Tam has over 40 years experience working with and on behalf of vulnerable children and young people, including child and adult protection, youth homelessness, street-work and throughcare and aftercare. He was Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People 2009 - 2017, and his current work includes working with Child and Adult Protection Committees across the islands.

Tam has also sat on the IPA World Board since 2016.

Sarah’s background is in playwork where she has worked as a playwork trainer and practitioner for over 20 years. She recently finished her PhD entitled “Girls’ toys and ‘boys’ toys learning through play”, and is currently teaching on the Childhood Practice courses at West College Scotland.

Sarah is also the National Representative for Scotland on the World Council.

Elise is a former primary teacher, specialising in autism and attachment in the early years. Elise is a full-time PhD researcher at the University of Strathclyde, focusing on ways that play pedagogy in Scotland can support the inclusion of autistic pupils.  Elise hopes to continue to spread the message about the right to play for all children in Scotland and support the development of local, national, and international connections for promoting play.

Marguerite has delivered children’s right to play all her working life. Currently CEO of Play Scotland, Marguerite led the campaigns for a national Play Strategy, and more recently, a Statutory Duty for Play in Planning. Recently she was delighted to Chair the Children and Young People’s Participation Advisory Group for the IPA Glasgow Conference Steering Group.

Anne-Marie has previously held the role of Secretary and for 6 years was the National Representative on the IPA World Council. She works in both Out of School Care as a Manager and in Training where she delivers training on Rights from entry up to degree level, as well as a wide range of Playwork and Childcare Training Qualifications and courses. 

Stacey is a PhD student at Heriot-Watt University researching children’s outdoor play across the urban rural continuum, who also lectures at Queen Margaret University on the Education programmes and at Edinburgh University as part of the BA Childhood Practice course. Stacey still makes time to work directly with children, delivering children’s clubs and youth work.

Rachel is a programmes and operations specialist and has worked and volunteered in the children’s sector for twenty years, in areas such as adventure play, inclusion, and advocacy. Her speciality is enabling communities and organisations to grow and flourish. Her current role is leading a development and co-production project with children and young people across Scotland.

Henry started work as a full-time dad, then established a successful childcare business before becoming a regulator for local and national government. As an influential early years leader, he has been instrumental in changing Scotland’s approach to risk and adventurous play. This included reviewing the national care standards for the Scottish Government, which have gained international recognition as a radical approach framing quality from the perspective of lived experience. As an IPA Scotland board member, Henry continues to support the right to play and for this experience to be compassionate, respectful, participative, and above all fun!

John works in financial services and has a good understanding of accounts (including for charities), budgeting and cash flow. John oversaw the accounts and Chaired the Finance Group for IPAGlasgow2023.