John Ferguson
Born: April 5, 1939
Died: June 24, 2024
John Ferguson MBE, who has died aged 85, was a leading figure in the community-based housing association movement which began in the 1970s. He was honorary president and founding member of Parkhead Housing Association (PHA) and spent 50 years trying to make his own community, Parkhead in the East End of Glasgow, and Scotland a better place.
He was born in 1939 in Parkhead, where he lived all his life. Mr Ferguson was one of six children and the oldest son, becoming the "head of the family" when his father died in 1965.
His youngest brother, Gary, 69, said: "When we lost our father, I was 10 and John took over the reign. He kept me in check.”
With his wife Rita, they had a son, David, and after his national service, he proudly became a volunteer in the Army reserves.
His day job was as a bus driver at Parkhead Depot, but he was also a founding member of his local Housing Association.
The community-based housing association movement began in Glasgow. Glasgow District Council and the Scottish Office needed community-led bodies that could manage the complex rehabilitation and improvement of the tenemental housing stock.
Mr Ferguson grasped the opportunity for Parkhead and helped set it up in 1977. In 2024 they own over 1,700 homes and employ 58 staff.
Jim Strang, a former CEO of Parkhead said: "He and a few others started with nothing but ambition, clarity of thought and a broken typewriter."
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A tireless advocate for social housing, Mr Ferguson dedicated over 45 years to PHA, and served multiple terms as chair playing a pivotal role in the regeneration of the Parkhead area.
PHA was involved in difficult and new problems to improve tenements with multiple owners, and commercial premises. However, looking at Parkhead Cross today you can see it worked.
He was also involved with the local community council, fought for the improvement of housing and healthcare and was still involved in community health issues up to his death.
His unwavering commitment to services to the housing association movement earned him an MBE in 2000.
PHA CEO Aileen McGuire said: “We owe a debt of gratitude to John for his commitment to the association over his many years of service and his dedication to the Parkhead community.
“John was such a big character and such an important person in our history, he will be sorely missed.”
Mr Ferguson,served on the executive committee of Employers in Voluntary Housing (EVH) and as a board member of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA).
He attended the initial meeting and seconded the motion to form the Glasgow Federation of Community Based Housing Associations (which would become EVH) in 1978.
Mr Ferguson wanted to ensure that each housing association was offering their staff a good standard set of terms and conditions and ensure that the staff were adequately represented by a trade union.
He became a stalwart chairing the Joint Negotiating Committee for over 30 years, was fully involved at critical stages in its development – from first staff being appointed, establishment of its unique health and safety service, and expansion beyond Glasgow and West of Scotland to the whole of the country.
Part of his strength was his long experience as a trade union negotiator and activist on Strathclyde Busses. He brought all that experience and an independent and fair-minded approach to issues before the negotiating committee.
This was supplemented with his involvement until he was 70 as a Justice of the Peace sitting at the District Court in Glasgow’s John Street.
It was typical that he fought his arbitrary retiral as a JP at 70, even to the extent of a petition and campaign to the Scottish Parliament.
Mr Ferguson was a one off and it’s unlikely they’ll be anyone whose commitment will be so long and effective. He dedicated his life to public service and over 50 years a lot changed but he took it on. He could be a difficult man to lock horns with, but he never wavered from putting community interest first, over personal taste.
His son David summed him up: "I always think of him as this strong man but also a loving dad. He was a passionate family man, very dedicated and protective of his relatives. But he was also a powerful character. People who came across him liked and respected him.
"He was the kind of person that would take no nonsense. He was very honest; he would never lie. He was never unfair, judgemental, biased, or bigoted.
"He was also a man of action, determined to be active and make a difference in life."
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