About Us

Durham Aged Mineworkers’ Homes Association (DAMHA) is a charity providing housing and support to retired miners and their families in County Durham. Our mission is to improve the quality of life for our residents through various housing options, such as sheltered accommodation and independent living units. We are dedicated to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion, ensuring everyone in our community receives the care and support they need.

Beyond housing, we actively engage with residents to gather feedback and enhance our services. We value the input of our community and incorporate it into our decision-making processes. We maintain strong governance practices, regularly reviewing strategies and policies to meet the needs of our residents.

Additionally, we’re involved in initiatives aimed at improving the well-being of our residents, including social activities, health and wellness programmes as well as partnerships with other organisations to provide comprehensive support.

DAMHA’s commitment to our residents is evident in our continuous efforts to adapt and improve our services. You can find out more by reading our publications below:

Established in 1898, the Association traditionally provided homes for mineworkers, but now anyone over the age of 50 can apply. We have around 1,700 homes, predominantly bungalows, on 130 sites in 80 villages. These provide retirement housing for more than 2,000 North East residents. We also have sheltered accommodation and leasehold schemes for the elderly.

Our core area of operation is the former County Durham coalfield, comprising the former districts of Chester-le-Street, Durham, Derwentside, Easington, Gateshead, Sedgefield, South Tyneside, Sunderland, and Wear Valley.

Some of our properties are over 100 years old, so each year we invest around £1 million in upgrading them, including installing new bathrooms, kitchens, and heating systems, fitting new doors and windows, and replacing roofs. We also invest in new homes, working with our partners to build high-quality, energy-efficient, modern two-bedroom bungalows. DAMHA also acts as Managing Agents for a number of small almshouse charities in the region.

Our Board

Our Board has overall responsibility for the running of Durham Aged Mineworkers’ Homes Association. In addition to the Board, we also have two sub-committees: Audit and Risk and Nominations and Remuneration. Some of the Board’s decisions are delegated to these committees. We also have a Scrutiny Panel, made up entirely of residents, the Panel is responsible for examining and scrutinising different areas of our services.

  • Anne Rowlands
    Chair

    Anne has almost 40 years’ experience in the social housing and care sectors. Now retired, Anne worked as a CEO of a housing association in the North-East, Anne has also worked in an executive role for a number of charities providing services for people with a learning disability and with mental health problems. She is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing and carries out online tutoring support for individuals seeking to obtain CIH qualifications.

  • Gillian Bramfitt
    Vice Chair and Chair of Remuneration and Nominations Committee

    Gillian currently runs a company specialising in training in the housing sector. She worked for DAMHA in a housing management role for 18 years.

  • Mark Reid
    Trustee and Chair of Audit and Risk Committee

    Mark recently retired from his role as Director of Resources at a large housing association and worked for over 20 years in social housing.

  • Louise Buckton
    Trustee

    Louise Buckton is a Construction Director with Gentoo Homes. Prior to that Louise was a New Build Director with Equans. Louise has also worked as Commercial Director of Esh Construction Ltd and Head of Commercial Assets at a large housing provider in Redcar and Cleveland. While familiar at a senior level with the issues of social housing, Louise also brings a different perspective with her professional experience in the private sector.

  • Kate Abson
    Trustee

    Kate has a tremendous amount of experience in strategic decision making at both executive and board levels, and of the particular issues around social housing development in the North-East. She is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and is responsible for leading a 2,000 home new build development and regeneration strategy in her employed role.

  • Diane Carney
    Trustee

    Diane has more than 25 years’ experience in the social housing sector, working for both local authority and housing association providers. She has worked in a range of roles covering all key services provided by social landlords including asset management, housing management, customer service and worked most recently as Executive Director of Property for a large housing association in the North East of England.

  • Nick Malyan
    Trustee

    Nick Malyan is the CEO of Redhills: Durham Miners' Hall, he comes from a community development and cultural regeneration background.

Executive Team and Staff

DAMHA employs 28 staff, and most are based at our head office in Chester-le-Street. In addition, we have people working at our sheltered housing schemes.

Whether it’s our Chief Executive or our newest apprentice, everyone plays their part in ensuring we are credible, trustworthy, and respected. We would not be able to deliver such excellent services to our residents without every single one of them. A complete overview of our staff and structure can be found here.

  • Paul Mullis
    CEO

    Paul has overall responsibility for the management of the Association and it’s effective performance.

  • Michael Wright
    Operations Director

    Michael is responsible for all housing and asset management issues including customer service and our building and planned maintenance programme. He is also the lead person for Consumer Standards.

  • Andrew Thompson
    Finance Director

    Andrew is responsible for advising on all financial matters affecting the Association, including its long-term financial strategy.