Our People
The Scottish Para-Football Committee, which meets bi-monthly, is made up of the charity’s Trustees.
Trustees are elected at the Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) which is held in Autumn each year.​
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The fifth Scottish Para-Football AGM was held at Hampden Park on 12 November 2023. The number of charity Trustees currently includes four ordinary members and one co-opted member, namely Jamie Kirk, Paul Wilson, Marianna Pavan and Ursula McFarlane. Iain Woolley continued as a co-opted member.
Jamie Kirk - Trustee
Jamie graduated from the University of West of Scotland in 2013 with a BA Honours (1st Class) in Sports Development, having previously started his studies at James Watt College in 2009. Jamie has extensive sports coaching experience at all levels from grassroots to professional and has served as Community Development Director at Stenhousemuir Football Club as well as my current role of Chief Executive at the multi-award-winning Dundee United Community Trust, since 2016. Through his time working in community sport Jamie developed a genuine passion for disability sport and accessibility for all. He has volunteered hundreds of hours as a trustee of Forth Valley Disability Sport and Dundee City Disability Sport, as well as coaching sessions in a variety of different sports.​
Marianna Pavan - Trustee
Dr. Marianna Pavan is a lecturer in sport management and policy at Manchester Metropolitan University (UK). Her research areas include questions on social change, sport for social inclusion, and addresses the promotion and protection of human rights through sport. With 10+ years’ experience in the Sport for Development sector she has consulted for a range of organisations including Lega Pro, the IOM and the Italian Olympic Committee. She holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh and a MSc in Human Rights from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Ursula McFarlane - Trustee
Ursula has worked in marketing and communications for over 15years in both the public and private sectors, initially in tourism and then in the sporting field where she found her passion for sport, events and creative marketing could come together. With a background in football through her time spent as part of sportscotland’s Communications Team, the Scottish FA and agency work for UEFA she has a strong understanding of the footballing landscape both domestically and internationally. With a move away from full-time work recently to pursue a passion for CrossFit Coaching, she currently holds a part-time position at the Scottish Football Museum as their Marketing Manager.
Iain Woolley - Independent member
Iain is an independent member of the board. Iain has a finance background having spent 11 years at Deloitte in audit and investment (and becoming qualified as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst) before joining Isio’s investment advisory team in 2023. Iain is passionate about community football having been involved in Scottish grassroots football since 2017 when he joined the SFA TeamWorks programme (matching up business mentors with community football clubs), in which Iain coordinated the programme on behalf of Deloitte for a number of years, and has supported Milton FC create a business plan, become a charity, and raised c.£600k for a facilities development project.
Iain has been an independent member of the Scottish Para-Football board since summer 2019, and has been involved in a number of areas such as funding panels, governance, budgeting, strategy planning and other initiatives.
Paul Wilson - Trustee
As General Manager at Dundee United Community Trust, Paul is a dedicated community advocate with a passion for making a positive impact. He is highly experienced in driving meaningful change through roles with Raith Rovers Community Foundation and Dundee United Community Trust. Paul is skilled in community engagement, project management, and fostering partnerships and remains committed to empowering individuals and communities to thrive. He is excited to continue using his knowledge, expertise and passion to create lasting change in his role as Trustee at Scottish Para-Football.
Ashley Pedersen - Chief Executive
Ashley began as CEO of Scottish Para-Football in 2022, having sat on the Board of Trustees since the organisations's inception in 2018. With a first class degree in Business and Law, she spent her career working in public relations and media which piqued her interest in the charity sector, before moving into third sector management roles. She served on the senior management team of award winning national youth work charity Ocean Youth Trust Scotland before joining Scottish Para-Football. In 2017, Ashley set up Amputee Football Association Scotland, a charity providing opportunities for those who have suffered limb-loss to play at grassroots up to international level. Ashley sits on the Scottish FA's Non-Professional Game Board, which allows her to provide a voice for disability football in Scotland, and she is on the UEFA Disability Football Forum. She also sits on the Scottish Government's Cross Party Group on Football. Ashley is hugely passionate about changing the perception of para-football in Scotland and continues to lobby and campaign for investment to ensure inclusion and accessibility for everyone to the beautiful game.
Ann Brown - Strategic Lead
Ann has established herself as the expert in autism and neurodiversity in Scottish Football. Ann founded the charity Team United, using the power of sport as a platform for neurodiversity to flourish, igniting a movement that celebrates the potential of players with Autism and other Neurodiverse conditions. Through Team United, Ann created a world first, and her pioneering approach - to ensure those with neurodiverse conditions have the same opportunities to access football in a format that works for them - has attracted the attention of UEFA and other national associations keen to replicate her model. Now with 32 teams across Scotland, Ann's approach has always gone beyond competition, focusing on the empowerment and social inclusion of neurodiverse individuals. In addition to activities on the pitch, Ann has dedicated her career to creating supportive resources tailored specifically to the needs of those with neurodiverse conditions to enable them to reach their potential. Ann is Head of Para-Football at Hibs Community Foundation in addition to her role as Strategic Lead at Scottish Para-Football.
