Oasis Community Housing has appointed three new trustees to its board, as the charity expands its services amidst rising numbers of people experiencing homelessness and increasing complexity of need.
Alex Pitcher, Natasha Gray and Tara Allen joined Oasis Community Housing’s board of trustees earlier this year. They bring expertise in risk management and regulatory compliance, accountancy and finance, and strategy and engagement, respectively.
Working across North-East England and south London, Oasis Community Housing supports almost 1,300 men, women and young people on their journeys out of homelessness every year through their crisis services, supported accommodation, Housing First and domestic abuse support.
The charity’s Chair of trustees, Nick Salisbury, said:
“We warmly welcome Alex, Natasha and Tara to the charity’s board. Their invaluable experience and geographic spread will further enrich our board’s ability to play an active role in leveraging the charity’s life-changing work, to achieve the greatest impact for people facing homelessness.
“We really appreciate and value the input of all of our trustees, who freely give their experience and expertise to help Oasis Community Housing continue working with people, who have often suffered unimaginable traumas, to reach their God-given potential.”
More about Oasis Community Housing’s new trustees
Alex Pitcher – Alex is Chief Risk Officer at StepChange Debt Charity, leading the risk management, governance, legal, data protection and regulatory compliance functions. Prior to this, Alex’s career was largely in financial services. Alex is also part of the leadership team and chair of trustees at C3 Life Church in Leeds and York.
Natasha Gray – Natasha is an experienced strategist and change leader, who, after spending the early part of her career in public transport, moved to the charity sector in 2019. She is currently the Director of Strategy & Engagement for the Church of England Pensions Board, which is a housing charity and regulated pensions provider. Outside of work, Natasha is part of the leadership team of her local Salvation Army church in East London.
Tara Allen – Tara started work as an accounting apprentice and has gone on to become a fellow of CIMA, with an extensive career in a number of board level roles within not-for-profit organisations as well as in the manufacturing and service sectors. Active in her church community in Gateshead, Tara is also a business owner, trustee and coach.
Commenting on the newly expanded board, Oasis Community Housing’s Acting Chief Executive, Sarah Lister, said, “We welcome our charity trustees, who bring new perspectives and professional expertise – as our services expand and change to meet rising homelessness and the growing need we’re seeing.
“Our board play an invaluable role in supporting and honing our delivery of trusted, best practice, trauma-informed support to as many people as we can.”
Interested in finding out more about our Board and wider team, visit our People page >