Sheila Duffy (Education Tripos, 1980) is Chief Executive at Ash Scotland, a charity working to bring about a healthier Scotland, free from the harms of tobacco and related products.
 

I joined Robinson in 1980 as part of the first undergraduate intake, at a time when the College was forming its character. It was a warm welcome and an easy introduction to life at Cambridge. Our newly built en-suite bedrooms (designed to attract conferences) were the envy of friends in other Colleges.

For two years I read through English literature from the year 1350 to the present day and absorbed a range of critical analyses. The University Library was a perfect place for focused work and tea breaks. In those first years I learned as much from late night conversations with friends about the unexpected beauty of mathematical equations, politics, beliefs, music, art, and the outer frontiers of theoretical physics - without the calculations. It was widely educational as universities should be.

I combined English Literature with Education in Part II, graduating a year after my cohort with a teaching certificate. I decided not to go straight into teaching but took a gap year, during which I travelled and did voluntary placements in Iona and in France. I then joined a small corporate video company and from there moved into broadcast television, working as a researcher/scriptwriter for four years on Channel 4 schools programmes and travelled Europe researching and filming two European schools geography series.

I changed career direction completely when moving back to Scotland. Broadcast TV was fun and intense but moving to short term contracts. I was offered a two-year post shared by the national public health agency and the health charity ASH Scotland and have worked with ASH Scotland in various roles since then, becoming Chief Executive through open recruitment in 2008.

Leading a small charity is demanding and rewarding work. ASH Scotland was founded in 1973 by RCPE to challenge tobacco industry misinformation, because the health harms of tobacco known by doctors since the 1950s were not reaching public awareness. Key figures like Professor Sir John Crofton who pioneered the multi-drug treatment for TB drove the agenda and he remained involved and inspirational when I joined the organisation.

My work is so varied. Over the past month I have finalised contract negotiations for a new office lease, presented at and co-chaired sessions at the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin, supported a member of staff on long term sickness absence and been interviewed for two documentaries and one newspaper article. In the coming month I will coordinate discussions with Board and staff about our future strategic directions, work with colleagues to assemble a major funding application, and plan a cross-sectoral learning event on how best to protect the next generation from health-harming, addictive recreational products.

ASH Scotland’s purpose is unchanged but like all good narratives, it is re-imagined for the needs and challenges of the day. 

My time at Robinson gave me lasting friendships, a breadth of experience and trained me to think clearly. I’m proud that the work I do helps save lives and secure a better future for Scotland’s communities.

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