The Enchanted Forest Community Trust.
The Enchanted Forest Community Trust is the registered charity solely responsible for the creation and delivery of Scotland’s premier sound and light show, The Enchanted Forest.
Operated by a voluntary board of Trustees, they oversee the running and implementation of the event to the direct benefit of Highland Perthshire.
The organisation has operated since 2010 as a charitable trust, creating economic wealth and redistributing event surpluses to local community groups and charities to directly benefit the community. Prior to this, the event was run by a community interest company. Under the Trust’s direction, The Enchanted Forest has grown from attracting around 19,000 visitors to over 80,000 visitors every Autumn and contributing over £7.5 million to the local economy. The first Enchanted Forest event was held in 2002.
The aim of the charity is to primarily, but not exclusively, to benefit the community of Highland Perthshire defined by postcode districts PH8, PH9, PHIS, PH16, PHI7 and PH18.
Specific objectives are:
To advance the arts, heritage, culture and science of the area by supporting, managing, promoting and developing quality events which enhance and celebrate the natural and cultural resources of the area and encourage education and participation therein
To provide funding to charities, clubs and organisations primarily, but not exclusively, working in the area or providing benefit in the area, to enable them to implement, or assist in the implementation of, their own projects the purposes of which promote any of the following:
- The advancement of arts, heritage, culture or science
- The advancement of community development and environmental protection or improvement
- The advancement of education
- The advancement of public participation in sport or the provision or organisation of recreational facilities with the object of improving the conditions of life for the persons for whom the facilities or activities are primarily intended
- Relief of those in need by reason of age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage.
Our board of trustees
Our Trustees are drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds and we are always interested in hearing from people who have experience to bring to the table.
Karen Bothwell, Chairperson
Karen Bothwell, a former senior executive in financial services with lengthy experience leading teams, large and small, Karen spent over thirty years in Financial Services with Lloyds Banking Group where she acquired deep experience across legal, risk, governance and regulation. Over the years she has held a number of board positions across a range of sectors including growth capital investment, hospitality, housing building and property, providing insight, guidance, and challenge, particularly for governance, risk, and strategic change.
Recently retired and now living in Highland Perthshire, Karen is a treasurer of her local church and chairs a new charity set up by the Churches in and around Aberfeldy to coordinate anti-poverty initiatives in the Highland Perthshire area.
Karen’s appointment further strengthens The Enchanted Forest Community Trust’s board and supports the creation of a sustainable strategy to deliver The Enchanted Forest event, securing its very meaningful impact on the local economy and building on its charitable community initiatives, bringing additional expertise to the organisation and the event, which draws over 80,000 visitors to Highland Perthshire annually.
Gill Baker
Gill Baker is currently the Investment Services Director at Aegon UK and has worked mostly in the private sector (financial services for around 30 years) but also has experience in the public sector. Gill is a senior leader and commercially aware PRINCE2 practitioner, who creates positive and sustainable change in line with business objectives. She is also an accomplished and driven communications specialist with a strong track record across all disciplines.
Gill thrives on driving and delivering business results and transforming processes and controls. She manages a £multi-million budget and has generated over £100 million in cost savings. She is excited to bring her experience to The Enchanted Forest Community Trust and plans to embrace the role which combines her enthusiasm for business and the outdoors.
Mhairi Cameron
Mhairi Cameron joins the Board with over 16 years of Charity Fundraising and Charity Governance experience. Mhairi has led numerous fundraising teams at large national charities like Action for Children, Anthony Nolan, Alzheimer’s Scotland, CLIC Sargeant, MS Society. Mhairi currently works as a charity governance and fundraising consultant.
Karen Smith
Karen Smith is a chartered accountant with over 15 years of experience working with charities. Karen began her career as an external auditor, where she brings her experience of the preparation and review of year end statutory accounts along with her knowledge of best practice for suitable financial systems.
In 2018, Karen left auditing to become the financial controller for a charity, The Kiltwalk, where she is able to support The Enchanted Forest in the preparation of management accounts, budgets and cashflow monitoring.
Barry Fisher
Barry has nearly 30 years working with the Charity and Voluntary sector, working previously as the General Manager for Ocean Youth Trust and as Director for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in Scotland. He is currently the Chief Executive for the Environmental Charity – Keep Scotland Beautiful – working across a portfolio of activity that includes tackling climate change, reducing litter and waste, promoting Biodiversity and improving places where people live and work.
He lives in the village of St Fillans and is the Secretary for the local Community Trust and also Secretary for the genocide education Charity Remembering Srebrenica.
Gordon Johnstone
Gordon Johnstone is a creative marketing professional with over a decade of experience in delivering strategies, events, and innovation. He is currently the Communications Manager at the Scottish AI Alliance where he contributes towards delivering Scotland’s AI strategy. Previously, he has organised international science conferences, worked in PR, the third sector, and generalist marketing roles.
As an active member of the arts and science community in Scotland, when he’s not working he also hosts the science podcasts and is one half of the band Post Coal Prom Queen.
Board Observer
Fionnghuala Paterson
Following her graduation from her Master’s degree in Ecology and Conservation from the University of Aberdeen, Fionnghuala has been working as a Project Manager for Microsoft Partner: Corporate Project Solutions for the last 2 years. She manages the delivery of projects with budgets up to £250,000, implementing business change in a variety of industries through migrations from on premise to cloud based solutions, Power Platform development and PPM Tool implementation projects.
Fionnghuala continues to pursue her passion for environmental and community projects through working with The Enchanted Forest Community Trust. She aims to continue her development in this sphere through shadowing trustees and progress to full Trustee status.
The Enchanted Forest Community Trust is registered in Scotland, charity number SC045237: company number SC357866
The Enchanted Forest Community Trust is registered with Information Commissioner’s Office, Registration Number ZA351208
“The Enchanted Forest” is a registered trademark of The Enchanted Forest Community Trust.