Tenancy deposits chief is new One Parent Families Scotland chair

Scotland’s charity for single parents, One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS), has appointed businesswoman Jen Paice as the new chair of its board.

Paice is chief executive of not-for-profit independent tenancy deposit scheme SafeDeposits Scotland, which manages and protects £63m of deposits for tenants. She was previously chairwoman of Lombard Asset Finance’s corporate social responsibility board.

OPFS has a turnover of around £3m and employs over 165 staff, has been supporting and campaigning for single parent families for over 70 years.

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Satwat Rehman, Director of OPFS, said: “I am delighted that Jen will be chairing the OPFS Board.  She is bringing a wealth of experience from her many years in the business sector combined with an insight into the charitable sector from her time chairing a CSR Board.  She is also a single parent of two boys and understands many of the issues that single parents face as well as the difficulties of juggling work and children.

“Jennifer joins the charity at a challenging time for single parents.  We find ourselves in a perfect storm of funding cuts, austerity measures, sanctions and negative attitudes towards lone parents which are pushing ever more one parent families into poverty.  Under the strong leadership of Jen we hope to navigate our way through these difficult times and continue to support the 170,000 single parent families in Scotland.”

Jen Paice said:  “I’ve long since admired the work carried out by OPFS in representing Scotland’s single parent families and I’m delighted to be joining the board.

“I’d like to thank Ann Kelsey for her efforts as interim chair and look forward to helping the charity on its mission to ensure that more single parents have the support, contacts and confidence needed to play a full part in Scotland’s economic and social life.”