New chair for Age Scotland
Stuart Purdy has been appointed as the new chair of Age Scotland.
Stuart Purdy takes over from Prof Marion McMurdo who has been Interim Chair since George Foulkes’ term ended. He joins Age Scotland at an important time and comes with a wealth of experience in the charity sector and senior corporate roles.
Stuart became a Trustee of Age UK in March 2018, a role he steps away from to take on the Chair role at Age Scotland. He has recently completed six years at the charity Police Care where he was the Vice-Chair and is a former Chair of the Scottish Police Pension Board.
During his career, Stuart served as CEO the Hibernian Group in Ireland as well as Aviva India where he also served on the board of Dabur, the Indian multinational. While Product and Investment Director of Aviva Europe, he chaired Aviva Investment Management Europe and Aviva Reinsurance.
His last Executive role was as CEO of RSA's Asia and Middle East Region and Chair of RSA China. While in India, he led the establishment of a partnership with Arpana Trust to set up the Aviva Arpana Balvatika School in the slum resettlement area of Molarbund near Delhi which has, over the last fifteen years, supported the education of more than 6,000 younger children. In other roles, Stuart sits on the Board of Assurant Europe and is Chair of two mutuals, British Friendly and the Beverley Building Society as well as being a Council member at the Medical Protection Society.
Brian Sloan, chief executive at Age Scotland, said:
“We’re delighted to have someone of the calibre of Stuart Purdy as our chair of trustees. We are hugely grateful to Marion for her work in this important role and very pleased that she remains on the charity board. Stuart joins Age Scotland at an important time and comes with a great wealth of experience in the charity sector. There are some really big issues facing older people over the coming months and years such as the rising cost of living, pensioner poverty, digital exclusion and loneliness and isolation.
"This is a very busy time for the charity where we are embarking on many new initiatives, and I look forward to working with Stuart to ensure we increase and enhance our services to older people in Scotland.
"Stuart’s wealth of experience and expertise will be of huge benefit as we try to bring about the changes that are needed to enable older people in Scotland to thrive and love later life.”
Speaking of his appointment Stuart Purdy, said:
“I have long admired Age Scotland and the work it does to support and empower older people in Scotland. I am delighted to be joining the charity as chair at such an exciting time as their services and offerings for older people grow. The impact of this organisation has been significant and I look forward to working closely with the chief executive Brian Sloan, staff and the trustees to achieve even more.
"As the past couple of years has shown us, there has never been a more important time to speak up, support and be there for older people. I can’t wait to get started and play my part in supporting Age Scotland to flourish."
