Our Board

The Board of Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership (DGHP) is made up of a mixture of tenants and independent members from across Dumfries and Galloway.

Our Board is very active in all work undertaken by DGHP, often out and about at events ranging from the handover of new homes to presentations of money to local groups and organisations.

Our Board’s main responsibilities:

To provide leadership to DGHP and decide its strategy
To exercise control over DGHP’s affairs and make sure it meets all of its legal and other obligations
To ensure that DGHP achieves its overall purpose on behalf of tenants, other service users and the wider community

DGHP is now part of Wheatley Group, Scotland’s largest housing, care and property-management group.

We recruit new Board members annually – for more information on how to get involved, contact the Customer Service Centre on 0800 011 3447.

To find out more about the work and decisions taken by DGHP’s Board of Management, please view DGHP’s Board Papers and DGHP’s Board Meeting Minutes.

Maureen Dowden (Chair)

Appointed Chair: April 2020

Co-opted: March 2018; Appointed to DGHP Board: September 2019

Maureen was appointed as DGHP Chair in April 2020. Maureen has 35 years of housing and governance expertise and knowledge after a career that started in local government and went on to include senior positions at Glasgow Housing Association and Wheatley Group. She is focused on providing homes that people in Dumfries and Galloway are proud to live in and services that rival any in Scotland for their quality and range.

Maureen was appointed following former DGHP Chairman Bill Robertson’s decision to step down after leading on and completing DGHP’s successful partnership earlier this year with Wheatley Group.

Maureen became one of seven independent (along with three tenant) members of the DGHP Board in 2019. She was co-opted initially on to its Board of Management two years ago and was formerly Chair of DGHP’s Audit Committee.

John Henderson (Vice Chairman) - independent member

Appointed to DGHP Board: September 2018

Appointed as Vice-Chairman: February 2019 and reappointed September 2019

John Henderson joined DGHP’s Board in September 2018. John is a retired solicitor who specialised in commercial and domestic conveyancing and has a continuing interest in housing matters.

He is a native of Dumfries and went to university in Edinburgh and completed his legal training there. His interests include hill walking, golf and bridge as well as spending time with his granddaughter.

Bill Robertson - tenant member

Appointed to DGHP Board: September 2013

Appointed as Chairman: February 2019 and reappointed September 2019; stepped down as Chair April 2020

Tenant member, Bill, is from New Abbey and spent much of his career working as an engineer in central and northern Scotland. He has been involved in local housing for the past 20 years in various locations. Bill joined the Board in September 2013 having previously served on the Nithsdale DMC.

Bill has always had a keen interest in the welfare of people and he is keen to take this interest one step further with the DGHP Board. He was elected vice-chair for 2017/2018 in October 2017 before serving as Chairman from February 2019 through to April 2020.

Heather Macnaughton

Co-opted: March 2018

Appointed to DGHP Board: September 2019

Originally training as an accountant, and graduating with an MBA from Heriot Watt University in 1993, Heather moved in to the field of economic development, with a particular focus on entrepreneurship and new business creation.

She became the Director of Business Development at Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce in 2002. In 2018 Heather completed 11 years with Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association, part of the Places for People Group, as Head of Neighbourhood Regeneration where she has developed her housing and place making knowledge gaining an MSc Business for Housing and membership of the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Michael Greaves Mackintosh - tenant member

Appointed to DGHP Board: September 2017

Michael Greaves Mackintosh, from Eaglesfield, was elected as a board member in September 2017.

Michael has trained as a youth volunteer, created a radio station for young people and has a regular slot as a DJ at a local nightclub in Dumfries. He is passionate about equalities and is committed to ensuring that DGHP supports all disabilities, physical and mental, addictions and the homeless.

Michael prides himself on being able to ask brutally honest questions!

John McCraw - tenant member

Appointed to DGHP Board: September 2019

John McCraw has been a tenant of DGHP for many years. He has recently been Chair of Nithsdale District Management Committee and DGHP3.

John has the enthusiasm and passion to challenge any decisions that will affect tenants and is committed to ensuring that DGHP continues to deliver excellent services to our tenants and improves our communities.

Irene Clark - independent member

Appointed to DGHP Board: September 2019

Irene is a very experienced professional who, as well as having core financial professional qualifications, also has many years’ experience of organisational governance and change management at a senior level within high profile industries including the housing sector.

Irene has been an adviser in the housing sector for 10+ years and has extensive knowledge of governance, strategy and policy development and implementation. She hopes to be able to use her skills on the Board to ensure that tenants receive an excellent level of service and value for money.

George Thorley OBE - independent member

Appointed to DGHP Board: September 2019

George Thorley (OBE) is a highly regarded former Local Authority Chief Executive who has also been a Non Executive Director on a number of Boards including Civil Service Departmental Boards within both the Scottish and Northern Ireland governments.

He has chaired the James Hutton Institute’s Nominations Committee and has served as a member of their Audit Committee.

George also has experience in management consultancy and has been responsible for delivery of major capital investment programmes.

Fiona Burden - independent member

Appointed: March 2020

Fiona is a dual qualified (Scots/English) lawyer with over 20 years’ experience in both private practice and large financial services companies. Fiona is the Head of Legal at Tesco Bank where she leads the bank’s legal team, providing commercial and regulatory legal advice, including at Board level.

She has also previously held a senior role in the bank’s company secretariat and brings significant experience in relation to corporate governance. Prior to her current role she held commercial lawyer roles at Standard Life PLC, Sigma Capital Group PLC and Aviva PLC.