Tenant involvement celebrated at national TPAS awards

The winners of the 2010 Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) awards have been unveiled.

The awards evening was part of TPAS’s annual conference and AGM held at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole and recognised the efforts of tenants’ and housing associations’ work to improve people’s lives and communities.

Liverpool Mutual Homes won the Best Practice in the Community award for its innovative project that sees offenders working full-time in the community to repay their debt. Supervised teams completed 3,000 hours of work between April and September 2009, removing 160 tonnes of debris and reducing reported ant-social behaviour by 50 per cent.

West Mercia Housing Group’s Supported Housing for Young People project helps young people in Herefordshire who are experiencing difficulties living independently. The project has helped more than 3,000 people avoid homelessness, death, prison and debt and won the Best Practice in Supporting People Award.

Homes for Haringey won the Best Practice in Youth Involvement for its young advisors project which provides a valuable perspective for young people on service delivery and strategic proposals being considered by the housing association.

They helped to shape their first ever youth strategy which sets out a range of ways Homes for Haringey to improve its engagement with young people.

The Tenant Liaison Officer of the Year (landlord) award was won by Jacqueline Mason of Brent Housing Partnership for her hard work and commitment to helping residents get back on their feet and lead a fulfilling life.

The penultimate award of the night was the Tenant Liaison Officer of the Year (contractor), which went to Sean Rieder of Morrison for his support of a wide variety of local residents and him delivering numerous community projects that have provided real benefits to local people and their communities.

The final award of Tenant of the Year was won by Bernard Cameron of Eastend Homes. He has lived on the British Street Estate since 1969. Over time the estate has suffered the consequences of poor design and a lack of investment and Cameron has been a force for change, pivotal to Third Sector activities which have rejuvenated homes and the local community.

Kaylee Austin of Stonham was third with Margaret Guppy of Liverpool Housing Trust runner-up. Austin was homeless when she was 15-years-old but since Stonham started supporting her two years ago she has taken part in a wide range of community projects across Northampton and gives regular talks to teenagers about the perils of being homeless.

TPAS chief executive, Michelle Reid, said: “The awards are the perfect way to embody TPAS’s mission of “connecting people to achieve great communities” and recognise all those who work and live in social housing and whose energy, dedication, innovation and talent make such a difference to people’s lives.

“The volume and quality of the entries throughout the regions has been incredibly high and this must go down to the excellent work that is being carried out by everyone in the communities across England.

“I’d like to congratulate all those who were nominated for the regional and national awards and their efforts to make their neighbourhoods better places to live.”