Our Trustees
Gordon Brown
Chair
Gordon joined the Board of Trustees in 2021 and is a retired Chartered Accountant. He spent his working career at IBM where he held various financial and general management positions, latterly as Director of Business Operations for UK, Ireland, Netherlands & South Africa.
Since retiring in 2005, he has held various non-executive positions including Chairs of Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire and Scripture Union Scotland. In addition to his role with the Abernethy Trust, Gordon is also the Treasurer of The Leprosy Mission International, as well as Session Clerk of Abernethy Parish Church.
Gordon is married to Maureen and they live in Nethy Bridge and attend Nethy Bridge Church of Scotland. He has 8 grandchildren, and is an avid fan of progressive rock, blues and indie music, loves walking and motorsport, and plays golf (badly).
Alison Smith
Vice Chair
Alison joined Abernethy Board in 2020. She is a solicitor with experience working in the fields of dispute resolution and mediation. She lives in Edinburgh and worships alongside her husband and two children at St Paul’s and St George’s Episcopal Church.
Alison’s links with Abernethy date back to her attendance at a Rotary Youth Leadership Award week in 1998. Her passion is to see young people fulfilling their potential.
David Belsham
David joined Abernethy as a Trustee in April 2021 and has served as Secretary and on the Finance, Property and Risk committee.
He is retired after a 40 year career as a Civil Engineer, experience which has helped in delivering various infrastructure developments over the years at Abernethy such as the watersports lochan and sports barn at Barcaple.
With his family he has been involved as a supporter of Abernethy for around 40 years, and believes that the vision and values to seeing lives transformed through loving God, loving people and loving the outdoors is as relevant now as in the previous 54 years of Abernethy’s existence.
Alan Thomson
Alan joined the Abernethy Board in April 2021. He is a retired solicitor having practised litigation and employment law and was a partner in a law firm in Glasgow.
Alan uses his legal knowledge and experience alongside HR and general management skills in his role as a trustee. What makes him passionate about Abernethy is the opportunity to present the good news of Jesus to children and young folk in the context of adventure and outdoor experiences.
David McKillop
David joined the Board of Trustees in 2022. He is a primary school teacher currently specialising in science at The Glasgow Academy. He studied Education at Aberdeen University and then worked as a primary school teacher in Greater Glasgow.
In 2019, David returned to university to study for a Masters’ degree in Outdoor Education and Environmental Science at the University of Edinburgh). He originally came to Abernethy as a volunteer in 2009, before completing the Trainee Instructor course in 2012-13. He still holds qualifications in various outdoor sports and continues to instruct outdoor activity through school and as a freelancer. He is passionate about Abernethy’s work with schools and visits annually with his own school.
Kirsty Mitchell
Kirsty joined Abernethy as a Trustee in 2023, bringing 20 years of experience as a Chartered Marketer in the tech industry. She is part of the leadership team at FreeAgent, a leading accounting software company, and also serves as a trustee of the Scottish Bible Society.
Kirsty grew up at Abernethy, the daughter of previous CEO Lorimer and Moira Gray, and now lives in Dunfermline with her husband and teenage sons. The family worship at St Paul’s and St George’s church in Edinburgh and when not at a rugby or football match, love to spend their winters on the snow and their summers in the surf.
Colin Reilly
Colin joined the Board of Trustees in November 2023. He has a background in residential outdoor education and an ongoing passion to provide excellence in mountaineering and mountain biking. Colin splits his time instructing, coaching and guiding and as the pastor of a thriving family church in Galloway.
Stepping away from a role as the managing director of an outdoor clothing company, Colin answered the call to pastoral ministry in 1994. He has been privileged to serve on the board of other companies to keep his business acumen keen.
Colin currently provides the technical advice to the instructional teams for mountaineering, roped activities and mountain biking.
He believes that quality outdoor education provides an effective vehicle to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and that the whole Abernethy team are at the forefront of this.
Simon Cunningham
Simon joined the Abernethy Trust Finance, Property and Risk committee in 2023 and started as a Trustee in March 2024.
He is a retired Chartered Accountant and during his career specialised in internal audit and risk consulting. Since retiring in 2018 he now performs a range of non-executive board roles in the public and voluntary sector. He also sits on the board of Revenue Scotland and on the Investment and Pensions Committee of the Free Church of Scotland.
Simon’s history with Abernethy began around 1991 when he attended a ski leader course where he also met his wife Pam, who worked for Abernethy for around 10 years. Simon and Pam are timeshare owners at Nethy Bridge centre and their daughters have grown up attending summer holiday camps, the gap year programme and even working for Abernethy. It is Abernethy’s development of both staff and guests’ faith-related personal calling that Simon is passionate about particularly within their formative years.
Simon now lives in East Lothian and is a member of Haddington Community Church, part of the Free Church of Scotland.
Andrew Marrian
Andrew joined the Abernethy Board in 2024. Prior to this he served at Abernethy Nethy Bridge Centre for 20 years in various roles including as a ‘Gappie’ when he was 18, and latterly as Operations Director and Deputy CEO. He left Abernethy in 2021 to serve as the Operations Director at Ps & Gs Church in Edinburgh.
Andrew came to faith as a result of attending Abernethy adventure holidays as a teenager and continues to be passionate about the ministry of the Trust. He knows Abernethy well having experienced it as a guest and as a member of the team. He brings experience in leadership, operations and governance.
