Tenant Narratives

Tenant Narratives: Unlocking the Power of Resident-Centric Leadership

Speakers

Valerie Oldfield

NHF Tenant Advisory Panel Member

Valerie Oldfield is an employee of Hexagon Housing Association in the Resident Voice and Engagement team. Valerie is also a social housing resident of 37 years and had been an active tenant for 20 years. Valerie presently volunteers for the National Housing Federation on the Together with Tenants, Resident Advisory Panel where for the last four years chaired the panel since its conception.

Valerie has been active in many resident involvement activities: a board member for nine years with of those years in the position of vice chair, a member of the resident performance review group, repairs group, scrutiny group, resident design group, readers’ panel, and a member and chair of the residents’ forum. Valerie also attended various residents’ focus groups.

Coming from a business, creative and community background, Valerie strongly believes in residents and their housing associations working together, nurturing a shared understanding of the growth, services, and development of providing and maintaining social housing homes.

Fayann Simpson OBE

Group Board Member and Senior Independent Director, L&Q

Fayann, who joined the Group Board in 2018, has devoted nearly 20 years to working as an involved resident. For two decades she has worked tirelessly with L&Q and the wider social housing sector to drive continuous improvement in the quality of homes and services. Following the Grenfell tragedy, she has also taken a place on the Industry Safety Steering Group to help drive improvement and culture change in the industry. Fayann is also a board member at Sustainability for Housing which oversees the Sustainabitly Reporting Standard. Her expertise sees her taking part in various high-profile debates with stakeholders and industry experts, and she is a regular media commentator.

Steve Southwell

Chair Residents Voice, Worthing Homes

Steve is a community volunteer supporting charities including Worthing Homes, All sorts Youth Project, and Stonewall. Steve is also a member of the Residents Panel with the Housing Ombudsman. Having served three successful terms as Chair of the Residents Voice, Steve is keen to ensure that all residents have their voices heard. Working with the community engagement team, Steve has taken the residents voice to the community to expand its impact and grow its membership.

Keen to be a part of the bigger picture, Steve has also assisted in the procurement of new contracts with Worthing Homes, hoping to add extra value to the resident experience.

Kam Basra

Operations Director, Home Connections

Kam Basra brings over 25 years of housing experience to her role as Operations Director at Home Connections, where she has been an integral part of the team since 2009. She has had a successful career in both the private and public sector as a Business Development Officer, Programme Manager and Property Co-ordinator Supervisor in companies such as Derby Homes, Urban Choice and Midland Area Housing Association.

As Operations Director, Kam ensures smooth project execution, overseeing operations and staff in London, Midlands and the North. Her commitment to Home Connections’ core mission is evident in the successful delivery of projects like the Homelessness Reduction Act software, ‘hope’, and the recent relaunch of the rough sleeping platform, StreetLink, in partnership with DLUHC.

Date: 15 May 2024

Time: 1:00PM – 3:00PM

Venue: Central London

If you would like to register your interest to attend the roundtable please click the link below.