Michelle Sweeney has been appointed the new chair of Voluntary Arts Scotland’s advisory group and will also serve as a trustee on the voluntary arts board. Michelle has over 20 years’ experience of management in the fields of arts, culture, communities, education, health and well-being and marketing. She is currently head of partnerships and service development at Fife Cultural Trust, having previously worked at Fife Council as a cultural co-ordinator and team leader of the cultural partnerships team. Michelle also volunteers as director of clubs for the Mountaineering Council of Scotland and is a director of the Cultural Enterprise Office.

Colin McKerchar, head of talent for Arts at the BBC took over as chief executive of Sistema Scotland on January 4. Colin has worked in arts at the BBC for more than 15 years, first as a reporter and broadcaster, then as a producer on a number of arts programmes and finally as a head of talent for Arts TV. He is on a year-long secondment to cover the maternity leave of current chief executive, Nicola Killean. Colin is also a qualified executive coach and mentor.

Neighbourhood Watch Scotland (NWS) has appointed Brian Connel as its new national development officer. A police officer for 30 years and more recently a crime reduction consultant, he will head up the NWS team based in Stirling. Brian has a wealth of experience within the community safety arena and has previously provided formal support to Neighbourhood Watch at both regional and national level. He replaces Lisa Toon who recently moved on to a new third sector role.

Philippa Bonella has joined the Big Lottery Fund as international specialist adviser. Based in Glasgow, for the next year she will work alongside staff in the fund at UK level to draft and implement a new strategy for its international development funding, in line with its new People in the Lead strategic framework. Philippa has a background in developing funding policy and international strategy, having worked in a range of voluntary and public sector bodies including SCVO, ASH Scotland, the Scottish Government and the Equal Opportunities Commission. She joins the Big Lottery Fund from a senior role in the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, where she was responsible for leading the organisation’s policy and campaigning work, domestic strategy, fundraising and communications.

Neil Matthewman, chief executive of Community Integrated Care, has been appointed to the board of trustees of the Scottish Commission for Learning Disability (SCLD). SCLD is an independent charitable organisation and is the intermediary organisation for learning disability in Scotland and a strategic partner to Scottish Government in the delivery of Scotland’s learning disability strategy.