Karen
On Trustees Week (9-13 November 2026), our Board of Trustees member Karen shares the main responsibilities of being a Trustee and what volunteering with Cruse Scotland has given her personally.
Has Cruse Scotland personally supported you? If so, how did the support help you?
I have not personally accessed Cruse Scotland’s support, but I have seen the need for it first-hand.
As a grief and bereavement counsellor, I regularly meet people who have waited too long to ask for help or did not know where to turn. I know how much it matters that free, skilled, compassionate support exists across Scotland.
What inspired you to become a trustee at Cruse Scotland?
I have spent my working life alongside grieving people, through one-to-one counselling, workplace training, retreats and my podcast, Grief Unedited.
That work has shown me how much difference good bereavement support makes, and how unevenly it is available. Becoming a trustee is a chance to move from supporting individuals to helping shape an organisation that reaches people across Scotland.
I want to use my professional experience to help Cruse Scotland remain well-governed, sustainable, and ready to meet the needs.
What has volunteering with Cruse Scotland given you personally?
Personally, I have valued the diversity of discussion we have had as a board, and I have learned so much from colleagues from backgrounds different from my own.
I feel like I know grief pretty well, but being surrounded by skilled and experienced people from totally different backgrounds has led to rich discussions.
What particularly interests you about Cruse Scotland?
Its scale, its reputation, and its commitment to making bereavement support accessible to anyone who needs it, whatever the circumstances of the death.
I am also interested in how the organisation can keep widening access, whether in rural and island communities, in workplaces, or for people who are reluctant to ask for help, while keeping the quality of its support high.
What is your background in terms of skills and experience?
I have worked as a counsellor since 2010, having studied psychology first. Over the course of my career, I have honed my skills and training to focus on grief and bereavement.
Early in my career, I began working in the third sector and went on to manage two bereavement services teams for a UK-wide child bereavement charity.
I have always been fascinated by how charities make the, often difficult, decisions they need to make to fulfil the needs of many, with too little resource.
This led me to become a trustee of Samaritans Scotland, where I served two terms on their board. My hope in my role with Cruse Scotland is that I can bring clinical insight, business experience and a strong grounding in governance and compliance.
What are your main responsibilities of being a trustee?
My role at Cruse Scotland involves ensuring the charity's bereavement support and training are delivered in a safe and ethical manner, and to the highest standard.
More widely, as a trustee, we are collectively responsible for ensuring the charity acts in line with its charitable purposes and the public benefit it exists to deliver.
We are tasked with overseeing finances and ensuring resources are used well, managing risk, including safeguarding, data protection and reputational risk, and setting strategy and holding the executive team to account for delivering it.
One of the parts I enjoy most is acting as an ambassador for Cruse Scotland; I love waving the Cruse Scotland flag when I am out and about!
What excites you most about being part of Cruse Scotland’s Board and helping shape the organisation’s future?
The opportunity to influence how many people can be reached, and how we continue to learn and grow as an organisation.
Demand for bereavement support is growing, and the future will involve decisions about funding, digital delivery, workforce, and volunteer development, and reaching people who currently fall through the gaps.
I am excited to bring a practitioner’s perspective to those conversations, and to work with fellow trustees whose skills complement mine.
What would you say to someone who is thinking about becoming a trustee at Cruse Scotland?
Do it, especially if you care about people being supported through the hardest time in their lives. You do not need to be a bereavement expert, as the board needs a mix of skills and perspectives.
What matters is commitment, curiosity, and a willingness to learn. It is a meaningful way to turn care into lasting impact, and you will be part of something that makes a real difference to families and communities across Scotland.
