Board of Trustees

Lindsay Attwood studied technical theatre at college and Drama and Theatre Arts where she specialised in Playwriting. She then worked at the Kings and Festival Theatre’s in Edinburgh in Bar, FOH, Box Office and management roles.  Currently, Lindsay works at Cumbernauld Theatre in North Lanarkshire as Programme and Cinema Manager.  Lindsay’s hope is that she can join the Board of the Eastgate to use her industry knowledge to give something back to her hometown and help to develop the wonderful hub for the arts in the Borders.

Rosie Barley is an experienced HR professional and retail leader. Originally from an arts background, she has a passionate belief that engagement in a wide range of artistic and cultural experiences enriches people’s lives and promotes stronger, more vibrant, and diverse communities. She has recently trained as a creative mindfulness teacher to help children understand and promote their own and others’ emotional wellbeing through creativity.

Chris Clarke is a retired social worker and senior manager.  She was employed by Barnardos and Scottish Borders Council, managing teams of social workers and had extensive experience in the delivery of staff supervision.  She also worked for East Lothian Council as Child Protection Manager which covered working in the field of assessment and risk management.  After retiring she became involved with Tweeddale Youth Action as a Board member and then as its chair and is a founding member of Shakespeare@Traquair.

Jo Dube has been a committee member since university days and has always undertaken some form of voluntary work, alongside a variety of paid jobs and, more recently, full time parenthood. Since 2010 she’s been an enthusiastic member of Shakespeare at Traquair.   She is Chair of the Parent Council at Halyrude Primary School.  She started volunteering in the Eastgate Café in 2009 and after ushering for around a year, settled into the Box Office and in 2023 she became a Trustee.

Helen Lewis is a university academic and scientist and has a lot of experience with recruitment, funding and health and safety.  I has had long relationship with the Eastgate, mostly as audience but also as a regular class participant, as an occasional volunteer and even once or twice as a performer.

Gordon Murray is a former solicitor in Private Practice and now an accredited Mediator.  He acted as Company Secretary and in-house counsel to the RSNO and also as Secretary and Treasurer to the RSNO Foundation from 1985 to 2023. He chaired a chamber music festival on Islay from 2013 to 2019 and sits as a Trustee on a number of charitable trusts including the Scottish Bass Trust. Married with 4 children and lots of grandchildren, he has lived in West Linton for more than 40 years.

Rachael O’Connor studied Business Management and Marketing and then spent 26 years co-owning and running four concurrent businesses in Edinburgh and managing the marketing, PR and communications and customer relations for the businesses.  She has worked with The Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh on one of her own plays and wrote regular theatre reviews for The Skinny culture magazine.  Rachael is a strong believer in the importance of the arts to communities and individuals.

Debbie Smith worked in the voluntary, community and public sector in various executive and non- executive roles including development officer for the National Lottery, national training manager for Citizens Advice Bureaux, and manager and chair of local CABx. She has a BSc in health and community studies and was the voluntary sector rep on a NHS Board. She also worked as a consultant supporting managers and trustees. She is a keen participant in Sara Boles’s fabulous dance classes at the Eastgate and loves dance of all kinds as an enthusiastic amateur.

Fran Swift was manager of The Bridge (Community Action Borders) working with community groups and village halls throughout Tweeddale.  Prior to that she worked to devise community networking throughout the Borders and for the Rural Resource Centre.  Fran worked for and became CEO of the International Voluntary Service. She has lived in Peebles for over thirty years and her involvement with Peebles Players and as an usher for the Eastgate has brought her a lot of pleasure which she now hopes she is repaying by her current involvement as a trustee for the theatre.

Tim Wilcock Tim Wilcock is a chartered accountant who worked in a variety of roles across a wide range of industries.  He made a career out of making finance fun and understandable and is delighted to bring those skills to the Eastgate, an organisation with which he’s been associated since it opened its doors back in 2004.