In this blog, our Customer Engagement Manager Louise Darby reflects on her experience at the Tpas Member Network event, which she attended alongside Customer Voices Panel Member, Jacci.

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Tpas Member Network event in Dewsbury, alongside Jacci, one of our dedicated Customer Voices Panel Members.

Tpas is a not-for-profit organisation which supports and champions tenant involvement and empowerment in social housing. The Network event brought together tenants and engagement colleagues to share their learning and experiences.

We had an enjoyable and informative day and met with great people from around our region.

Connect Housing hosted the event at their Dewsbury office just a few hundred yards from the railway station, so it was a treat to relax and go by train!

Agenda for the day

The day included presentations from:

• Regulator for Social Housing on inspecting consumer standards, particularly the Transparency, Influence and Accountability standard.
• Stop Stigma in Social Housing Campaign Committee members.
• Connect Housing customer involvement team.

Over 30 customers and colleagues were there, representing a mix of large and small landlords from across the region. These included: Gentoo, Karbon, Vico formerly Wakefield District Homes, Connect, Manningham Housing, Rotherham Homes, Hull City Council, Leeds City Council and Equans.

Sharing stories

Throughout the event, we had the chance to connect with wonderful people from different backgrounds and communities. We sat on a table with people who live in Hull, and we shared what we were proud of and the challenges we faced.

One woman, formerly a warden at Leeds Federated, described how a creative change – removing a wall when her warm air heating system was defunct – resulted in an extra bedroom in a bungalow. That simple idea was adopted by the local authority and made a real difference for many.

Another example came from a woman who moved to the UK from Libya 8 years ago. She supported others in her community by helping them connect with their landlords and services, simply by bridging language barriers.

Her story highlights the importance of just trying to speak someone else’s language, to build trust and break down barriers in order to encourage them to.

For Jacci, it was her first time at a Tpas event – and here’s what she had to say:

“It was my first time attending the event. I was greeted with warm, friendly smiles and was offered drinks. The meeting itself was very informative, and I learned a lot from the speakers.

“But more importantly for me was hearing and learning from other people who have a role like mine as the head of a residents’ association.  I came away with some new ideas on how I can improve the help I give to my residents. I also learned more about the rights of tenants with regards to landlords and repairs.

Thank you for a great day, can’t wait for the next one.”

———————————————————————————————-

All customers and colleagues of Leeds Federated can use the services of Tpas ( Tenant participatory advisory service) you can create your own account.