AWARD CATEGORIES
The Scottish Fundraising Conference and Awards Committee is made up of professional fundraisers at all levels and walks of life, who volunteer their spare time to bring the Scottish Fundraising Conference and Awards to you.
Each award nomination is scored by a minimum of XX committee members and are allocated based on their own knowledge base. For example, if the category is Best Legacy Giving anyone on the committee who does not work in Legacy can be allocated this category. Unless their own charity has been nominated, committee members judge the following categories:
- Best Individual Giving Campaign
- Best Legacy Campaign
- Best Marketing and Communications Campaign
- Best Use of Event or Community Fundraising Initiative
- Best Partner Relationship: Corporate Fundraising
- Best Partner Relationship: Trusts and Foundations
- Best Supporter Experience
- Rising Star
- Fundraiser of the Year
- Fundraising Team of the Year - (Over £3m)
- Fundraising Team of the Year - (Under £3m)
- Fundraising Excellence Award
The first 7 awards are scored by the Awards Committee, with the final 5 individual and team awards being scored by our External Panel, who sit independently to the committee.
We’d like to wish all our nominees the very best of luck, and we look forward to celebrating with you on Tuesday 22 September 2026.
AWARD JUDGES
Sharryn McKelvie
Head of Fundraising | DSUK
Sharryn is an experienced fundraiser and business manager with a background in organising large scale events, community and mass participation fundraising. She continues to use her experience volunteering and has done over the last 30 years, regularly delivering many different fundraising projects. Sharryn has been on the committee since early 2024 and Chair since January 2025.
Gary Kernahan
Executive Director | THINK Consulting Solutions
Gary is an experienced fundraising leader, with an excellent track record of developing and delivering diverse, cost effective, income generation activities to achieve growth in sustainable income. He is an Executive Director at THINK and previously held senior roles at Cancer Research UK, Muscular Dystrophy UK and Children 1st. As a volunteer with the Institute of Fundraising Gary champions fundraising expertise across the sector and was awarded the Fundraising Excellence Award in 2018 in recognition of his work.
Christine Devlin
Fundraising Manager (Legacy, In Memory and In Celebration Giving) | National Trust for Scotland
Christine is an award nominated legacy and in memory fundraising professional with experience across the third sector. She joined the charity sector in 2019 and has been working in fundraising ever since. Having mainly worked for larger charities in Scotland, she gained experience to specialise in legacies early on in her career. Having studied zoology, her background lies in ecology and conservation, and she has combined this with a passion for legacies to work with various animal welfare and environmental causes, with legacy roles at Scottish SPCA, Marie Curie and RSPB, currently she is the Fundraising Manager for legacy, in memory and in celebration giving at National Trust for Scotland.
Christine joined the Scottish Fundraising Conference committee last year focusing on planning and managing the awards. When she isn’t fundraising, Christine is training and going on adventures with her rescue puppy, Albie, travelling, or salsa dancing.
Lexy Graham
Events & Community Fundraising Officer | Worldwide Cancer Research
Lexy grew up fundraising throughout school and university, and is an award-winning event planner. She started out studying medicine at university, before going on to study Events Management, graudating with a first class honours degree in 2024. She joined Worldwide Cancer Research in January 2025 as the Events and Community Fundraiser, and thoroughly enjoys her role as it combines her science background, love for fundraising and all things events into one fabulous job. She has since taken on the role of Chair and EDI Champion in the CIOF Scottish Events and Community Special Interest Group, as well as being a member of the Awards subteam and editor for the Scottish Fundraising Conference and Awards.
In her spare time, you can find Lexy surfing, doing yoga and pilates, cooking, or out and about on the hills or on a paddleboard with her cockapoo, Poppy.
David Page
Director | Triceratops Training
David is a product of small charities having experience as a service user, volunteer, staff member, leader, consultant and trainer. He has been a fundraiser for 20 years, starting with large NGOs before following his heart to specialise in smaller organisations. In 2019 he saw a lack of provision in high quality, accessible training targeted at the unique challenges of small charitable organisations and so launched the equally unique Triceratops Training in early 2023. Since then, he has had the pleasure of partnering with several sector infrastructure organisations, supporting hundreds of small charities and CICs, and delivering training and coaching across the world.
Jonathan Mitchell
Head of Fundraising | Change Mental Health
Since starting as a Community & Events Fundraising Assistant in his hometown of Newcastle upon Tyne 15 years ago, Jonathan has gone on to lead fundraising teams in national charities across Scotland. Currently the Head of Fundraising at Change Mental Health, Jonathan is passionate about the development of the teams he leads and so being involved in the Scottish Fundraising conference is the perfect fit. When he’s not fundraising, Jonathan is a volunteer for the Dementia Dog project, looking after assistance dogs and assisting with their ongoing training.
Angharad Low
Grants Manager | Royal Zoological Society for Scotland
With 15 years of experience in income generation, Angharad has strategic and operational fundraising experience across a range of income streams, generating funding for causes as diverse as genetic research, children’s palliative care and wildlife conservation.
A specialist in high value giving, she is passionate about connecting grant makers, corporate partners and philanthropists with the causes that inspire them. As Grants Manager at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, she builds support for ground-breaking wildlife conservation and transformative, nature-based community projects.
She’s excited to have joined the CIOF Scottish Fundraising Conference Committee - supporting this unique opportunity for fundraisers to learn, share, and be inspired.
Marion Pirrie
Fundraising Manager | Age Scotland
Marion started her fundraising career as Fundraising Administrator with CRUK. She later spent 13 years at Maggie's, supporting its Edinburgh and Lanarkshire Centres. During this time, she was involved in Partnerships, Community Fundraising and bespoke events as well as managing the Centre board and major donors. Marion moved to Parkinson's UK Scotland, before her current role as Fundraising Manager at Age Scotland. Marion has a team at Age Scotland who cover Supporter Care, Community and Events Fundraising, Trusts and Foundation and Corporate Fundraising.
Laura Salmon
Development Manager | Gordonstoun School
Laura developed a love for fundraising and working with volunteers in a part time job in a charity shop whilst completing her master’s degree in history. After making the move to work full time in the charity sector, she has over ten years’ experience, working as an individual giving fundraiser for SCIAF and now as Development Manager for Gordonstoun focusing on regular giving income generation. In 2024, Laura joined the Scottish Fundraising Conference committee as part of the marketing team. Aside from fundraising, she has also volunteered for events at a local community development trust near to where she lives and co-chairs the PTA at her daughter’s school.
Peter Gibson
Volunteer (Trusts and Foundations) | Waverley Care and Survivors of Human Trafficking in Scotland
Peter Gibson is a Funding Officer with Right There (formerly
YPeople and YMCA Glasgow). His duties span tender bids and trusts and
foundations fundraising. Peter previously worked as an academic historian,
where he gained skills and experience relevant to his current role. He has also
volunteered as a trusts and foundations fundraiser with two Scottish charities,
Waverley Care and Survivors of Human Trafficking in Scotland.
Abigail Borthwick
Trusts and Statutory Fundraiser | Deaf Action
Abigail began her career in the arts sector, specialising in trusts and foundations while also contributing to corporate and individual giving programmes. During this time, she completed the Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s Certificate of Fundraising, strengthening her expertise in income generation and donor stewardship.
She now works within the health and wellbeing sector, with a continued focus on trusts and foundations. In 2025, Abigail joined both the CIOF Scotland Executive Committee and the Scottish Fundraising Conference Committee, and she is looking forward to being involved with both groups in the coming year.
EXTERNAL PANEL
Iain McWhirter
Chief Executive Officer | Revive MS Support
After an early career in both the private and public sectors, Iain became a
fundraiser nearly 20 years ago. As Head of Fundraising at MND Scotland, and now
as CEO at Revive MS Support, he has extensive experience in creating and
delivering strategies to significantly grow the income and visibility of the
charities he has worked with. As Trustee of two charities, he also acts as
Treasurer for The Neurological Alliance of Scotland and BOOM! Community Arts.
A member of the External Awards Panel for the last three years, Iain loves being
involved in recognising and celebrating the successes of fundraisers across
Scotland.
Michelle Sorrell
Director of Consultancy & Forums| THINK Consulting Solutions
Nicola Gunn
Director of Development, Brand & Engagement | Scottish SPCA
Lawrence Cowan
Chief Executive | Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland (SBH Scotland)
Lawrence is Chief Executive of Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland (SBH Scotland). He leads their mission to make sure everyone affected by such lifelong and complex disabilities has the chance to feel unstoppable. He is a stroke survivor and is devoted to supporting disabled people and those with long-term conditions to thrive. Prior to joining SBH Scotland in 2023, he was Director of
Communications and Fundraising at Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland and was also Trustee and Chair of the Board of MND Scotland during their period of unprecedented growth.
Over his career so far, he has led efforts raising millions of pounds that have supported the establishment of the UK’s largest drug trial platform in MND, funded nationwide services supporting the 1 in 5 people in Scotland living with chest, heart and stroke conditions, and grown vital support for disabled
children and young people across the country.
