Alison Gelder, a founding member of Tooting and Balham Law Centre and its second Chair, has taken over as the outgoing Robina Rafferty departs after thirty years of service for the charity and its predecessor CHAS.
Ms. Gelder felt inspired to work alongside homeless people after working as a voluntary overnight worker in a rough sleepers’ night shelter.
She takes on her new role as Chief Executive of Housing Justice after joining the charity in 2003 as its first Director of External Affairs.
“I am delighted to have been appointed as the new Chief Executive of Housing Justice, I hope to build on the work of our first Chief Executive Robina Rafferty and develop the organisation in the years to come,” she said.“In this the 50th anniversary of our forerunner CHAS, and the 40th anniversary of Cathy Come Home the problems of homelessness and bad housing are all too common. I hope to raise the profile of this issue among policy makers, churches and the general public and help develop innovative solutions.”
The Bishop of Dudley and Chair of Housing Justice, the Rt Rev David Walker, commented: “We are delighted to appoint Alison as the new Chief Executive of Housing Justice. It will be a hard job stepping into Robina’s shoes but I am confident that Alison will be able to lead the organisation through the next stage of its development with vision, drive and enthusiasm.
“We are also delighted to appoint Judith and Angela who bring a wealth of experience to the work of Housing Justice.
“With the new senior management team in place the organisation is now well placed to build on the achievements of its first three years of existence and take our work forward.”
