Berwickshire Housing Association has elected Lorraine Tait as its new board convener, following former chair Andrew Watson’s appointment to the board of the Scottish Housing Regulator in July. Lorraine is currently trust manager of the Weir Charitable Trust, a grant funding charity that supports projects run by Scottish-based community groups and small charities. She has 22 years’ experience in housing, having worked with both Eildon Housing and Port of Leith Housing associations across a variety of posts, in finance, human resources and corporate services. During her career in housing she also gained wide-ranging experience in employability programmes, sheltered housing provision, governance, and compliance with regulation.

A charity which has supported social enterprises in Scotland over the past decade has named a new chief executive. Firstport has appointed Josiah Lockhart as its new boss, replacing the outgoing Karen McGregor. The experienced social entrepreneur was most recently chief executive of Edinburgh’s Gorgie City Farm, where he led a successful crowdfunding campaign which raised over £100,000 in less than six weeks. The campaign saved the much-loved social enterprise from closure and put it into its strongest financial position in its 40-year history. Lockhart also managed the start-up phase of the Grassmarket Community Project and helped launch Slow Food Scotland as an independent charity. He is a committee member of the Scottish Land Fund, which supports communities to acquire and manage land and land assets, and an SCVO Digital Pioneer.

The SPFL Trust has appointed its first woman as chief executive. Nicky Reid takes up the new role having served as general manager for the last two years. In doing so, she becomes the first woman appointed to a top job at the national stadium at Hampden Park. The organisation works in partnership with Scotland’s 42 professional football clubs to promote social needs of communities across the country. A new five-year strategic plan has been launched by the trust, complimenting a number of key Scottish Government national priorities.