A day in the life of a Housing Officer
Sarah Thomas is a Housing Office at Regenda Homes working with our communities on Merseyside. Based on the frontline, Sarah plays a vital role in ensuring that residents are happy and so as part of Community Impact Week, we decided ask Sarah to share a little bit more about her day.
“I started my role with Regenda just a little over four months ago and no two days are ever the same. Our communities are very diverse and so I work with residents from a wide range of backgrounds and face a variety of challenges.
“The Lakes, Birkenhead is one of the schemes that I work closely with and it is suffering from a number of different issues, including fly tipping, drug and alcohol misuse, and ASB.
“Due to unavoidable circumstances, The Lakes has also had less attention than it should have and this has had a huge impact on not only the residents but the scheme in general, which is looking a little unloved.
“As part of my role I wanted to try and engage residents, let them know that I am here to make a difference, and demonstrate how Regenda is dedicated to improving the scheme. I decided that the best way to do this would be to organise a Residents Involvement Day.
“Five weeks planning later, the day had arrived and I was both excited and nervous at how it would pan out.
“Due to the diverse needs of some of the residents at the scheme it was vital I invited specialist external agencies to give advice and support, so we partnered up with Wirral Council, Merseyside Police. Home Start Wirral, Wirral Change and Involve North West.
“To tackle issues around waste disposal, we provided all residents with a new kitchen bin, bin liners and some cleaning products. A caged van was also on hand to take larger items to the skip.
“We also provided lunch for residents to try and encourage them to spend a bit of time engaging with us.
“In the build up to the event I had many sleepless nights, worrying if residents would engage or if all the external agencies would turn up. But I really shouldn’t have worried at all. There was a great turnout and it was fantastic to see residents coming out to find out more.
“The purpose of the day was to lead by example and show that Regenda cares about the scheme and wants to make The Lakes a desirable place to live for all residents. By bringing together teams from across the group, including Housing officers, Tenancy Enforcement, Health and Safety, Financial Inclusion and M&Y, we were able to demonstrate our commitment to the residents.
“I also have say a big thanks to Neil McEwan, Regenda’s Caretaker for Merseyside, and the team from BNENC who spent around five hours clearning, litter picking, gardening and jet washing all the outside areas. It had made a huge difference to The Lakes.
“This has to be the most rewarding day of my career yet, giving back to our community and showing our residents that Regenda Homes wants to make a change. I am hopeful this will inspire them to do the same.
