Our Board Members

Hugh is a Chartered Accountant and after an early career in audit and financial management in the private sector and the NHS, he has worked in and around Scottish housing associations since 1995, as a financial manager and business consultant.

After 12 years as Director of Finance at Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership, Scotland’s second largest RSL, he is now a consultant advising RSLs on finance and treasury matters. He has extensive experience of long-term business planning and funding for housing associations. Previously, he chaired the Board at Dumfries and Galloway College and before that, was Chair of a specialist housing and care provider in Edinburgh.

In his spare time, Hugh worries about the fortunes of Newcastle United and Yorkshire county cricket.

Hugh joined the Board in September 2020 and was appointed Chair in September 2024.

Karen is a Chartered Accountant who qualified with Deloitte in 2002. Since then she has worked for over 20 years in the social housing sector leading internal audit and assurance teams. She is currently working as the Director of Assurance for Places for People Group, another social housing provider. She is experienced in assuring areas such as risk management, regulation, governance, health and safety compliance; information security & privacy risk; as well as having developed an excellent understanding of social housing operational issues.

Karen is married with a daughter and stepdaughter and lives in County Durham. On a weekend she can be found attempting to ice skate at her local rink in support of her youngest daughter who is a keen figure skater.

Karen joined the Board in January 2023.

Jim was involved in Commercial Finance over 40 years in the Banking sector – with the last 10 years focusing on clients who have been experiencing financial difficulties.

Jim has also dedicated over 20 years to being a Rotarian in Duns, raising almost £200,000 for many local and national causes and is actively involved with other local groups, including being a Trustee for A Heart for Duns.

Jim joined the Board in September 2016 and was elected Chair in September 2019 and stepped down in September 2024.

Carolyn has been Oasis Community Housing’s Director of Programmes since July 2022. As Director of Programmes, Carolyn oversees the homelessness charity’s resource centres, emergency accommodation, domestic abuse and employability projects that help over 1,000 people on their journey out of homelessness each year. Carolyn has 16 years’ experience in the housing sector, from frontline roles to senior executive level and has previously worked for Benwell Neighbourhood Management Initiative, Home Group and Auckland Home Solutions, a specialist supported housing provider.

In her spare time, Carolyn is an active member of the North East community, holding a number of committee and board roles including the local Parent Teacher Association (PTA), YMCA Newcastle and Newcastle’s 4th Scouting Division.

With almost 30 years’ experience working with the housing sector, John has worked across a number of organisations, from Westminster City Council, Home Group, Newcastle City Council, Your Homes Newcastle, to his current role, leading a number of housing services on behalf of South Tyneside Council.

John has ensured customers are at the heart of shaping services and with extensive knowledge of housing legislation and the delivery of new build and specialist accommodation, John is focused on driving change and increasing housing options, which support customers to live well, avoid housing crisis and find accommodation that can be sustained for as long as they choose, through meaningful and lasting partnerships.

John leads for health and wellbeing for his current organisation and is passionate about improving staff and customer wellbeing.

Jordan has 19 years of experience working in Homelessness within the Scottish Borders, working on the front line both as a case officer and team leader. As a stock transfer authority, she has an established close working relationship with the local RSLs, to support homeless or potential homeless houses to keep their accommodation or secure a new home. She has extensive knowledge on homelessness legislation and policy, and has an in-depth knowledge of the drivers for homelessness with a particular interest in people who have faced multiple disadvantages. More recently, she played a key role in the development of the Scottish Borders Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan, which supports the Scottish Government’s Ending Homelessness Together agenda and aims to reduce the incidences and impact of homelessness.

Jordan has recently taken up a role as Impact Lead with the South of Scotland Enterprise, which focuses on performance measurement.

Anneka is currently Strategy and Development Director at K&T Heating Servicing, who provide heating solutions across in the social housing industry.

Anneka has 10 years’ experience in public sector tendering and business improvement across a range of industries including asset management, compliance, fire safety, recruitment and fleet management.

Anneka’s current role includes developing initiatives to successfully transform the business in line with strategic objectives, whilst supporting a diverse customer base. Recent projects include working with the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) to develop a toolkit to improve the sector’s response to domestic abuse.

Claire is an experienced social housing professional, currently based in Haddington as a Housing Manager at East Lothian Housing Association (ELHA).  Claire’s background is in housing management and out with housing in youth and community work, particularly with involvement in projects working with vulnerable young people.  During her career in housing, Claire has gained wide ranging experience, including working in front line housing services as a Housing Officer; coordinating tenancy support services; and in developing policies and procedures.

She now leads a large and varied team providing tenancy management and support services, and is responsible for managing and reporting on the team’s performance. Claire has significant experience in providing services to customers digitally, focussing on achieving a balance of digital and traditional services.

She has been involved in the development of projects including a Housing First approach to support women with particularly complex needs who’ve experienced domestic abuse.  Claire is responsible for ELHA’s tenant participation activities and has a strong focus on tenancy sustainment and tenant involvement, viewing these as key responsibilities of all those working in social housing.”

Calum Boag joined Trust Housing Association in December 2021 as the Head of Assets and Sustainability, having previously been a Senior Manager at a large Scottish Housing and Care organisation.

He originally trained as a teacher and then a building surveyor at University before moving into the housing sector in 2010, starting at an officer grade working his way up through various management roles to his current position.

He is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Building (MCIOB) and the Association of Building Engineers (MCABE) along with being a certified practitioner of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CertCIH). His day-to-day responsibility is to head up the Assets department within Trust Housing Association focusing upon the investment, cyclical maintenance, compliance and repairs to our existing stock, ensuring they provide safe and secure homes to their customers.

After an early career in NHS based facilities management, Clair worked in a variety of local and central government roles for nearly 20 years before moving back to the private sector in 2011.  She joined Newcastle University in 2020 and is currently the IT Director responsible for providing a range of services that support the delivery of education, the advancement of research and the day-to-day running of the University.

Clair’s background centres on business change and improvement and she is experienced in leading organisational change programmes, delivering transformation projects, developing and implementing corporate strategies and policies, managing performance and improving service outcomes.

Married with two sons, a stepdaughter and a grandson, Clair enjoys walking and foreign travel and is a member of a local gym – but not necessarily because she enjoys it!

Andrea has an extensive career in supporting the “hard to reach” groups in society, with 10 years in the drug and alcohol field, and over 15 yrs in the gender based violence field: both as a practitioner and service manager. She currently manages the Scottish Borders Council’s DAAS service, and is the local Violence Against Women Coordinator, working to improve policy and practice in tackling domestic abuse, sexual violence and more broadly, the drivers for gender inequality. She has a remit for workforce development, risk management processes and ensuring victims receive a consistent and safe response.

Andrea lives in Bowden, returning there following some time in New Zealand and the merchant navy. She enjoys gardening, is a keen photographer, Munro bagger and has recently qualified as a yoga teacher. She enjoys solo travel and is keen to explore more of northern Europe in 2025 with her camera and walking boots.