Meet our team

Meet some of A Listening Ear's dedicated volunteers and support staff:

Penny Halliday

Chair and Founder


Penny Halliday is the founder and Chair of A Listening Ear. She was an FE lecturer with Dumfries and Galloway College for 18 years and then moved to community development for 10 years setting up local and national support for kinship carers as well as families affected by drugs, for which she won several awards. Penny has served as a Non-Executive Member of the Board of NHS Dumfries and Galloway for over 8 years where she is currently Vice Chair as well as Vice Chair of the Integrated Joint Board – the body set up to oversee the integration of local health and social care services within the Region and is also a Trustee for a number of other local organisations.

Pat McErlean

Trustee


I worked in Local Government for 30 years before retiring to Galloway in 2013. I had worked mainly with Ethnic and Cultural Minorities liaising and managing special events and accommodation. In my spare time I used my work skills to help in the management and support of a number of local and national voluntary organisations.


After an active career it was not long before I was bored with retirement and started as a volunteer with A Listening Ear which I thoroughly enjoy. In what’s left of my spare time I am a mad keen wild camper.

Fiona Clayton

Trustee


Fiona worked as a careers adviser and then in business support in the public sector before retiring.

  

She is a telephone befriender for A Listening Ear and also a volunteer befriender for MOOL and serves as the secretary for her local branch of the Scottish Women’s Institute. 


In her free time, she enjoys a range of hobbies, from music, virtual reality and genealogy to table tennis, dog-walking and learning Arabic.

  Morag Letson

  Project Manager

  Contact: project@listening-ear.org or 07568727425


 With a long career in social care and more than a decade in senior management Morag brings with her a wealth of

 expertise to A Listening Ear.


  In her leisure time Morag loves listenng to a variety of music and spending time with her husband and beautiful dog who   

  encourages them onto the local beaches.  The couple also have two grown up children.

Caroline Garrett

Volunteer Co-ordinator East

Contact - vceast@listening-ear.org or 07874 316607


Caroline has a wealth of experience of working in the third sector. In her spare time, she's an avid "International Train Hubber," exploring Europe alongside her grandson, who runs the popular YouTube channel, Jack's Train Hub. From filming train journeys to exploring stations across the UK and Europe, they've been on this adventure since he was a wee lad, now 15. Check out their channel at Jack’s Train Hub on Youtube!


Known for her green thumb and love for classic murder mysteries, Caroline’s heart for community shines as she befriends newcomers from Ukraine and Bulgaria, sharing the beauty of Bonnie Galloway and seeking support from MOOL for those in need.

Jim Brodie

Volunteer Co-ordinator West

Contact VCWest@listening-ear.org


My experience includes many years in the third sector in D&G, both volunteering and as a member of staff. Starting out though, I had a long stint as a research academic at various universities around the UK and abroad, before settling down in D&G.

My wife and I live on a smallholding, where we grow all our own fruit and vegetables and love the outdoors.

Alison Warrick

Board Administrator


Alison is our freelance board administrator and comes to us with a wealth of experience in health and social care.


In her spare time Alison loves to spend time travelling in her camper van with her husband and their labrador Bruce but most of all loves spending time with her grandson!