Steering Group Team
Carlene McAvoy
Carlene McAvoy is RoSPA’s Leisure Safety Manager who is currently working on the promotion and delivery of RoSPA’s water and leisure safety programme for the UK.
Carlene is the founder and secretariat to Water Safety Scotland, and co-author of Scotland’s Drowning Prevention Strategy. Carlene also co-created the Drowning and Incident Review (DIR) with SFRS, and recently published research into DIR in BMJ Injury Prevention. Carlene recently completed the World Health Organizations (WHO) Mentor VIP programme and is an Honorary fellow for the George Institute for Global Health.
Emma Dudley
Emma Dudley is Water Safety Development Manager with RoSPA.
Emma joined WSS in March 2024 as Water Safety Development Manager. In this role Emma supports Water Safety Scotland full-time and is a member of the Steering Group. Emma joins the team after completing a master’s degree in Sociology (Urban Studies) from Goldsmiths College, University of London. Through this course she took a particular interest in subject areas such as Urban green and blue spaces. Emma has also been a lifeguard for ten years and has worked at several different pools across Scotland and England. Water has always been an integral part of her life.
Stephen McCreath
Stephen McCreath is a Watch Commander and lead officer in the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service’s National Water Safety Project.
Since joining SFRS in 2002, Stephen has served in various firefighting roles and has been a dedicated member of the Swift Water Rescue Team in Glasgow for 16 years. His expertise in water safety is further demonstrated by his co-authorship of the MAIRG guidance document alongside Carlene.
Graham McCallum
Graham McCallum is Scottish Club Development Officer for RLSS UK
Graham has been involved in RLSS lifesaving for over 40 years in various capacities including assessor, instructor and competitor. He has also been a lifeguard across pools in Fife, Edinburgh and Australia. He took up the post of Scottish Club Development Officer in May, 2024. He has visited every lifesaving club across Scotland and continues to help support club’s development, listen to ideas and challenges and stives to champion water safety across Scotland. Graham is an active member of several local PAWS groups in A & B, Fife, Borders and recently took on the role of chair at Falkirk and West Lothian.
Leigh Hamilton
Leigh Hamilton, Ranger Service Manager, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority.
Leigh joined the National Park in 2010 and spent 4 years with the boat team on Loch Lomond promoting safe and responsible navigation, raising awareness of water safety and enforcing the Loch Lomond Byelaws where necessary. Leigh is a commercially endorsed advanced powerboat skipper. As Ranger Manager she currently leads a team of 5 Ranger Team Leaders, 13 permanent Rangers and a cohort of up to 50 Seasonal Rangers throughout the months April – September each year. Leigh is the water safety lead for Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, leading the project since 2019. With advice from RoSPA Leigh developed a water safety policy and created a suite of visitor risk assessments to inform where water safety signage and public rescue equipment was required. Working with James Sullivan from 2021, Leigh has been an active member of the local PAWS groups in West Dunbartonshire, Stirling and A&B.
Michael Avril
Michael Avril is Regional Water Safety Lead (Scotland) for the RNLI.
Michael Avril is the RNLI's Regional Water Safety Lead for Scotland and has worked in drowning prevention since 2003. Michael is also a past chair of the group and is a co-author of Scotland's Drowning Prevention Strategy.