Diocesan Property Manager, Ruth Beard has been promoted to Diocesan Director of Property in recognition of her work managing the housing portfolio across the Diocese; the diocesan office building, and going forward taking on the strategic management of the Glebe land portfolio.
Ruth manages Housing Support Officer, Jaine Simm and part time Property Administrator, Anna Phillips in the Clergy Housing Team as well as Carl Woollaston and Paul Coombes who job share in the Facilities Team. An additional half time post in Clergy Housing, focusing on reactive maintenance administration, will also be recruited.
Ruth said:
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my 13 years with the Diocese so far and am thrilled to have been promoted to Director of Property. I believe the Church of England is in a unique position to make a real difference in relation to the housing and environmental crises through the strategic and sustainable management of its land and property portfolios and I want our diocese to lead the way!”
The Diocesan Board of Finance owns 140 houses, of which around 100 are currently lived in (others are waiting for schemes or are in vacancy). Ruth’s team has also been helping to find housing for the new parish appointments funded by the national church for the diocesan renewal programme and is working hard to ensure our property portfolio makes a significant contribution to our ambition to be net zero Carbon by 2030.
Ruth said: “Ensuring our housing is as energy efficient as possible will make a real difference to reaching our net zero Carbon targets. We have just received a £37k grant to improve houses in Ombersley and Stourport and we hope that this will lead to additional funding. We are also looking to work in partnership with community groups to use some of our glebe land for affordable housing projects following the ‘Coming Home’ report from the Archbishop.”
Ruth joined the Parsonages Team at the diocesan office in January 2011. She had returned to work following a career break travelling in Australia before which she worked in commercial and mixed-use property management. Working alongside the previous Diocesan Surveyor she gradually gained experience working in the Church of England and is currently working towards becoming an Associate Member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
“The Clergy Housing Team aim to provide safe, secure and comfortable housing to enable our ministers to carry out their work as effectively as possible. The additional administrative resource will allow us to enhance the service we provide to all those in diocesan houses and ensure that clergy wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do,” she said.
Diocesan Secretary, Andy Todd, said:
“We know how important good housing provision is as a contributing factor to clergy wellbeing, and also how strongly many feel that we should be leading the way in terms of sustainability. We can’t do everything, but this promotion is a mark of Ruth’s - and our – commitment to use our resources as best we can.”
Ruth and her team are always happy to help with any queries around housing, especially when parishes are in vacancy. They are the first point of contact for repairs and maintenance and when curates are appointed, they can chat through the process during what can be quite an anxious time. They can also help with any queries about the different pieces of land owned by the Diocese.
