Welcome, meet the Peer 2 Peer Mindfulness trustees
Peer 2 Peer Mindfulness has a Board of Trustees who come from a wide variety of backgrounds and share a love of mindfulness with a deep appreciation of the positive benefits they receive from embracing mindfulness in their life.
All volunteers, they meet approximately six times a year in their commitment to guide the work of the charity towards its purpose in bringing the benefits of mindfulness to more and more people in the Scottish Borders.
Each of our trustees are motivated to helping Peer 2 Peer Mindfulness develop as a organisation through a keen desire to help others and give back. Please get in touch with us should you want to know more about how the trustees support Peer 2 Peer Mindfulness.
Ann Hetherington:
Ann lives with her husband , John, on the beautiful National Trust estate of Wallington in Northumberland. Mother to 3 children, she is the doting granny of 3 grandsons - all of whom are geniuses and the most beautiful boys on the planet!
Ann left teaching in 2019 having taught in a primary school in the Northumberland National Park.
Ann relates the story of how she found mindfulness as: "A yoga friend of mine had shared Peer 2 Peer Mindfulness’s advert for one of the Mindfulness Based Living Courses (MBLC) courses and I commented that it would be great if they would come across the border to Harbottle and teach a class there. Both John and I participated and it isn’t an exaggeration to say that it was life changing for both of us. Towards the end of the course , Brian asked ‘how is the weather for you today’ and I had a sudden vision of standing struggling in the teeth of a storm. I realised that I couldn’t stop the storm, but I could deal with it mindfully. Realising how miserable I was helped me make a decision that supported my well-being.
I then did the Compassion Based Living Course (CBLC) on zoom during deepest darkest lockdown, which was a very valuable experience but weird because I felt that I had made friends for life but I hadn’t met them in the flesh! Subsequently we have met and I still like them…….
For me, Peer 2 Peer came at just the right time. I was struggling with life and becoming the kind of person I didn’t want to be - angry, judgmental and bitter. Mindfulness helped me through that and helped me cope.
As a trustee, I just want to make it possible for others to get the chance to do the MBLC and to benefit in the way I did."
Brian Turnbull:
During his working career, Brian ran his own retail and distribution businesses. He has no hesitation in letting people know that whilst his business was successful, he was never fully happy as a result of the severe anxiety and depression he lived with daily as he worried about what had gone wrong yesterday and what might go wrong tomorrow.
He started trying to fix himself in 1992 with self development books and meditation but it wasn't until he was introduced to mindfulness years later that he found the happiness he had always sought to achieve through his business success. Today Brian works full time in a voluntary capacity with Peer 2 Peer Mindfulness so that other people might also obtain the transformative benefits of mindfulness.
He loves to tell people: "The past is only a memory and the future is only imagination, so live in this moment mindfully, this moment is the only thing that is real!"
Christina Willoughby:
Christina................
Gareth Stott:
Gareth , Chairperson................
Liezl Laidlaw: Liezl , trustee.
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Margaret McCreadie:
'Mags' lives in Bedrule with her husband ponies and chickens. She has 3 children and 5 grandchildren and her family and friends are everything in her world. She enjoys yoga, walking and loves being outside in the countryside.
Mags says: "I first heard of Mindfulness in 2017 when a friend mentioned it to me. I had known Brian from my school days so I decided to go along to the first ever Peer 2 Peer Mindfulness course in Kelso. I was totally unsure what to expect but really enjoyed the Mindfulness Based Living Course. I volunteered to help out when group started in Hawick and have done so ever since. I then enrolled for the Compassion Based Living Course and completed that 2nd time round. Mindfulness is now part of my life and I can honestly say practicing has changed me as a person (for the better) and has been my anchor through some very tough times! I often hear Brian's words PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.... It is a privilege to be a trustee for Peer 2 Peer and I hope I can help in any way possible to support the charity in allowing others to get the benefits I have got from being part of this community (my 2nd family)."