Carr-Gomm wins Tenant Empowerment of the Year Award
At a time when many public services are struggling to engage socially excluded people in decision making, a national care and support charity has shown how it can be done.
Carr-Gomm’s client involvement team has won top prize in the Tenant Empowerment Team of the Year category, sponsored by EPS, at the first ever ‘Housing Heroes’ awards ceremony held at the Hilton Hotel in London on 10th June 2009 hosted by Michael Portillo.
The Housing Heroes awards, which are organised by Inside Housing with the Chartered Institute of Housing, recognise the commitment, passion and flair of people working in the housing sector.
Carr-Gomm beat of stiff competition to receive the award. This recognised the client involvement team’s achievements in enabling under-represented groups to have a voice in the organisation. The ‘Different Voices’ programme has given some of Carr-Gomm’s most excluded clients, such as people from BME communities and women who have experienced domestic violence, a chance to be heard, and build links with others in the organisation and in the community.
The judges cited Carr-Gomm’s commitment to diversity and the range of support it provided. They said: “the team were at the cutting edge, and had made some terrific progress, especially with women who had experience domestic violence and its work with black and ethnic minority clients. While some people pay lip service to tenant empowerment, at Carr-Gomm its part of the culture.”
Client involvement officers, Kate O’Donnell and Bukky Jackson attended the ceremony to collect the award on the team’s behalf. They were joined by over 700 people from the housing sector to celebrate the achievements of organisations, teams and individuals working in the industry.
Speaking at the event, Kate O’Donnell said: “It is a great honour to receive this award and to be recognised by our peers for our achievements. Especially as, this year, we celebrate our 10th anniversary of having clients on the Board.”
She adds: “Client involvement can transform the lives of individuals. I have seen people’s confidence soar as a result of taking part in client involvement activities, whether that it is attending a house meeting, focus group, or photography project. Many clients have learnt new skills that they can use in other areas of their life through taking part in staff recruitment or becoming client board members. No matter what the levels of involvement, the benefits to clients are far reaching and long lasting”
Gary Lashko, Carr-Gomm’s Chief Executive says: “We are delighted by the team’s success which recognises the importance of empowerment to the organisation. Carr-Gomm believes in listening to, and involving clients in every aspect of its work. Without their input we cannot evolve and grow as an organisation nor develop or shape services to meet their needs.”
Carr-Gomm’s client involvement has been recognised previously in 1999 and 1995 through TPAS awards for Participation. Findings from an independent survey of Carr-Gomm’s stakeholders in 2009 showed that 77% of respondents believe the organisation is committed to service user involvement. In 2008, 88% of clients surveyed said that Carr-Gomm was good at involving them.
