Kingdom Housing Association recorded another successful year at its AGM last night with Chairman Charlie Milne praising the work of the staff who made last year such a positive one for the association.

Mr Milne said that Kingdom staff had made a positive impact on the economy of Fife and beyond and had done much to enhance the living standards of many in the area.

He said: “Whilst we have invested £14 million in completing another 213 houses and starting work on another 154, we have also delivered a range of services to assist many people to continue living in their own homes through services delivered by our support and care staff. Seven hundred and eighty people have also benefited from our Small Repairs Service.

“I am pleased to say that we are currently working with the local authorities, where we provide support and care, to negotiate increased funding so that we are again able to restore the wage levels provided for by the Scottish Living Wage and believe that the future is bright for our support and care service.”

Mr Milne also highlighted Kingdom’s work to help the unemployed find work: “Through our Fife Works programme we have also assisted 517 people into work or training and created several training places in our own organisation.

He went on to particularly welcome the newly appointed energy advice officer Michael Hui, a position which was created with funding provided by The ScottishPower Energy People Trust.

Mr Milne said: “Michael’s job will be to provide children in Fife with a better start by helping their families stay warm and assist them to spend less of their income on fuel. Michael has already started to recover monies on behalf of families and ensure they are on the best tariffs and will be looking to work with other organisations whose aims are to assist those who are currently experiencing fuel poverty.”

He added: “Kingdom has an excellent track record of collaborative working and we recognise that many of the initiatives we deliver would not be possible without support from our partners and funding from the Scottish Government, Local Authorities and a range of other agencies. These are further examples of such partnerships.”

Mr Milne, whose tenure as Chairman expires next month, paid tribute to the hard work carried out by his fellow Board members noting that “under an increasing flow of regulation they are carrying out an increasing amount of work unpaid, but do so with considerable care and dedication”.