54North Homes appoints two new board members

22^nd January 2024

54North Homes appoints two new board members

Social housing provider, 54North Homes, is delighted to appoint two new board members, Natasha Babar-Evans and Dave Richmond, who both bring a wealth of experience and skills.

Natasha is CEO at Better Connect, a non-profit organisation that leads programmes aiming to create a Yorkshire where every person is empowered to thrive in their life and work. She has previously worked for charities and social enterprises, all with the aim of supporting the growth of people and businesses across Yorkshire. Natasha is a committee member of the Employment and Skills Committee for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and a steering group member of the North Yorkshire Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector Health and Care Assembly, as well as a trustee of Trust Leeds. Her background is in law and banking, having previously worked as a banking lawyer at Walker Morris and as Regional Sales Director and Client Services Director at Lloyds Bank. 

Natasha comments: "I am absolutely delighted to have joined the board of 54North Homes and to be part of an organisation that strives to make such a positive impact on people and communities in Yorkshire."

Meanwhile, Dave Richmond is currently Chief Executive of St Leger Homes in Doncaster. He has had a forty-year career in Local Government, spending the early part of his career in social care, leading Hull City Council’s safeguarding services, before becoming Director of Housing at Rotherham and Hull Councils. Not surprising for someone with a professional background in social care, Dave sees housing services not only in asset terms but primarily in terms of the wellbeing of tenants. This customer-centric approach during his time in charge at Hull not only led to the authority being awarded the ‘Strategic Housing Service of the Year’ at the prestigious CIH UK Housing awards, but the service was also the first in the country to be awarded Exemplar Status by the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS).  

Dave comments: “I am delighted to be joining the board of 54North Homes, an organisation that puts the interests of its customers centre stage and I will be keen to play a part in making sure that 54North delivers the best possible services to its customers.’’

Steve Secker, Chair of the 54North Homes board, adds: “We are delighted to welcome Natasha and Dave and I look forward to working closely with them both over the coming months and years. Our board is made up of members from diverse backgrounds who together provide a breadth of experience and ideas to help guide and shape the organisation. I’d also like to take this opportunity to recognise the dedication and commitment of Mike Gaskell, Vice Chair of 54North Homes (and previous Chair of LYHA) and Simon Edwards who have both recently stepped down from the board having completed their maximum six-year terms. We’d like to thank them for all their hard work and wish them well in their future endeavours.”

54North Homes owns and manages nearly 4,000 homes throughout Yorkshire and is committed to building new, high-quality homes to help address the shortage of affordable homes in our region. The organisation was formed out of a merger between York Housing Association and Leeds & Yorkshire Housing Association in December 2022 and is a subsidiary of the Karbon Homes Group.

-ENDS-

For further information, please contact Georgina Thompson at 54North Homes on Tel: 07968 978510 or Email: georgina.thompson@54northhomes.co.uk