Action for Children Scotland has appointed Flora Martin as an ambassador. A leading figure in public relations in Scotland, Flora has been an integral part of the Action for Children Scotland team since 1999, working on a series of high profile events including the Woman of Influence event which has raised over £1 million to support the work of the charity. She has served on the charity’s Scotland committee, the group which governs its operations and services north of the border, since 2010. Her official ambassadorial role will involve raising further awareness of the charity’s work, including support for campaigns and assisting with fundraising activity.

SafeDeposits Scotland has announced the appointment of new chairman, Ian Potter. The social enterprise is the country’s leading tenancy deposit scheme, holding over £73 million of private rental deposits – approximately 60% of the Scottish market. Ian has spent over a quarter of century working in the private rental sector and has been a key contributor to the legislative redevelopment of the private rental sector in Scotland. He has served on the board of SafeDeposits Scotland since 2012 and succeeds Sir Andrew Cubie as chairman.

Jonathan Hughes, the chief executive of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, has been re-elected to the global council of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for a second term. Jonathan was first elected to the council at the IUCN World Conservation Congress held in South Korea in 2012. He said: “The world needs a strong union for nature as never before in the 70 year history of IUCN. I am honoured and humbled that both government and non-government members of the IUCN across the world chose to re-elect me to serve for a second term on IUCN council.”

Contact the Elderly has appointed Morna O’May, its former east of Scotland development officer, as its new head of service for Scotland. Morna, of Stirling, first became involved with Contact the Elderly as a volunteer driver almost 10 years ago. She officially joined the organisation in her previous role eight years ago and has driven the creation of more than 30 new groups in that time spanning an area from the Borders to Aberdeen. Morna takes on the responsibilities of the former Scotland executive officer Valerie Crookston who recently retired. She said: "I am excited by this new challenge and plan to grow our service even further, launching more tea party groups and supporting existing volunteers by increasingly developing our volunteer strategy and fully embracing the digital technologies available."