Long-standing CHAP charity trustee retires
After more than two decades of dedicated service, a local advice charity is saying a fond farewell to one of its longest-serving Trustees who has recently stepped down from their role on the board.
Jim McGeehan has been a valued member of Community Housing Advocacy Project's (CHAP) Board of Trustees for over 20 years, playing a crucial role in the organisation's development.
He served as Chair for many of those years, guiding the charity through significant periods of change and growth with a steady hand and unwavering commitment.
CHAP provide free support services for housing, welfare and debt issues across Ayrshire. Charity operates from Ardrossan and also has community outreach services in North Ayrshire (Dreghorn, Irvine, Kilwinning and Beith), East Ayrshire (Kilmarnock) and South Ayrshire (Ayr and Girvan).
In his parting message, Jim said: "It has been a tremendous honour and privilege to serve on the board. During this time, I have been continually inspired by the mission of CHAP, the dedication of its staff, and the impact we have had on the Ayrshire community."
On a more personal note to board members, he added: "Thank you for your support. I will miss your camaraderie and the good times we have had. It has been a blast. Thank you all!'.
Current Chair, Ray Chaney, commented: "That phrase people often use - 'He lights up the room' -absolutely applies to Jim. His care for staff, his concern for fairness, and his positivity made him truly one of a kind. He'll be sorely missed by us all at future board meetings."
Trustee Marjorie added: "It's an understatement to say that Jim did more than his fair share over the years and it won't be quite the same without his resolute positivity, wit and cheeky grin!"
Another long-standing trustee, Jim Munro, said: "It has been an absolute privilege serving on the board with Jim. He has been a fantastic Board Member, demonstrating wisdom, great people skills and business insight. On a personal level, I will miss his funny anecdotes - many of which will live long in my memory!".
Alasdair, who joined the CHAP Board last year, also commented: "Jim leaves us with big shoes to fill. From everything I've learned, he's been a huge influence and a great leader. CHAP feels like a family - and it's very clear that Jim helped shape that."
Jim joined the board in 2003 and his commitment to CHAP has always gone hand-in-hand with his unique character and interesting life experiences – such as appearing in a Hollywood blockbuster. In a non-speaking role in the 2006 movie The Da Vinci Code, Jim shares a scene at Rosslyn Chapel alongside Hollywood actors Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou.
Referring to this now legendary CHAP anecdote, fellow Trustee Gordon said: "Not many people get to say they've been on a board with a film star! But Jim brought so much more. A true gentleman who always had time for, and cared for, everyone."
Jim may have enjoyed a unique moment of on-screen fame, but his colleagues know that his true star quality came from his values, his leadership, and his kindness.
CEO Debbie Alexander sumed up Jim's contribution: "Jim believed in CHAP's purpose from the very beginning. There's no doubt that his expertise, encouragement, and belief in others helped get us to where we are today.
"We're all incredibly thankful to Jim for his selfless dedication to the organisation and he'll always be welcome to drop in for a cuppa and a chat if he ever gets bored!"
All the staff and Board at CHAP would like to give their heartfelt thanks to Jim for his long-standing dedication and wish him all the very best for the future.
To access CHAP services, call Freephone 030 0002 0002 or visit here.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Gas guzzlers making comeback amid Trump's push to exile EVs
American gas-powered vehicles, including the country's iconic pickup trucks, will not vanish forever as drivers have turned their backs on EVs. The surge in gas guzzlers is due to Donald Trump's push to exile EVs so the nation's auto industry can thrive - especially in Detroit, the 'car capital' of the world. US automakers are going back to their roots after switching their focus to electric vehicles that first became popular in 2010, and gained more notice in recent years. Although EVs are meant to be better for the planet, car manufacturers have had to use more resources to keep up with the fuel-efficient standards. Ford, a top US car brand based out of Detroit, is already gearing up for the shift and changing its lineup by adding more commercial vehicles and large SUVs and taking out some EVs. 'This is a multibillion-dollar opportunity over the next couple of years,' Jim Farley, the Chief Executive of Ford Motors, said in a call with analysts last week. Trump's car policy changes came after he announced a 25 percent tariff on imported cars that came into effect in April. Most electric cars sold in the US are already built domestically, meaning they won't be affected by the tariff. Still, there are costs associated with EVs that companies have to front. Because of the push to move back to gas cars, the auto industry is looking up because the fees that come with EVs will start to lower. With EVs, the industry has to pay regulatory credits and fuel-economy rule-violation fines. Ford, GM and Stellantis - a Dutch automaker - have shelled out about $10 billion on regulatory credits and fuel-economy rule-violation fines since 2022, according to The Wall Street Journal. Although General Motors has hoped to get rid of internal combustion engines by 2035, the company has since changed its tune and told its investors there are benefits to keeping gas cars in the lineup. During a recent call, Stellantis, who owns car companies like Jeep and Toyota, highlighted how Trump's Big Beautiful Bill allows them to add more gas-powered vehicles to the mix on dealership lots. 'This will mean to us a lot of additional profit,' Antonio Filosa, the CEO of Stellantis, who started the position in June, said. In a July 29 memo reviewed by WSJ, Stellantis wrote that they would prefer to satisfy its customers demands over anything. 'In these uncertain times of heavy competition and tariffs, there are auto workers all over the world who would happily trade their uncertainty for our customer demand and company commitment,' the company stated. In recent months, Stellantis, which also owns Ram, has been dealing with part shortages. Just last week, the automaker had to add shifts to a factory in Michigan in a bid to speed up production for its famed Ram 1500 trucks. Although the set back was not specifically related to the regulatory charges, Stellantis will thrive from the surge in gas cars by not having to pay millions for fines and fuel-economy rule violations. In order to see how the new trend will affect the company, Stellantis plans to keep an eye on the production conflict at the Ram Michigan factory regularly. Companies aren't the only ones excited about the change, as dealerships are also on board. 'Americans do like buying giant vehicles,' Adam Lee, chairman of Maine-based Lee Auto Malls, told the outlet. 'They're going to see how many more giant SUVs they can pump out, because they sell a lot of them and make a lot of money on them.' Despite being excited, Lee said he hopes some EVs will still remain. 'Otherwise, we're going to find out we're the only country in the world not embracing fuel-efficient vehicles and EVs,' he said. With the change, several big brands have back-pedaled with their EV plans as they anticipate the shift. Mary Barra, the CEO of GM, originally planned to make the company fully EV in 10 years, but now she is mulling the idea that gas-powered cars could come back into play. With that, her company continues to roll out EV cars, as she thinks the change will actually give GM a chance to sell more of those vehicles. 'It also gives us the opportunity to sell EV vehicles,' Barra stated while on a recent earnings call. 'Excuse me, ICE vehicles, for longer and appreciate the profitability of those vehicles.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
American icon whose popularity has surged under Trump as drivers shun EVs
American gas-powered vehicles, including the country's iconic pickup trucks, will not vanish forever as drivers have turned their backs on EVs. The surge in gas guzzlers is due to Donald Trump's push to exile EVs so the nation's auto industry can thrive - especially in Detroit, the 'car capital' of the world. US automakers are going back to their roots after switching their focus to electric vehicles that first became popular in 2010, and gained more notice in recent years. Although EVs are meant to be better for the planet, car manufacturers have had to use more resources to keep up with the fuel-efficient standards. Ford, a top US car brand based out of Detroit, is already gearing up for the shift and changing its lineup by adding more commercial vehicles and large SUVs and taking out some EVs. 'This is a multibillion-dollar opportunity over the next couple of years,' Jim Farley, the Chief Executive of Ford Motors, said in a call with analysts last week. Trump's car policy changes came after he announced a 25 percent tariff on imported cars that came into effect in April. Most electric cars sold in the US are already built domestically, meaning they won't be affected by the tariff. Still, there are costs associated with EVs that companies have to front. Because of the push to move back to gas cars, the auto industry is looking up because the fees that come with EVs will start to lower. With EVs, the industry has to pay regulatory credits and fuel-economy rule-violation fines. Ford, GM and Stellantis - a Dutch automaker - have shelled out about $10 billion on regulatory credits and fuel-economy rule-violation fines since 2022, according to The Wall Street Journal. Although General Motors has hoped to get rid of internal combustion engines by 2035, the company has since changed its tune and told its investors there are benefits to keeping gas cars in the lineup. During a recent call, Stellantis, who owns car companies like Jeep and Toyota, highlighted how Trump's Big Beautiful Bill allows them to add more gas-powered vehicles to the mix on dealership lots. 'This will mean to us a lot of additional profit,' Antonio Filosa, the CEO of Stellantis, who started the position in June, said. In a July 29 memo reviewed by WSJ, Stellantis wrote that they would prefer to satisfy its customers demands over anything. 'In these uncertain times of heavy competition and tariffs, there are auto workers all over the world who would happily trade their uncertainty for our customer demand and company commitment,' the company stated. In recent months, Stellantis, which also owns Ram, has been dealing with part shortages. Just last week, the automaker had to add shifts to a factory in Michigan in a bid to speed up production for its famed Ram 1500 trucks. Although the set back was not specifically related to the regulatory charges, Stellantis will thrive from the surge in gas cars by not having to pay millions for fines and fuel-economy rule violations. In order to see how the new trend will affect the company, Stellantis plans to keep an eye on the production conflict at the Ram Michigan factory regularly. Companies aren't the only ones excited about the change, as dealerships are also on board. 'Americans do like buying giant vehicles,' Adam Lee, chairman of Maine-based Lee Auto Malls, told the outlet. 'They're going to see how many more giant SUVs they can pump out, because they sell a lot of them and make a lot of money on them.' Despite being excited, Lee said he hopes some EVs will still remain. 'Otherwise, we're going to find out we're the only country in the world not embracing fuel-efficient vehicles and EVs,' he said. With the change, several big brands have back-pedaled with their EV plans as they anticipate the shift. Mary Barra, the CEO of GM, originally planned to make the company fully EV in 10 years, but now she is mulling the idea that gas-powered cars could come back into play. With that, her company continues to roll out EV cars, as she thinks the change will actually give GM a chance to sell more of those vehicles. 'It also gives us the opportunity to sell EV vehicles,' Barra stated while on a recent earnings call.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Daily Mail
Jim Chalmers refuses to rule out drastic change for property owners - what you need to know
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has left the door open to reforming tax breaks for investor landlords after trade unions called for a restriction on negative gearing. ACTU secretary Sally McManus, a participant in the government's Economic Reform Roundtable, has called for negative gearing and the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount to be restricted to one investment property. Under her proposal, arrangements for existing investors would be grandfathered for five years before new restrictions were introduced. 'You can have as many investment properties as you want but in terms of the tax benefit, limit that to one,' she told ABC Insiders on Sunday. 'Unless we change it, working people can't live where they work, they can't live where they grew up, and it is causing an enormous amount of pressure for people.' Chalmers on Wednesday declined to rule out restricting negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount, despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ruling out changes in Opposition after Labor had lost the 2019 election. 'What I've tried to do, and not just in relation to the ACTU and others who've made these suggestions, is I don't want to get in the habit of knocking off ideas before we get in the room,' he told reporters in Canberra. 'I want people to feel like their contributions are valued because they are. 'Firstly, when it comes to those areas, the government hasn't changed its policies or its positions on those areas.' Ms McManus rebuffed a suggestion reforming negative gearing and the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount would amount to a broken promise, given Albanese won the 2022 election by scrapping his Labor predecessor's policies. 'I just say that we've got to bite the bullet, like, otherwise we're just saying "too bad young people, you're not going to be able to ever own a home, forget even thinking about it",' she said. 'Since 2019, the problem's just got worse, it's going to continue to get worse unless the government's brave enough to do something about it. 'We are just abandoning those generations and we think that's fundamentally wrong.' Australia's median capital city house price of $1.045million is so expensive that someone with a 20 per cent mortgage deposit would now have to earn $161,000 a year just to get a mortgage. That is significantly more than the average, full-time salary of $102,742, which means only high-income earners or a dual-income couple can afford a house in a big city. Labor under former leader Bill Shorten lost the 2016 and 2019 elections with a plan to restrict negative gearing to just future purchases of brand new properties and halve the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount to 25 per cent. Since September 1999, an investor who made a $100,000 capital gain on a property would only have to add $50,000 to their taxable income for that financial year. The Greens have a similar position to the ACTU, in that they want negative gearing and the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount restricted to one investment property. Since July 2024, the federal government and the states have had a plan to build 1.2million homes over five years, hoping that will boost housing supply and address affordability issues. Real estate data group Cotality, however, noted Australia hadn't built more than a million homes over a similar time frame since the five years to 2019. Cotality Australia's head of research Eliza Owen said that period coincided with quality issues in new apartments, especially in Sydney. 'While a lot of new dwellings were completed, this did not necessarily lead to good housing outcomes - capital growth outcomes for investors have generally been very poor for 2010s apartments and defects were so rife that some new dwellings could not even be lived in,' she said. She added that building companies would be unlikely to be able to build more homes, even with government targets. 'While state and local governments focus on approvals and improving the feasibility of new projects, building companies continue to be stretched thin across an already swollen pipeline and reduced margins,' she said.
