Supporting people detained in Dungavel IRC and influencing policy on detention
About us
Our board
Our Board and Director on an autumn walk
Alice Cockburn
Alice is SDV’s Treasurer. She works as a fundraiser in the charity sector, currently at Myeloma UK as a fundraiser. She welcomes the opportunity to use her knowledge and experience, both in general and related to fundraising, to ensure the continued operation and success of SDV.
Sarah Craig
Sarah joined the board at SDV’s AGM in 2024. She is a retired law lecturer, having taught a range of Public Law subjects, including immigration, and before that she was a solicitor, working in the social welfare law field, including housing, employment, immigration and asylum law. Since she retired, she has enjoyed spending time with family and getting outdoors by bike or on hill walks as much as she can.
Sarah has been a volunteer visitor with SDV for a year and has found that while every visit brings its challenges, it’s always a great experience.
Nahom Ghebrehiwet
Nahom has lived in Glasgow since coming to the UK as a refugee in 2015. He currently works as a Peer Development Coordinator with Scottish Refugee Council. He holds a degree in Community Development from the University of Glasgow and a degree in Public Health from Asmara College of Health Science, Eritrea. He has a wide range of experience in supporting adults and young people in rehabilitating through strength-based approaches. His lived experience within the UK asylum system informs his passion for raising awareness of the issues that refugees face.
Martha Harding
Martha joined the Board of Trustees in 2016 and is currently the organisation’s chair. She has a background in International Development and she was formerly Training Officer for the Scottish Refugee Council, raising awareness and capacity building for people who work with people seeking asylum and refugees. She now works as a freelance trainer and consultant. She has specialism in participation – getting people’s voices heard in the decisions and policies that affect their lives.
Ruth Kirkby
Ruth has been volunteering with SDV for around seven years, visiting Dungavel regularly and providing phone support during the pandemic. She was involved I the Life After Detention group and worked with them as they made a film about their experiences after detention. She is keen to bring her experience of visiting Dungavel and supporting a variety of people detained in definitely to the Board.
Mary Munro
Mary is currently SDV’s vice chair having served as an SDV visitor and Board member since 2017, including four years as chair. Before full retirement, she was a Visiting Senior Fellow at Strathclyde Law School, where her particular interest was in developing restorative justice policy in Scotland. Earlier in her career she qualified and practiced in law and in social work. She is also chair at Maryhill Integration Network.
Ronnie Tagwireyi
Ronnie was born in Zimbabwe and has extensive experience of the UK’s immigration system, gained both in seeking asylum being detained. He was one of the first members of SDV’s Life After Detention group and volunteers with other charities in Glasgow where he resides.
Elahe Ziai
Elahe is from Shiraz, Iran, and is SDV’s secretary. When she arrived in Scotland, she quickly began volunteering at the Scottish Refugee Council (SRC), and after completing her BA in Education and Social Services, she was employed by SRC as a caseworker for four years where the majority of her clients were newly granted refugees. Currently she works at IMIX as their community outreach officer and tries to empower people with lived experience of seeking sanctuary, to share their positive stories.
Elahe is an adventurous outdoorsy person, and she was an experienced mountain/rock climber back in her homeland of Iran. She loves camping, travelling, reading, and watching good movies.
Our staff
Kate Alexander
Kate is our director and has been involved with SDV since she joined us as a visitor in 2003. She is responsible for the management for the organisation, fundraising and policy work.
Georgia Cottle
Georgia is our volunteer coordinator. She joined SDV in 2022, having worked for a number of projects supporting refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants. She is responsible for supporting volunteers to provide our services to people detained in Dungavel.
Our funders
Around a fifth of our income comes from generous donations from the public. If you would like to support our work, please click the button below.