Graham has been Rector and Lecturer of Hexham since 2004. In that time, the congregation has grown and links have been developed to support an area of regeneration and a domestic violence charity, to open a foodbank for West Northumberland, and provide 2000 children visiting the Abbey each year with tailor made activity days linked to the National Curriculum.<\/p>\n
The Abbey has recently reunited its former monastic buildings taken from it by Henry VIII, and having raised \u00c2\u00a33.2m is currently developing a new visitor centre, refectory, education rooms and meeting spaces.<\/p>\n
Before moving to Hexham, Graham was vicar of a parish in Middlesbrough which is in one of England’s 2% most deprived communities, where he chaired the neighbourhood management group and developed an innovative arts based project to divert young people from crime.<\/p>\n
Alongside his parish work, Graham currently chairs the Northeast Forestry and Woodlands Advisory Committee of the Forestry Commission, and is a Secretary of State appointee on the Northumberland National Park Authority. He has served as Area Dean while at Hexham.<\/p>\n