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St Mungo’s has announced the sudden death of its CEO, Steve Douglas CBE.

The organisation made the announcement with “deep shock and sadness” after he passed away suddenly at his home on Sunday morning, 8 May. The 57 year old leaves four children and a partner.

Steve joined St Mungo’s as our Chief Executive on 1 July, 2020, and had a career spanning more than 25 years in the housing sector. He was a driving force for change within the charity and was a lead stakeholder in the formation of the Kerslake Commission designed to achieve long term benefits and policy change to support those experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping.

Steve was awarded a CBE in the 2019 Queen’s honours list for services to housing and had been committed to driving positive change within the organisation and was particularly committed to diversity and inclusion improvements. Prior to joining St Mungo’s he was Group Chief Executive of Altair, a housing and regeneration consultancy group advising housing associations as well as central, regional and local government.

Steve was also a key figure at the Housing Corporation, and was passionate about diversity in the housing sector, something he championed and challenged on.

Joanna Killian, chair of the board of trustees at St Mungo’s, said: “We are all very saddened to learn of Steve’s untimely death and our thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time. He had worked tirelessly in the housing and homelessness sector for many years and was deeply committed to St Mungo’s in the short time he had been working with us.”

Rick Henderson, CEO of Homeless Link said. 

“Steve’s death is a tragic loss for his family, St Mungo’s and for the homelessness movement. I have worked closely Steve, in particular as a member of the Kerslake Commission which he personally instigated and continued to lead.

“The Commission brought people together across sectors to capture the lessons from the pandemic for homelessness, and to set out what that meant for the future. Its achievement was in large part due to Steve’s personal determination.

“I have worked with Steve over the years – before he came to St Mungo’s and he has long been a passionate advocate for the housing and homelessness sectors. His CBE was very well deserved. Steve’s death has come far too early. I know he would have gone on to achieve even greater things. Our thoughts are with all the staff at St Mungo’s, and of course with his family.”