Director
Allan is a retired medical academic. He first visited Wester Ross fifty years ago and has had a home here for 22 years. He is committed to the natural and cultural history of the area.
He was once Regius Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Aberdeen, leading research and development in several areas of Human Fertility. He was elected President of the Royal College of O&G, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and in 2008 made CBE.
Following retirement, Allan and his wife Gillian, moved to Edinburgh and he divides his time between there and his home in Leacnasaide, now spending most of the time in Gairloch. He has been on the Board of Gairloch Museum for ten years, and led Community Fundraising for the new Museum, among other roles. He was elected Chair of the Board in 2023.
He has a particular interest in the natural history and wildlife of our area, and believes that the environment is special. At the same time he would like to see the Community flourish.
Allan gets around by foot, bike and boat, and likes to photograph the scenery and wildlife, particularly birds. He has been visiting mountains all his life, although now only walking and skiing. He has four children, who with their families are frequent visitors to Gairloch.
Gordon Butler – Director
Gordon is a qualified chartered accountant and chartered tax advisor. Until his retirement in 2019, he served as the managing director of Milne Craig, Chartered Accountants, for nearly two decades. Under his leadership, the firm grew to employ approximately 100 individuals and achieved a turnover exceeding £5 million.
Gordon was elected to the Council of The Institute of Chartered Accountants, where he served the maximum term of six years, including three years on the management committee.
Before pursuing a career in accounting, Gordon was a professional footballer. He played as an amateur with Queen’s Park before transferring to Sheffield United in 1970. After retiring from football, he took up curling and competed at a high level, representing Scotland in the senior world championships in 2011.
Additionally, Gordon has been an avid hillwalker, dedicated to climbing all 282 Munros in Scotland. He summited his first Munro, Buachaille Etive Mor, in June 2005 and completed his final Munro, Ben More in Mull, in October 2014.