Lindsey Smith | She/Her | Finance Director

Lindsey grew up in Dumfries and is delighted to be back working in the heart of the town. She studied accountancy in Edinburgh after a career as a trainer and manager in the catering industry.

With nearly 20 years’ experience in financial management across both commercial and charitable industries—11 of which were for third sector entities focused on the arts and creative practice—she brings a breadth of expertise and a love of spreadsheets.

Excited by the passion, dedication, and enthusiasm of The Stove team, she hopes to support the organisation’s vision and aims within the town and the wider community.

Martin O’Neill | He/Him | Artistic Director

As an artist and producer, Martin works with people to realise new projects, artworks, and spaces, employing an eclectic range of styles and disciplines, including community events, theatre, music, poetry, and installation. Martin describes his artistic practice as rooted in the values of inclusion and facilitation, collaboration, and representation. As Artistic Director of The Stove, Martin works across all of The Stove’s projects, connecting these values with everything that we do.

Katharine Wheeler | She/Her | Development Director

Katharine has a creative background spanning community and socially engaged art, helping to develop the creative placemaking work of The Stove since she joined in 2015. Originally studying at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, she recently completed an MA in Arts and Social Practice with the University of the Highlands and Islands, bringing a deeper exploration to her passion for arts and culture as part of community-led change-making.

Always interested in the boundary-crossing nature of the work we do across different sectors and within communities, Katharine works to build our partnerships and strengthen relationships to develop the way we work with others, initiate programmes of activity and collaboration, and support creative sector development and learning in creative placemaking. Katharine is also the lead for What We Do Now, a growing network of community hubs, practitioners, and partners passionate about the use of creativity by communities to shape their own futures.

Robbie Henderson MBCS | He/Him | ICT Manager

With deep family roots in rural Nithsdale and the Stewartry, Robbie has spent most of his life living and working in Dumfries and Galloway. Motivated to make a difference in his home region, he has worked with charities in various capacities since 2017.

Robbie’s work at The Stove is shaped by a combination of systems thinking and an ethical commitment to integrity, fairness, and care for people. This approach is part of everything he does, from the way he develops digital infrastructure to how he supports colleagues and helps shape organisational practice.

He leads the development and management of The Stove’s digital systems, drawing on experience in web development, digital strategy, ICT support, and cybersecurity. Robbie oversees cybersecurity across platforms, maintains ICT systems that support daily operations, fundraising, and events, and provides training that helps colleagues use digital tools with confidence. He also assists in developing the organisation’s governance, working collaboratively on policies and procedures that ensure digital and operational practices are safe, responsible, and aligned with The Stove’s values.

His journey at The Stove has been one of continual learning, growth, and the occasional challenge. Above all, he values being part of an organisation dedicated to empowering communities in the region he calls home.

Away from his desk, Robbie enjoys reading, creative writing, time in nature, travelling, music gigs, and rewatching The Wire for the umpteenth time.

Wren Winters | They/Them | WWDN Network Coordinator

Wren leads the coordination and oversees the delivery of What We Do Now (WWDN), nurturing relationships across the network and supporting member activity and projects, shared learning, and creative placemaking collaboration across Dumfries & Galloway.

Wren has a background in sustainable tourism and has also worked in public health and disability advocacy. They are passionate about grassroots creativity, rural places, and celebrating the region’s people, landscapes, and stories.

Outside The Stove, Wren spends their free time cycling, hiking, doodling mushrooms they encounter in the wild, and playing with their Saluki/Border Collie rescue among the hills of Dumfries & Galloway.

Ali Pidsley | He/Him | Creative Producer

Ali’s background is as a theatre-maker, director, and participatory arts facilitator. He also co-founded and ran Barrel Organ, a theatre company and arts charity, where he learnt all about the joys and challenges of creative producing.

Ali is always interested in his work in liveness, collaboration, and initiating a shared imaginative act, whether between audience and performer, participant and facilitator, or just between one person communicating a story and someone else listening. He is always looking for new forms of experimentation, ways to widen access to and develop the arts, and methods to empower others to see themselves as artists.

His work has seen him travel all around the UK, but he is enjoying a more settled existence in his new home in Dumfries and Galloway, where, if he isn’t at The Stove, he’s outside with his dogs.

Lili Ashton | They/Them | Creative Spaces Associate (Wild Goose Festival)

Lili moved to Dumfries in 2022 to study environmental science and sustainability, and is motivated by the belief that culture, arts, and creativity are central to confronting and solving environmental challenges.

Working as a Creative Spaces Associate on the Wild Goose Festival, Lili is excited to bring together their background in environmental science with their keen interest in printmaking, fibre arts, and storytelling to inspire a healthy and stewarding relationship between people, nature, and place.

Craig Duncan | They/Them | Creative Spaces Associate (What We Do Now)

Craig’s background is in game design and digital art. With a strong belief that anyone can be a game-maker, Craig travels across the region collaborating with local communities to explore their stories through games and digital art.

Inspired by the communities of Dumfries and Galloway, Craig’s practice explores the use of digital arts and interactive media within the community arts scene. Their work aims to improve access to technology and encourage collaboration.

Liv McDougall | She/They | Creative Spaces Associate (Print House)

Liv is an emerging visual artist, musician, and activist born and raised in Dumfries town centre. They are driven by a passion for community, justice, and making the arts more accessible.

For the past three years, they have been involved in the local arts scene and studying creative practice at the Crichton. Seeing first-hand the ways in which creativity allows for community and catharsis has led them to seek a role that enables them to use it to engage directly with communities and create positive change.