We also have a knowledgeable and generous group of advisors helping us keep on track and helping form solutions to any hurdles we encounter.
Meet the Team
Our Directors, Staff and Volunteers come from the community we’re here to serve.
Director, Technical Advisor
Donald is the owner/farmer of The Hirsel, Highland Wool’s homebase. He moved to the Highlands as a young boy from Houston (near Glasgow), and while his work has taken him all over the UK, the Highlands has always been his heart-home. He’s worked in the construction, haulage and heavy plant service industries for over 40 years. He has wide experience in all aspects of material movement and lifting, driving and operating heavy haulage.
Donald’s ability to drive or operate anything with wheels and/or a motor, and his natural inventiveness, comes in handy on a farm where DIY often saves the day. He resettled permanently on the farm in 2013, and, with his wife Donna, began exploring regenerative methods to bring the farm back into productivity after 30 years of neglect.
Donald has led the renovation of “Caroline” our Victorian era carding machine, and leads our machinery design and maintenance, and has been learning all about wool processing along the way. More about Donald’s background here.
Director, Company Manager
Before becoming a farmer at The Hirsel, California-born Donna Gillies (nee DuCarme) enjoyed a cross-disciplinary career in the arts, onstage and behind the scenes, in the USA and The Netherlands, before settling in Scotland.
She joined Donald on the farm in 2015, where all the skills learned from a wide-ranging creative career – including project development and trouble-shooting – have turned out to be useful on the farm too. When she discovered how few processing options for their Hebridean fleeces there were in Scotland, she learned how to process fleece, and came up with the idea of building a mill on the farm. After a long period of research, and meeting other shepherds and crafters willing to pitch in…Highland Wool CIC was formed in 2022. Donna is responsible for general management, fundraising, public relations, and coordinating the relationship between Highland Wool, the farm, and our community. Along the way, she lends a hand in the wool processing, and tries to keep up with farm management too. The Hirsel’s website is here: https://thehirsel.com/, and Donna’s CV can be found here.
Samantha Farmer,
Research Associate
Samantha Farmer is a textile artist, weaver, and founder of Highland Magic Fibre Arts, a Highlands-based practice centred on local wool, natural dyes, and contemporary fibre art. Working with fleece sourced directly from Highland farms, she develops small-batch yarns and creates handwoven textiles, knitted accessories, and original artworks inspired by the landscapes, plants, and agricultural traditions of the Scottish Highlands.
Her work spans the wool chain from raw fleece and fibre selection through to yarn development, weaving, dyeing, and finished products. Alongside her creative practice, Samantha is passionate about connecting people with the story behind the materials they use and exploring the cultural and economic value of regional wool production.
As a Research Associate with Highland Wool, she is developing a project examining how local fibre moves through farming, processing, making, and retail within the contemporary Scottish wool chain. Her Facebook page is here.
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