11 June 2026
Marcia Mackie will tell you she's "just admin." Her manager, Bobbie Lawson, would strongly disagree.
As Service Administrator at WithYou's Dundee service, Marcia helps keep the operation running. She manages data, handles reporting, maintains the systems that recovery workers depend on, and supports teams across the organisation when they hit a technical problem. It's a role that quietly underpins everything.
"I always kind of say, just admin," she laughs. "But Bobbie gets after me for that."
Marcia came to WithYou as someone who understood, at a personal level, why the service matters. She'd watched family members face challenges with drugs and alcohol. She'd lost two relatives to overdoses. When she heard about the chance to volunteer, she didn't hesitate.
It's a passion, not just a job. There's a personal interest.
Marcia started in 2016, fitting afternoons at WithYou around a part-time job elsewhere. When an administrator post came up, she took it. She retired from her other role in 2019, but there was never any question of leaving WithYou.
Originally from Palmer, a small town just outside Anchorage in Alaska, Marcia has called Dundee home for 24 years. She came to Scotland on one of those organised tours, met and later married the bus driver, and never left.
Marcia's watched the drug and alcohol landscape in Dundee shift over the years, and values how the service has adapted alongside it.
"Dundee is an ever-changing landscape. Drugs change. Needs change. We've just tried to change with the times."
The data Marcia manages feeds directly into Scottish Government reporting, so getting it right matters.
"People here are hired for their people skills, not their data skills. But they're expected to use different data systems so my job is to help them through that."
Even in quieter moments, a cup of tea, a quick chat with someone in reception, Marcia is thinking about the people who come through the door.
If I can lift their day a little bit and make them smile, that matters.
She's particularly proud of the progress the Dundee service has made through its residential rehab pathway programme. Since it launched, more than 140 people have been supported on their recovery journey.
"I'd like to see people get into rehab when it's the right route for them. It can be a really good move forward, for the individuals, for their families, and for the community."
She's also encouraged by closer working with GPs, with staff now visiting surgeries so people can be supported in a more familiar setting. Looking ahead, she hopes to see services becoming more joined up, so that nobody slips through the gaps.
Like everyone in the drug and alcohol sector, Marcia's conscious of the funding pressures that services face. But she's clear about what keeps her coming in.
"It gives me a reason to get up in the morning. And to see people progress, to see them come back from rehab a different person, that's wonderful. It really is."
If you or someone you know needs support with drugs or alcohol, Marcia and the team in Dundee are here to help. Find out more about our free, confidential support at wearewithyou.org.uk/local-hubs/dundee
