About Peter Minshall

Peter Minshall - short biography

Peter Minshall (son of Merlin Theodore Minshall ) was born in 1956 into a military family and was educated in England, Scotland and Australia. He started out in the Royal Marines and won the coveted Green Beret but following injury was invalided from the Service. To recover from his injuries, he worked in New Zealand and Australia as a roustabout, kitchen porter and forestry labourer before taking up a Commission in the Royal Australian Navy, where he served at sea for eleven years mainly on operations conducted in the Far East. He gained a full bridge watch-keeping certificate and qualified as an assistant principal warfare officer before completing the Commanding Officers designate course. He was the Executive Officer of a fast patrol boat during two cyclones off the northern coast of Queensland. He served for a period as Flag Lieutenant to the Admiral Commanding HM Australian Fleet in Shanghai and has a Diploma of Maritime Studies. On return to Scotland he spent twenty years working mainly in the voluntary sector, starting off as the honorary publicity officer for a national military charity. During this time he was for general manager and then managing director of a teleworking centre in Argyll before spending five years in Glasgow as a project manager for a military institution where he was responsible for the creation of a security centre, which remains its Scottish headquarters today. He then joined a children's cancer charity in Glasgow and worked as their fundraising manager for the west of Scotland for three years before joining Bobath Scotland, a children's cerebral palsy charity, where he was promoted to Chief Executive working at Clydebank. During this time he lived on a small yacht at Bowling and weekly commuted home to Argyll. He then took up the post of Chief Executive for the Argyll council for voluntary organisations and worked for three years introducing and planning the need for cross sector working and integration. Working in areas of regeneration he developed a keen interest in the culture of community development. As a consequence, he became a full time post graduate MA student at RSAMD in 2007 undertaking the new Arts in Social Contexts degree. His study has allowed him to define a more specific interest in strategic cultural research in community development and planning and the potential arts and culture can play in this field. He is now set on pursuing opportunities for a funded PhD studentship in practical applied research, for it is the area of policy connected with culture and regeneration in Scotland that interests him most. Peter Minshall is a recipient of the Australian Defence Medal, is married and has two teenage sons. He is the author of the novel Whispering Children published in 2006.

Peter Minshall - in brief

Peter Minshall ; Dip.Mtme.Stds (FBWC)., MInst.Fr., s of Lt. Cdr. Merlin Theodore Minshall, MA, (Oxon.), ARIBA, RNVR (autobiography Guilt-edged 1975) (d 1987); Career RM (Green Beret) 1973 (invalided), Gen list Officer RAN (Full Bridge Watch-keeping Certificate) 1977 (some time Flag Lt to FOCAF inc Shanghai); member the Institute of Fundraising 1990; general manager Argyll Community Telematics Ltd 1991, managing director ACT II Ltd 1992, Hon Publicity Officer SSAFA (Argyll & Bute) 1993, Founder and first secretary The Mid Argyll Services Association 1993, Scottish Project Development Manager The Corps of Commissionaires (Glasgow) 1995, secretary The Royal Naval Club Argyll 1995, Director Broadscape Productions (Scotland) Ltd 1996, Trustee & Regional Member of Council SSAFA Forces Help (Western Scotland) 1997, Fundraising Manager Cancer & Leukaemia In Childhood Glasgow & West of Scotland 2000, Chief Executive Officer Bobath Scotland (Cerebral Palsy) 2003, Chief Executive Officer Council for Voluntary Services Argyll 2004; Chairman Tarbert Academy (School Board) Parent Council, Vice Chairman South Knapdale Community Council, Vice Commodore Tarbert Loch Fyne Yacht Club, Director Volunteer Centre Argyll & Bute, Director Argyll & Bute Citizens Advice Bureau, Kirk Elder Parish of Kilberry & Tarbert, Member Incorporation of Tailors (Glasgow Trades House), Post Graduate MA Student RSAMD 2007; - Recreations: Planting Oak Trees, Conservation Land Management, Venetian Cooking, Sailing (Yacht owner - member Royal Highland Yacht Club) Yachtmaster (RYA), Musical Film Making - Published Author Whispering Children 2006.