Scottish Churches Housing Agency

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The Scottish Churches Housing Agency is the national body that brings the Churches together in working to defeat homelessness.
We encourage Churches to bring a concern for homeless people to the heart of their practice of Christianity.
Local action to tackle homelessness is allied to national work to identify and remove its causes.

Chairman: Rev Maxwell Craig

Maxwell is in Rome until January 2001, looking after the Church of Scotland there. He has been Chairman of the Scottish Churches Housing Agency since May 2000. Housing was a constant concern during his career as a Church of Scotland minister. In 1976, he helped establish Hillhead (now Glasgow West) Housing Association, and was its Chairman for 12 years. He was Convener of the Committee on Church & Nation from 1984 to 1988, and is a Chaplain to the Queen in Scotland. In 1990, he became the first General Secretary of Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS), and on 'retirement' in 1998, he spent 15 months as minister at St Andrew's Church of Scotland, Jerusalem.

Co-ordinator: Alastair Cameron

Alastair was the first member of staff of the Scottish Churches Housing Agency in 1994. He trained as a community worker, and spent 5 years in Rochdale, Lancashire as a neighbourhood worker on a hard-to-let estate. Many of the people he worked with had been homeless. Since then he has worked in homelessness and related housing issues, first with Edinburgh Council for the Single Homeless, then at Wester Hailes in Edinburgh. He is active in his Quaker meeting, and serves on the Board of the Rural Housing Service, and the executive of the National Rent Deposit Forum.

Development Manager: Diane Beckett

Diane started with the Agency in June 2000. She has worked on an employment project for socially excluded young people, in business development, in a homeless persons social work team and in residential social work. She was a founder committee member of the Church of Scotland's Priority Areas Fund. As a community activist she has undertaken befriending, youth work, and development work. She is Convener of her parish Social Responsibility Committee, and has qualifications in social science, social studies and community work.

Vice-Chairman: Rev Leslie Morrison A former stockbroker, Leslie was ordained to the ministry in 1982. He was minister of churches in Essex and Blackpool before moving to Duke Street URC, Leith. He has been involved in community housing developments of church properties, and has been a financial advisor to the Council for World Mission.

Convener, Development Committee: Rev Graham Dickson Graham is minister of St. Stephen's Comely Bank Church of Scotland, Edinburgh. He is an executive member of Church of Scotland Board of Social Responsibility and Vice-Convener of its Operations Committee. He convened the study group on homelessness which reported to the General Assembly of 2000.

Convener, Friends Committee: Viv Davies Viv is a retired nurse/midwife. Apart from her commitment to Scottish Churches Housing Agency, she spends much of her time working at The Ark, a breakfast/resource cafe for the homeless and disadvantaged in Edinburgh. She is one of the managers as well as serving breakfasts. She is also Pastoral Secretary of Nicolson Square Methodist Church, Edinburgh.

Convener, Finance & Resources: Chris Alderson Chris retired in 1995 from The Royal Bank of Scotland, after 33 years in industry. He previously worked with ICI, 3M Company, and Williams & Glyn’s Bank. His business experience includes marketing, service quality and regional management.