Crawley based social housing provider appoints officer to support education, wellbeing and skills

Deborah, who has a strong track record in community engagement and also represents Adur as a Councillor, joined in April and has already put in place a framework of focus areas and initiatives and has set up a new community library aimed at promoting children’s literacy and increasing their access to books.

Abode Living has several buildings across Crawley and East Grinstead – Ashburn House, Central House, Maplehurst House, Stag House and Sutherland Quarters - and a major scheme – Imperial Apartments - in Bristol, all with the mission to provide safe homes within an inclusive community environment. The homes are often for people who often need a fresh start or who have been on council waiting lists for some time and Abode Living works with the local authorities to offer homes quickly to those most in need as soon as a home becomes available.

However, unlike most social housing provision, Abode also has a support structure in place, which Deborah will be growing as part of her new role. In addition to existing mental health and wellbeing support, Deborah is working on delivering Early Years Education for the young children living in Abode’s homes who might otherwise have missed out on a nursery place or support in other ways; events that promote wellbeing and social interaction through the installation of community hubs at the schemes and a skills development and back to work plan to support adults who want to find a job that’s right for them.

Deborah says: “This role is the perfect opportunity to work with a company that is really striving to make a difference to people who want to make a fresh start or improve their lives. I’ve never come across a private landlord before that invests so much in the wellbeing of its communities and offers significant services and initiatives for tenants to support them in whichever way they need. I’m really excited to get stuck into the role which I’m sure will be hugely rewarding.”

Rod Cahill, director at Abode Living, added: “Much has been written about the wellbeing of social tenants and we feel strongly that we need to try and lead the way in placing this front and centre of affordable housing. We want people to feel happy and secure living in our buildings and we actively promote a family atmosphere where help is at hand should they need it. We also believe in promoting health proactively and, in addition to these services, we will be running sporting events and investing in other amenities for people to access, whether these are on site – such as the gyms and soft play areas within our scheme in Bristol – or community hubs, such as the ones Deborah is working on in Crawley.”

Abode Living is currently recruiting for the same role to support their Bristol region to work with local businesses, strengthen relationships and offer a matching framework to tenants there.