Team
Crew's Board of Directors
Are all volunteers in that they are not paid for the time and commitment they put in. Of course they get payback in seeing the organisation thrive and provide first rate services to a wide range of fellow citizens.
They also learn new skills along the way and whilst maybe not treated like royalty by the rest of the organisation they are give a modicum of respect and the occasional cup of tea when in the building. They represent a diverse range of professionals and lay people form the private, public and voluntary sectors.
Chair of the board of directors: Andrew McCall (Trustee)
After more years dancing beside the speakers in clubs then is decent to mention, Andrew decided he wanted to do something useful whilst the ringing in his ears subsided.
He joined Crew's Board of Trustees in 2003, as he was mightily impressed by the work they were doing, and has been a member of both the Finance and Marketing subcommittees since.
He has also been Chair of the Board of Trustees since early 2006.
Vice Chair & Company secretary: Anna Ross (Trustee)
Anna Ross joined Crew as a volunteer in 2001 after spending several years listening to loud repetitive beats courtesy of the school of Techno. Since then she has moved on and graduated from the School of Law in Edinburgh and has plans to become a criminal defence lawyer.
Anna became a board member in 2004 and currently serves as the Company Secretary, Vice Chair and is part of the Human Resources Committee. As for the woman herself: She has a passion for social justice, especially concerning the criminalisation of drug users, and she also gets pretty passionate about most things if they stray too far from 'common sense'!
Finance Director of Crew: Sanjay Joshi (Trustee)
Sanjay Joshi graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2003 with a degree in mathematics. He is now a qualified actuary with a certificate in finance and investment and works for Standard Life. Outside of Crew he has interests in several other community organisations, such as Depression Alliance Scotland, Samaritans and the Children's Panel.
Ben Davenport (Trustee)
Hello! My name is Ben. I am a volunteer and a director on the board which means I represent all the volunteers in the decisions that are made on how Crew is run.
To do this I am very approachable and can coax ideas and opinions out of anybody. Outside Crew I am a teacher, I enjoy cycling, shushi and throwing shapes to pounding techno!! Ben :)
Paul Scott (Trustee)
Paul Scott is the self deprecating volunteer for Crew who writes in the third person. In theory he is on the Board to voice the opinions of Crew volunteers but in reality is only interested in free biscuits. He is a smug do-gooder who is currently collecting the Top Trumps of charities by volunteering at Crew, Epilepsy Scotland, The Citadel Youth Centre and Long Term Conditions Alliance Scotland.
He is a former creative advertising art director, so he is obsessed by the media strategies employed to promote safe sex or raise awareness of drugs.
Dave Carson (Trustee)
My interests and experience include: 25 years in the drugs field (problematic, recreational and recovery), youth sub-culture, music/ dance culture and history of beat/crate diggin', alternative ways of communicating, non-traditional routes/ counter culture, Edinburgh gang history (incl football related), self-selecting groups, consciousness raising and community development, music industry - production, promotion, performance and happenings/ events, politics - social justice -challenging perceived norms, negative attitudes and hypocrisy towrds drug takers/ consumers and, an interest in ethnography/ anthropology. Day job in NHS.
Staff Team Director of Crew: John Arthur
John has been manager and director of crew since 2003 and before that had a chequered career with various youth and community development organizations.
John's background as a community activist and 'all round good guy' serves him well as a staff member with Crew. His impeccable taste in music endears him to all his colleagues, in particular they love to hear his extensive collection of blue grass music while going about their work.
Operations Manager: Carla Ellis
Carla has been with Crew since 2003 in a number of roles. At present she is responsible for making sure things run smoothly day to day so if you have any feedback for Crew you can direct it her way.
Carla's background is in development work with young people and working in the great outdoors, Crew is the first place that has made a desk job appealing!
She also gets involved in service delivery in the shop, on training and on outreach.
Oasis Co-ordinator: Matt Straw
Matthew Straw has been with Crew since 2000, as a volunteer for the first four years before joining the staff team.
Crew is one of several voluntary sector organizations that Matthew has worked with. His work has ranged from event management for the Beltane Fire Festival to Peer Education for Gay Men's Health. Matt has taken on the role of co-ordinating a new joint European project providing access to online self assessment and peer support for people concerned about their use of cocaine & alcohol.
He attained his qualification in Community Education from the University of Dundee in 2007.
Administration & Finance Worker: Ian MacLeod
Ian has worked at Crew since 2005. Currently, Ian is our Administration and Finance worker. Ian is a full-time worker and rarely far from his desk so you will probably meet him if you come into the office at any time.
Admin Assistant: Katherine Anderson
Katherine has recently joined Crew. She brings a wealth of experience in administration and is fantastically efficient. She also shares her talents with other voluntary sector organisations including working with young people with additional support needs.
Outreach & Training Development Worker: Katy MacLeod
Katy joined the Crew team in June 09 and has responsibility for co-ordinating the outreach & training work. This means you could meet her at club, in a school, a health fair or on professional training. She has been working in the social care sector for the past few years in a variety of positions and areas, from addiction services to the criminal justice sector.
Katy picked up a couple of qualifications along the way including a COSCA certificate in counselling and a SVQ level 3 in social care. Katy is now undertaking the CIPD course in Training Practice to further her skills and interest in training. Before joining Crew, Katy was involved with developing and facilitating training with Turning Point Scotland and she also works for STRADA part-time as a trainer. Katy's into her music and puts on her own club nights in Glasgow as well as writing a little music for film.
Drug Counselling Practitioner: Joy Fraser
I am an Edinburgh born and bred lassie and although I have moved around a bit auld reekie keeps drawing me back! I have been working as a practitioner at Crew2000 since September 2007. Prior to this I was on a year's placement at NHS Fife clinical psychology department.
During this placement it became clear that very few services were available to people who are experiencing problems with their substance use (particularly psychostimulants) or those with substance use problems and mental health difficulties.
The practitioner post at Crew 'leapt out at me' as an area of work I would really like to be involved in. Working at Crew has been a fantastic experience.
The staff are all friendly, approachable, down to earth but extremely professional. Crew prides itself on being a place where people can come for non-judgemental support and advice. The backbone of Crew is our volunteers and it has been a pleasure and great fun working with them!
Senior Practitioner: Terezia
Amongst other things Terezia provides support, drug counselling and auricular acupuncture. Occasionally you will also find her facilitating training.
Originally from Sweden (although she has both Dutch and Hungarian roots) Terezia has lived in Edinburgh longer than she ever planned to do, as she fell in love with the place and the people, making it her home from home.
With the continued support of Crew, she has undertaken Integrative Counselling training here in Edinburgh and has just finished her Post Graduate Counselling and Psychotherapy Training at Edinburgh University.
"Having 10 years of experience of working with drug users I feel passionately about people's right for non-biased information and their capability to make informed decisions about their own wellbeing.
I also believe that an accepting, genuine environment makes this possible and I suppose feel a sense of pride to be part of an organisation that, I believe, strives to create such an environment."
Drug Counseling Practitioner: Richard Miller
Originally from the Kingdom of Fife, Richard gained his counselling experience in Aberdeen, and after moving down to Edinburgh joined Crew as a practitioner. His previous career background is in charities, representation and working with young people.
Richard is an active Fair Trade campaigner, computer enthusiast and is generally very inoffensive.
He loves music, cooking, philosophy and claims to believe in everything. Richard greatly looks forward to continuing to work with Crew, providing support and a caring ear to his clients.
Oasis Project Worker: Laura Dey
Laura is the project worker for the Oasis project. She brings a barrow load of skills and experience in the health field and is a valuable member of the team.
She is currently studying for a diploma in counselling and works voluntarily for other organisations.
Senior Project Worker: Lisa Ferguson
Lisa joined the Crew team in May 2008. A born and bred 
Edinburgh lass, she trained as a midwife in 2004 and then went on to do a postgraduate in public health with a specific interest in sexual health. She now finds herself responsible for co-ordinating the drop in service and the work Crew does with volunteers.
She enjoys the great outdoors, cooking and travelling and is an avid elephant lover! You'll most likely meet Lisa in the Crew shop on Cockburn Street where you can pop in for some free condoms and a blether. ;o) .
Project Worker: Anastasia (Ana) Swan
Anastasia or Ana to her friends has recently joined the staff team after being on our Board. Ana says she loves Crew and the work it does and brings herself to her new post as Project Worker with much enthusiasm. She will be working along with Lisa in the shop so you can pop in and see her there.
She has worked for Amnesty International and is strongly committed to social justice issues.Reality Therapist: Nicola Fraser
Nicola has been part time with Crew for a number of years now and also works with Women's Aid in Fife. She has worked in the voluntary sector for too many years for one who looks so young.
Student on Placement: Steve Mueller
Steve joins Crew temporarily for a placement as part of his studies in social work in Erfurt (specialising in drug related matters). He is originally from Thuringia but names Vienna his feeled second home. At Crew he is amongst other things supporting the research into legal highs/ designer drugs whilst scrutinizing all parts of the organisation, especially the volunteer aspect of our work.
