About Us:
St Andrew’s Book Festival is brought to you by Scots in London, an umbrella organisation for Scottish cultural societies, sports clubs, alumni groups, charities, churches and the Scottish military in London. The Scots in London mission is to co-ordinate our members’ events, promote Scottish heritage, culture and the arts in the London area, and to support relevant charities, as well as running events of our own.
We were founded by a dozen London-based Scottish organisations in 2016, to plan and co-ordinate events commemorating Armistice100, which also led to the publishing of the book Scots in Great War London.
Our Royal Patron
HRH The Princess Royal :
Scots in London are very proud that HRH The Princess Royal has been our Patron since 2016, when Her Royal Highness agreed to take on that role for our predecessor body, Scots In Great War London. We are honoured that Her Royal Highness is now our Royal Patron.
The Princess Royal championed our initiative to bring together Scottish organisations in London to commemorate the end of World War I, providing the foreword to our commemorative book, and speaking at its launch in June 2018 where Her Royal Highness met and encouraged all the member organisations.
At our closing event in 2019 The Princess spoke warmly of our achievements, praised the work of our member organisations’ many volunteers, and encouraged us to continue to work together: promoting Scottish culture and heritage, co-ordinating and communicating events, supporting Scottish charities in the capital, and contributing to the life of the city where we live.
Now reborn as Scots in London, we are doing just that. We are extremely grateful that Her Royal Highness has agreed to become the Royal Patron for our new venture.
Marketing and Outreach
Jennifer Rowland :
Communication and Events Coordinator
Jennifer’s background is in museums and heritage (History MA Cantab and MA Cultural Heritage Studies) where she has delivered a range of community partnership and grant funded projects. She is also currently the Chair of Essex-based charity the John Ray Trust. With experience in research, exhibitions, website-building, social media, talks programming and events planning she in enjoying supporting the Scottish diaspora in London through her work for Scots in London. An avid reader she is delighted to be working on the St Andrew’s Book Festival.
Susan Pym :
Volunteers and Schools Support
Susan hails from Dumbarton and is a proud ‘daughter of the Rock’. She is an elder at St Columba’s Church of Scotland in London and currently serves as Moderator of the Presbytery of England and The Channel Islands. Susan is also part of the team which brings the Queen’s Park Book Festival to NW6.
Marcus Railton :
Marketing Officer
Marcus Railton has extensive experience working in print, digital and multilingual broadcast media, having worked for the BBC, ITN, LBC and various independent radio and TV production houses around the UK. He has worked in entertainment, retail, internal/external communications and corporate content - creating multilingual audio and video in both Europe and the Middle East. His experience also extends to the third sector, having worked as part of the communications team of a London based Scottish charity.
Programming Team
The Festival is being expertly curated for Scots in London by Handheld Events
Jo James :
Jo James has been in the book trade for more than 30 years, firstly as a bookseller and bookshop manager, and then managing events for the bookshop chains Ottakar’s and Waterstones.
Since moving to freelance in 2010, Jo has helped to run and programme a large number of festivals, including the Times & Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival, The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, The Stratford Literary Festival, Chiswick Book Festival, the Stanfords Travel Writers Festival (part of the Destinations Show at Olympia), the Cheltenham Science Festival, Queens Park Book Festival and the Oxford Science Festival.
Lyndy Cooke :
Lyndy has worked in the literature and publishing sectors for more than 35 years, owning a chain of bookshops and being Managing Director of Hay Festival for 20 years. She is a highly experienced events producer, creator and curator for arts and cultural events.
Now working closely with organisations across the UK and worldwide such as the National Trust, British Council, Commonwealth Foundation, Queens Park Book Festival, York Festival of Ideas, Jaipur Literature Festival and Ubud Writers & Readers Festival. She is currently also working on a major research project for the Arts Council Wales and the National Museums Wales.
Scots in London Team
Revd Angus McLeod :
Convenor of Scots in London
The Reverend Angus MacLeod is the Minister at St Columba’s Church and is the convenor of Scots in London. Angus was inducted as Minister of St Columba’s, Pont Street and St Andrew’s, Newcastle in June 2012, following sixteen years of service as a chaplain in the British Army. His family roots are on the Isle of Skye and Durham, in the North East of England. He studied at the University of St Andrews before travelling and working in America, London, Milan and Romania. Prior to ministry he worked in advertising and teaching. He returned to St Andrews to study Divinity before completing his training with churches in North Carolina and Glasgow.
Paul McFarland :
Chair of Management Team
Paul’s involvement with Scots in London stems from his then role as Secretary of London Scottish rugby club, where he has volunteered for 30 years, including 24 on Board and Committee. A historian (Edinburgh University) and a sports journalist by trade,he worked in New Media from the late 1970s, he changed tack completely in 2001, starting his own sportswear business. Excited by the Scots in Great War London project, he planned the rugby club’s events, and edited the book which commemorates the work of Scottish organisations in London a century ago. Scottish by heritage through his Canadian parents, Paul is married to a Scot, with two children and four grandchildren.
David Coughtrie :
David, a Chartered Architect, born in Ayrshire, educated at Ayr Academy and Strathclyde University, worked in Scotland before moving to London, becoming a director of London Transport, Managing Director of international consultancy companies and an executive director of Eurotunnel. Combining an international career with a keen interest in Scottish affairs, he joined The Caledonian Club 40 years ago and served as Chairman and now Vice President.
He is a Past President of The Caledonian Society of London, former Trustee of ScotsCare, now a Life Governor. He was Chairman of the Commercial Education Trust for six years and appointed a Freeman of the City of London. One of the founders of Scots in Great War London and involved with Scots in London since its inception.
Shona Fleming :
Shona is the Chief Executive Officer of ScotsCare, a multi-million pound charity and one of the founding members of Scots in London. Born in Glasgow and living in South Africa for much of her childhood, she returned to her birth town at 16 and eventually began working in social services in some of the most socially deprived areas of Glasgow.
In 2002 she moved to London and began working for ScotsCare, starting as a telephone operator and progressing all the way up to become its CEO from 2016. She was also CEO of Borderline, the homelessness charity for Scots in London, from 2009 till 2023 when the charity merged with ScotsCare.
Malcolm Noble :
Born in the Scottish borders, Malcolm is a retired headmaster, an Academican at the Academy of Urbanism and a Senior Visiting Fellow at the University of Suffolk. He is the Chairman of Forces Children Scotland and serves on the Caledonian Club Event’s Committee and Library Group. He is also a member of The Caledonian Society, serving as their President in 2018-2019.
Malcolm lives in Essex, where he is also Chairman of the local Civic Society, a Trustee of the City’s Ideas Hub, and of its Arts and Culture Festival.
Hugh Pym :
Hugh is a British journalist and author and currently works for BBC News as its health editor. He started his career on BBC radio, and has previously worked for Sky News. In 2020 he received the 2020 British Journalism Review Charles Wheeler award in recognition of his coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic.
An elder of the Church of Scotland, Hugh was a founding member of Scots in Great War London, the predecessor to Scots in London, supporting the commemorations of St Columba’s Church and writing the chapter on the Church in the Scots in London ‘Scots in Great War London’ book. He is also involved in the Queen’s Park Book Festival together with his wife Susan.
