About Us
Our Team

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Cardinal Vincent Nichols

Born in Crosby, Liverpool, on 8 November 1945, Vincent Nichols studied for the priesthood at the Venerable English College in Rome from 1963 to 1970, gaining licences in philosophy and theology at the Gregorian University. He was ordained priest in Rome on 21 December 1969 for the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

He then studied an MA degree in theology at Manchester University between 1970 and 1971. In 1971 he was appointed assistant priest in St Mary’s Parish, Wigan and chaplain to the Sixth Form College and St Peter’s High School. In 1974 he studied at Loyola University in Chicago and was awarded an M.Ed. In 1975 he was appointed to St Anne’s parish in Toxteth, Liverpool with particular responsibility for education.

In January 1980 he was appointed director of the Upholland Northern Institute, where he was responsible for the in-service training of the clergy, pastoral and religious education courses. He was also a member of Archbishop’s Council with responsibility for pastoral formation and development in the diocese.

In January 1984, he was appointed general secretary of the Bishops’ Conference in England & Wales. From 1989 to 1996 he was moderator of the Steering Committee of the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland.

Mgr Vincent Nichols was appointed auxiliary bishop to Westminster, with responsibility for North London, on 24 January 1992.

In 1994 he became a member of the Finance Advisory Committee of the National Catholic Fund of the Bishops’ Conference. In 1995 he became a member of the Bishops’ Conference Committee for the Roman Colleges and in 1996 he was appointed Episcopal Liaison of the Bishops’ Conference for the National Conference of Diocesan Financial Secretaries. He has also been a member of the Joint Commission of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences and the Conference of European Churches (Protestant); vice president of the Bible Society and a member of the board of the Christian Academy for European Development at Louvain.

In 1998 Bishop Nichols was appointed chair of the Bishops’ Conference department for Catholic Education and Formation and also chair of the Catholic Education Service. He represented the European bishops at the November 1998 Synod of Bishops from Oceania and appointed by the Holy See to the Synod of Bishops for Europe in September 1999 as a special secretary.

In 2000, Bishop Nichols was appointed Archbishop of Birmingham.

In 2001 Archbishop Nichols was appointed chair of the management board of the Catholic Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults.

In 2005, he provided the commentary for the worldwide BBC coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II and the Installation of Pope Benedict XVI.

In 2008 he was appointed President of the Commission for Schools, Universities and Catechesis of the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE).

On 21 May 2009 he was installed as the 11th Archbishop of Westminster following the retirement of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor. He was elected President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales by unanimous acclamation on 30 April 2009.

He received the Pallium in Rome from Pope Benedict XVI on 29 June 2009, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul.

In 2010 he received an Honorary Doctoral Degree from Birmingham University, and in 2011 he received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Liverpool Hope University.

In 2014, he was appointed by Pope Francis to lead the work of the Church against human trafficking and modern slavery. He is President of the Santa Marta Group, which gathers together Catholic bishops, police chiefs and government officials from over 30 countries around the world in a partnership to work towards the eradication of these twin scourges.

On 22 February 2014, he was created Cardinal Priest by Pope Francis in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. He was designated the titular Church of St Alphonsus Liguori, a neo-Gothic church that is in the care of the Redemptorists. It is best known for housing the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a gift given to the Redemptorists by Pope Pius IX in 1866.

On 27 May 2015, he was installed as the first Chancellor of St Mary’s University, Twickenham.

On 8 October 2016, the Presidents of Europe’s Bishops’ Conferences, members by right of CCEE (the Council of European Episcopal Conferences), elected Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa and President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, to the role of President, and Cardinal Nichols and Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, Archbishop of Poznań and President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, to the role of Vice-Presidents of the CCEE for the five-year mandate 2016-2021.

On 23 May 2018, along with the Santa Marta Group, he received the UN Path to Peace Award for his work combatting human trafficking and modern slavery.

On 10 November 2018, the Cardinal was presented with a medal from the Republic of Poland’s Senate by Senator Anna Maria Anders at the Mass of Thanksgiving for the centenary of the Republic of Poland at Westminster Cathedral.

As Archbishop of Westminster, he is also Patron of the Bellarmine Institute.

He is patron of a number of Catholic charities including the Passage and the Cardinal Hume Centre.

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Rachel Lampard

Since 2008, Rachel has been the Team Leader of the Joint Public Issues Team, an ecumenical collaboration between the Methodist Church, the Baptist Union, the United Reformed Church and the Church of Scotland, enabling the denominations to campaign and speak out on issues of poverty, climate change and peace.

At the Methodist Conference in 2015, Rachel was elected to serve as Vice President of Conference, alongside the Reverend Roger Walton during 2016 – 2017.

Rachel is no stranger to the work of Housing Justice. In the 1980’s, she served as policy and campaign lead for the Catholic Housing Aid Society, which became Housing Justice in 2003.

Rachel’s appointment, joining Cardinal Vincent Nicholas, Archbishop of Westminster, comes at the end of the Jubilee Celebrations for the Catholic Housing Aid Society.

As part of her new role of President, Ms Lampard will be visiting the Housing Office, based at the South London Mission at Bermondsey Central Hall, this morning to meet staff and volunteers of the charity.

Speaking of her new role, Rachel Lampard, newly appointed President of Housing Justice said:

“I have seen how homelessness and poor housing damages people’s lives. Churches have long been at the forefront of responding by offering help to those affected, developing innovative solutions, and campaigning for change.

I am delighted and honoured to have been appointed as a President of Housing Justice and look forward to continuing to support their work, and the work that is done by churches, of all denominations, around the country.”

Welcoming this appointment, Housing Justice Chair, the Rt Revd James Langstaff said:

“Throughout 2016, Housing Justice has been celebrating the birthday of the Catholic Housing Aid Society, which laid roots to what Housing Justice has become. We are grateful to all those who worked so hard to enable the current organisation to become what it has.

I warmly welcome Rachel’s appointment as a President of Housing Justice because she is no stranger to championing the cause of the benefit that churches can and do make in practical action to those who are homeless or in housing need.

Inviting Rachel to take up this important role will not just maintain the link to our heritage as a charity, but also be an example of our continued commitment to working ecumenically with organisations such as the Joint Public Issues Team as well as the denominations which they represent.”

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Rt Rev’d Rob Wickham

Robert Wickham has been Bishop of Edmonton since September 2015.

Since his ordination as a Deacon, Rob has always served in the Diocese of London. He was a Curate in the Parish Church of Willesden, a Team Vicar in the Parish of Old St Pancras, with a particular responsibility for St Mary’s Somers Town, and then for nine years as Rector of St John at Hackney, latterly becoming Area Dean of Hackney.

Since ordination Rob has completed an MA in Theology, Politics and Faith Based organisations from Kings College.

Indeed, whilst Rector of Hackney, the Church of St John at Hackney was reordered so that most aspects of Hackney life could be experienced, from concerts by Coldplay, Gary Barlow and Emilie Sande, jobs fairs, credit unions, to the most used knife amnesty bin in London.

The reordering led to a reordering of its relationship with the local community, which became so needed in the aftermath of the disturbances in 2011.

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Aidan Dwan

Aidan qualified as a solicitor and worked as a lawyer in the oil and gas industry. After various operational roles he spent the largest part of his career as UK Human Resources Director in a an international oil company. During a brief career change Aidan qualified and spent three years as a primary school teacher before returning to human resource management.

Aidan has been involved in various homeless projects including as a literacy volunteer and a volunteer migrant host.

He joined the board in October 2018.

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Chrishanti Joanna Shah

Having been Broadway Homelessness & Support’s Management Accountant since January 2008, as well as a member of their Strategic Management Team, Chrishanti has directly seen and worked through the economic impact that the government’s legislative changes and priorities have had on the charity and in particular homelessness sector. Chrishanti now serves as the Director of Finance and Resources for Croydon Churches Housing Association.

As a qualified Management Accountant, she hopes to bring her broad strategic financial planning and performance management knowledge to the Housing Justice Board of Trustees as well as her nearly 10 years’ experience in the Charity sector.  Chrishanti has helped to develop successful tender’s for contracts and grants with the Greater London Authority, Commissioning bodies in London and Oxford Local Authorities, and the City of London including working with various Trust’s and Housing Associations.

She grew up in the Anglican Church and has been an active member of her Parochial Church Council for 10 years. She is currently Deputy Warden and Secretary, directly influencing how her local community gives back to society.  Chrishanti has previously produced youth performances to raise money for Charities, while encouraging and nurturing the future of our nation.   As a mother of a toddler, is now keener to help grow opportunities for young people in today’s world.

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The Most Rev’d John Davies

Bishop John was born in Newport (Mon), studied law at university and, after serving articles, was admitted as a solicitor in 1977. He left the law to enter the ministry and was ordained in 1984.

He served in the Diocese of Monmouth in a variety of rural, post-industrial and urban parishes. He was appointed Dean of Brecon, in the Diocese of Swansea & Brecon, in 2000, and during eight years in that role, oversaw significant improvements to the fabric and liturgy of the Cathedral.

He was elected as the ninth Bishop of Swansea and Brecon in 2008 and as Archbishop of Wales in 2017. He retired in 2021.

Having been the Church in Wales’s ‘lead Bishop’ for Church and Society issues, Bishop John is profoundly interested in matters of social justice and has spoken out on a range of issues, including homelessness and housing, organ donation, assisted dying and poverty. From his days in the law, where he specialised in criminal law, he retains a keen interest in issues of crime and punishment, with a particular concern about the treatment and rehabilitation of offenders, the nature of criminality and the effects of poor social and educational standards.

Having served as the Chair of Trustees for a large hospice in Newport, he also has a deep concern for the just provision of healthcare, not least for those in the final stages of life. He is a former Chair of the Ethical Investment Group of the Church in Wales, its Global Issues Group and the Wales National Committee of Christian Aid. He is currently a trustee of a number of charities.

Bishop John enjoys a wide variety of music, watching sport – especially cricket and rugby – playing golf very occasionally, cooking and walking. He is married to Jo who, having worked for a number of years as an intensive care nurse and in the organ transplant service of NHSBT, now works as an emergency nurse practitioner. They have two grown-up children both of whom currently live and work in London.

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Jane Fowler

Jane is a Chartered Accountant with experience in risk and compliance as well as resolving ethical issues. Jane has also worked in an advisory capacity with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, and the Financial Reporting Council on their Technical Advisory Group.

Jane has recently retired from accountancy to follow her dream of writing a book. She lives in London with her husband, daughter and dog Rosie.

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Sarah Howard-Jones

Sarah is a former government lawyer, with experience across central government departments over 18 years, working alongside policy development, spending and operational teams in public policy areas. Until 2019, she was legal advisor for housing policy at the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government, focusing particularly on homelessness reduction, regulation of social housing, and standards in the private rented sector.

She is training for ordained ministry at Ripon College, Cuddesdon while on placement at St James’s Piccadilly, with a view to a curacy post in London from 2021.

Sarah lives in London, owned by two children and a cat.

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Julie Cook

Julie has worked in housing & homelessness for over 30 years after graduating with a Housing Degree from Sheffield Hallam University back in the 1980’s. She started out as a front line Homelessness Officer and progressed her career working in six different councils in a variety of roles before joining Elmbridge where she was Head of Housing & Benefits from 2005 to 2018. Julie was a strong advocate for homeless people and benefit recipients within the Council and was responsible for many service improvements including the introduction of a winter night shelter and a strong local partnership to minimise the negative impact of welfare reform including Universal Credit. Julie was also Chair of Surrey Chief Housing Officers Association for three years.

Since 2018 Julie has enjoyed part time work in the charitable sector, initially with a Christian Homelessness Charity, Oasis Community Housing, where she successfully developed their Major Donor Fundraising Programme and most recently with Homeless Link where she is a Project Manager. At Homeless Link Julie has helped deliver a range of services and projects – including the Pan London Umbrella Support Project, an England wide Digital Inclusion and Homelessness Project and producing guidance for charities on working strategically with LA’s on Homelessness.

Julie lives in Surrey with her husband, son, two beloved dogs and their campervan. She is a member of her local Anglican church and is also Trustee of the UK wide Charity, Street Support Network. She said “I am delighted to be joining the Board of Housing Justice. I’m still passionate about tackling homelessness and the need for collaboration and partnership amongst all stakeholder including the faith sector”.

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Glynys Sykes

Glynys has nearly 30 years’ experience as a fundraising and communications manager, working in international aid, child development and Bible engagement. She has also worked in publishing, PR and marketing communications.

She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, past Secretary of Fundraisers in Christian Organisations, and a graduate of Jesus College, Oxford.

She is thrilled to have joined the Trustee Board of Housing Justice, and to chair the Fundraising and Comms Sub Committee.

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Suzanne Davis

Suzanne is an experienced philanthropy fundraiser having spent the early part of her career in International and European Marketing for American Express. During a career break to raise her family, she became involved in local homelessness projects, supporting the work of the Easter Team and Open House in Crawley, West Sussex. When she returned to work, she moved into the charity sector, working with philanthropic individuals and organisations supporting their local hospice. She now works as Head of Philanthropy at an international children’s charity, providing future-oriented education to disadvantaged children in the Global South.

With a qualification from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and a member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, Suzanne is keen to use her experience to continue to support the work of the homelessness sector on a national level.

She lives in Sussex with her husband, and twin boys who recently graduated from University.

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Luke O’Sullivan

Luke is a chartered accountant who brings particular expertise in housebuilding, development and property management, having carried out Finance Director and CFO roles with listed and private housebuilders and private estates. He lives in London with his family and continues to volunteer in his local Glass Door homelessness shelter.

 

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Nanou Thassinda

I am a Lived Experience Consultant at Breaking Barriers and a university student pursuing a postgraduate degree in Public Policy and Management at Birkbeck University of London.

In addition to my studies, I am an active campaigner and advocate for Dignity and Justice for Individuals who face injustice and Hostile Immigration policies with grassroots organizing to end the hostile environment.

In my role at Breaking Barriers, I contribute to strategic decision-making by providing insights shaped by my professional expertise and advocacy experience. I collaborate with all team members to enhance policies,

improve service delivery, and ensure that diverse perspectives are represented at all levels of the organization. My work spans key areas such as fundraising, recruitment, policy review, public engagement, and communications.

As part of a dedicated team of Lived Experience Consultants, I work closely with colleagues to drive meaningful change and support Breaking Barriers in its mission to create more inclusive and effective programs.

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Bonnie Williams

Chief Executive

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Nicola Evans

Director for Wales

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Martin Parkes

Director of Corporate Services

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Isabella Harriss

Programme Director, Emergency Accommodation and Migrant Homelessness

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George Butler

Programme Director, Citadel

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Joanna Whitney

Marketing & Communications Manager

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