Meet your new Local Panel Chairs for London and Hertford!
06 October 2022
Earlier this year, we recruited two new Chairs for our resident Local Panels, one for the London Panel and one for the Hertfordshire and Out of London Panel. Our Chairs play a crucial role as the informed voice of residents of Network Homes, and they work with us to continually improve our service delivery and make recommendations for organisation-wide scrutiny.
In this blog, you can hear directly from your new Chairs about why they applied for the role, and what they want to achieve during their time as Panel Chair:
Meet Anita, chair of our Hertfordshire and Out of London Panel
Hello, my name is Anita Dashwood. I have been a Network Homes resident for 10 years. I have been a member of the Hertford resident panel for about three years now and recently appointed as Chair.
Anita Dashwood, Chair of Hertfordshire and Out of London Panel
Having been a panel member for a few years now, I have gained insight into many issues that are important to residents and represented our community on a variety of Network Homes initiatives. When the role come up for Chair, I decided to apply! It is my hope that I will be able to shape how Network Homes engages with residents, contribute to the forward plan and continue to be a voice for all residents in our community, alongside the other excellent members of the panel.
We are all facing tough times ahead. Having got through the pandemic, we now have further challenges to overcome. Like many others, I worry about the cost of living, energy costs and climate change. Affordable, sustainable and good quality housing are important issues to me. I want to do what I can and play my part in raising the issues that are important to me. You can too!
We as residents have a vital role to play and there are many ways you can get involved. We can all make our communities thriving, happy places to live and work. We can share ideas and tell Network Homes what services they could offer to residents, how to deliver an excellent service and help enhance the lives of those in the community.
I would encourage you to check out the Get Involved page and consider some of the options for involvement.
Why not give it a try? You can learn new skills, meet lovely people in the community and help make positive changes now and in the future!
Meet Princess, Chair of our London panel
My name is Princess Omega Gibbs and I have been newly appointed as the London Panel Chair and a member of the Customer Services Committee. My background is working in local authorities, with children, young people and families.
Princess Omega Gibbs, Chair of London Panel
I currently live in Brent and have been a Network Home resident for over eight years. I applied for this role as a Chair, mainly due to wanting to influence and shape key policies/procedures which impact and affect residents. My hopes and ambitions for this role is to support, develop and lead local residents to feeling like they have a voice, are heard and listened to.
The housing issues which matter to me the most, is health and safety, affordable living and ensuring people feel safe not only in their home, but in their local community and neighbourhood.
I am very excited about this new role and so far have felt welcomed, integrated and supported by my fellow panel members and Network Homes.
It is vital for residents to get involved and feel like they have a say. Until recently I didn't fully appreciate the significant role we play as residents. If we want change, we have to effect it. With change comes new possibilities!
