Highland RFCA Northern Area Committee Member Carolyn Caddick (pictured) has been appointed as the new ACCT (Army Cadet Charitable Trust) Scotland President.
Carolyn, who is also the Honorary Colonel of 1st Battalion The Highlanders Army Cadet Force (ACF), takes over from Highland RFCA Chief Executive Brigadier (Retired) Mark Dodson. Brigadier Dodson had been in the role for the past four and a half years, and was thanked by ACCT Scotland for his service.
Carolyn grew up in Aviemore and, after a gap year where she taught skating and skiing, she studied geography at Birmingham University, where she joined the UOTC. She was subsequently awarded an Army University Bursary and commissioned into the Territorial Army in 1980.
The following year she joined the Regular Army and served in the UK, Germany and Belize. She served in several roles and her final posting was as the senior education officer at the Army Apprentices College at Arborfield. While serving, she gained an MEd in Educational Technology and an MSc in HR Management.
Carolyn retired from the Army in 1999 and moved to Inverness with her young family. She then worked for Johnson and Johnson as a Global HR/OD leader for 17 years.
She was elected to the Highland Council in 2011 where she served as the Armed Forces and Veterans Champion and established the Armed Forces (AF) Covenant Forum, resulting in the Council signing the Armed Forces Covenant and achieving Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Gold Award status in 2021.
She represented Inverness South Ward and served as Deputy Provost and Deputy Inverness City Leader. She stood down from the Council in May 2022.
Carolyn has also served in several other senior board roles including Deputy Convener of the Cairngorm National Park Authority, Johnson & Johnson UK Pension Trustee, Inverness Airport Business Park Board, Highlanders Museum Board, Inverness College UHI Board, Highland Opportunity Investments Ltd Board and the Northern Meeting Piping Trust Committee.
Carolyn was appointed as Honorary Colonel 1st Battalion The Highlanders ACF in 2013 and takes every opportunity to promote and advocate on behalf of cadets. Carolyn was recently appointed Chair of the Scotland Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committee.
She is married to David, and they have two sons, both of whom were Army Cadets. Angus was the UK Champion Cadet in 2013 and is now a Captain in the Parachute Regiment, whilst Rory, who attended Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College, is now a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers Reserve. Carolyn is still a keen skier and hill walker.
