Christian homelessness charity Housing Justice last week thanked the Rt Rev David Walker, Bishop of Dudley, as he stepped down after completing almost five years as Chair of the organisation.

Previously Chair of the Churches National Housing Coalition (CNHC) Bishop David was responsible for overseeing the merger of CNHC with the Catholic Housing Aid Society (CHAS) to form Housing Justice.

Housing Justice Chief Executive Alison Gelder commented, "We would like to thank David for all his work as Chair of Housing Justice and prior to that with CNHC.

"His vision and commitment to creating an ecumenical Christian housing charity has enabled Housing Justice to establish itself by building on the strengths of both CHAS and CNHC. We wish him well in the future and know that he will continue to offer us his support and prayers."

Bishop Walker commented "It has been a great honour to Chair Housing Justice these past few years, I leave an organisation that is firmly established as the churches' voice on housing and homelessness."

He continued, "As a result partly of Housing Justice's campaigns the political climate has shifted decisively in favour of building more housing. The need for more good quality housing is clear.

"The latest government figures show that there are still over 80,000 homeless families facing an unhappy Christmas in temporary accommodation as well as 500,000 families living in overcrowded housing."