Whether you’re a committee member, or a supporter from Surrey, people like you make this work possible.
Find out more about some of the people driving AACT forward, below.
Below, you will find information about the people who serve as Trustees of the AACT. You can also read about the members of our community who have previously served on the executive here.
Trustees
Stuart Buchanan
Stuart Buchanan is a father, pilot, mountaineer and cyclist who has spent most of his life within strolling distance of the Astley Ainslie. His grandmother spent some time at the hospital, and his children enjoy exploring the grounds and picking apples and blackberries. When not outdoors, he contributes to open source software.
Maggie Carson
Maggie was initially co-opted on to the Executive Committee during 2020 and then elected to continue at the AGM. She is a nurse and a nurse educator with a master’s degree in Public Health. She has extensive experience as a member and/or Chair of numerous national and international committees and health related advisory boards. Maggie brings community outreach expertise as well as leadership and fundraising experience. She has recently completed the Eden Project Communities’ programme in Creative Community Leadership.
Maggie was born in Sri Lanka but grew up in Edinburgh close to the Astley Ainslie and fondly remembers foraging in the hospital grounds with her family every year for brambles. She still lives close by and is still foraging.
Michael Hall
Mike serves as AACT’s treasurer. He has spent much of his career formulating medicinal products and working to improve the reliability of their manufacture and performance. Mike has been involved in several local groups, including serving as treasurer of Transition Edinburgh South, a community organization which initiated and ran substantial local projects funded by public grants. An active cyclist, hill walker, and gardener, Mike enjoys living close to the Astley Ainslie grounds. He has well developed interests in geology, natural history and environmental matters, in renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency, in climate science, and in aspects of history and prehistory.
Sara Stevenson
Sara is a cultural historian and researcher, responsible for setting up the national photography collection in the National Galleries of Scotland. She is an amateur gardener and a convinced environmentalist, who lives close to the Astley Ainslie grounds. She is an experienced public speaker and author and is co-editor of a new journal that connects the Astley Ainslie with issues of local, national, and global import, Leaves.
Rebecca Hackett
Rebecca lives locally and has been a member of the AACT since shortly after moving to the area in 2019. She walks her children through the grounds to school most days and enjoys running and foraging in the area. Rebecca has been a civil servant for almost 20 years, working for the UK and Scottish Governments, and within the European institutions. She has a wide range of policy, negotiations and engagement experience, with a particular focus on local economic development, research and innovation and climate issues. While not at work Rebecca enjoys travelling, cooking, playing tennis and spending time with her family.