Julia Fitzpatrick was a much-loved member of the Hanover Board. She sadly passed away in December 2023 – this was widely covered in the housing media.
Throughout her career, Julia long championed equality and inclusion for all. The Scottish Housing world has lost a huge influencer and innovator. 
Julia was a founding Director of Housing Options Scotland, setting up a service that helps people access housing that meets their needs. As Chief Executive of Horizon Housing Association, Julia commissioned research into making housing more accessible for people with disabilities and championed the need for aids and adaptations to be available to all to support independence.
Julia joined the Hanover Board in 2019 following the transfer of Arklet Housing Association. She had been an Arklet Board member for a couple of years. Although Julia came to join us through this route, her links to Hanover go much further back. Her father Henry, but always known as Harry Fitzpatrick, was a former member of the Hanover Board. Prior to his retirement, Harry was an accountant and finance director.
Julia was always striving to make improvements in housing. During her time as a Hanover Board member, she served as chair of the Audit, Performance and Risk Committee. Julia challenged for improvement, focused on driving Hanover to be the best it could be. Her open and approachable style highlighted her commitment to being inclusive to everyone.
When Julia passed, we knew this could not be the end of her influence on improvements within Housing. Gary Devlin, Chair of Hanover Board said; “Julia’s immense contribution to the Housing sector should be honoured and we will do that by establishing the Julia Fitzpatrick Award for Inclusion.”
Each year, as part of our annual employee Spotlight Awards, the Julia Fitzpatrick Award for Inclusion will be presented to an employee or team who demonstrates the values and principles that Julia demonstrated throughout her career.
