Get Connected Summer 2016
Get Connected is Connect housing's tenant magazine that is sent our quarterly with news and exciting happenings reported on.
Get Connected is Connect housing's tenant magazine that is sent our quarterly with news and exciting happenings reported on.
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UPDATE<br />
True to<br />
our values<br />
Connect is delighted to announce the appointment of Helen Lennon as our<br />
new Chief Executive from 1st August <strong>2016</strong>. Helen has worked for Connect for<br />
over 20 years (most recently as Director of Neighbourhoods and Communications)<br />
and following an open recruitment process, Helen has been chosen by the Board<br />
to lead the organisation.<br />
We invited Nicola Sharp,<br />
tenant and committee member<br />
of Connect Residents Federation<br />
(CRF), to talk to Helen and<br />
discover more about her journey<br />
so far and plans for the future.<br />
Nicola Sharp: What made you<br />
choose housing as a career?<br />
Helen Lennon: I was brought up<br />
in a council house which gave me<br />
a great foundation in life. When<br />
I left university I wanted to do<br />
something with a social purpose,<br />
so I worked in a day centre for<br />
homeless people. I loved the<br />
job and it was an eye-opener –<br />
I saw the value of the work we<br />
did to help people get back into<br />
a home. There were two routes<br />
for me to take from there; social<br />
work or housing. I felt that the<br />
housing side was more for me.<br />
NS: When did you join Connect?<br />
HL: I first joined as a tenant in<br />
1988. I lived for two and a half<br />
years in a flat in Chapeltown.<br />
I thought Connect (then The<br />
8<br />
I would like all<br />
of our tenants<br />
to have a sense<br />
that they are<br />
investing in<br />
something<br />
bigger – by<br />
renting from<br />
Connect they<br />
are investing<br />
in their<br />
communities.<br />
Helen<br />
Ridings) was a great company,<br />
so when the opportunity arose<br />
to work for them after I had<br />
moved out, I jumped at it.<br />
NS: Have you seen a lot<br />
of changes at Connect?<br />
HL: Oh yes! We were much<br />
smaller when I started and<br />
we only worked in Leeds.<br />
The merger in 2006 was a great<br />
opportunity as it meant we could<br />
help more people across three<br />
local authorities and continue<br />
to build homes and offer lifechanging<br />
services to a broader<br />
range of people. What hasn’t<br />
changed are our values. We have<br />
stuck to these, no matter what<br />
changes are happening around<br />
us – that’s important to me and<br />
the reason I have stayed.<br />
NS: How will you engage<br />
with tenants?<br />
HL: This is very important<br />
to me. We have an ambition<br />
to support residents to create<br />
neighbourly places to live.