News

Former Moderator Takes Housing Action Role

Friday October 6 2017

A former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has been appointed associate convener of Scottish Churches Housing Action (SCHA).

The new role for the Very Rev Dr Russell Barr was confirmed at SCHA's annual general meeting today.

The Rev Graeme Wilson, convener of SCHA, said: “We are delighted that Russell has taken up our invitation, alongside all his other commitments. His passion has been an inspiration to all of us working on homelessness. We look forward to being part of Russell’s continued contribution to the cause of helping homeless people throughout Scotland.”

Dr Barr, minister of Cramond Church in Edinburgh, has a long-standing interest in homelessness, co-founding the charity Fresh Start and making the issue a theme of his year as Moderator in 2016-17. In his farewell address to this year's General Assembly, in the presence of the First Minister, he condemned the 'unacceptable' level of homelessness in Scotland.

He was invited by the Minister for Housing and Local Government, Kevin Stewart MSP, to join the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group, established on 5 October 2017.

Dr Barr said today: “I have a long association with Scottish Churches Housing Action, going back to the early days of Fresh Start in Edinburgh. I’m pleased to take on this more formal role. During my moderatorial year, I wasted no opportunity to raise the problems of homelessness with politicians and others. I’ll be using the connections within the Action Group to make sure that the churches’ voice is heard.”

SCHA is a joint initiative of all the major Christian denominations in Scotland, promoting the use of redundant church property for affordable housing, supporting local projects to help homeless people, and campaigning on homelessness issues.