Thenue Housing has paid a warm tribute to one its board members who has retired after nine years.

Margaret Vass OBE has left Thenue following a variety of roles which included a period as vice chair.

The Association thanked Margaret and praised her “long service and dedication” to the housing association movement.

Charlie Turner, chief executive of Thenue, said: “We are very grateful to have benefited from Margaret’s commitment, experience and professionalism over the last nine years. Margaret’s contribution to our work has been invaluable to us.

“With a track record in housing such as Margaret’s, any organisation would benefit from her expertise and we feel very grateful indeed that Margaret has spent so long on our board. We wish Margaret well and thank her again for all that she has done for Thenue.”

Margaret is a well known and much-respected figure within housing - notably as a result of her time at Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Housing Association where she held a number of senior positions.

Prior to the city council/GHA housing stock transfer Margaret was depute director of housing with the city council.

For many years Margaret was also active within the Chartered Institute of Housing both in Scotland, where she was chairperson from 1983-84 and in the UK where she held the prestigious role of President from 1998-99.

Her commitment to housing was recognised in 1999 when Margaret was awarded the OBE for services to housing. Equally notably, in March 2010 she received the Robina Goodlad Award for Women Achievers in Housing.

She has undertaken a wealth of voluntary work which has included chairing her local Community Council, being a director of her local Community Development Trust and a member of her local Community Planning Forum.

She is not leaving housing behind entirely having joined the management committee of Rural Stirling Housing Association which she now chairs.

At Thenue’s recent AGM, Margaret was presented with a gift of her own choice – a copy of a striking painting given to Thenue in 2012 depicting St Thenue, mother of the founding father and patron saint of Glasgow St Mungo. The Association, of course, takes its name from St Thenue.

The original was painted by well known Eastender Janey Godley who spent many years of her life in Calton where Thenue has its registered office. The original hangs there and Margaret was officially presented with it by Thenue’s Chair Owen Stewart.

Afterwards Margaret said: “I have very much enjoyed my time with Thenue. It is a wonderful housing association doing so much good work in many communities. I feel sure it will continue to flourish.”

@ThenueHousing