Eastlight staff and residents shortlisted for SIX national awards

24/04/2023

Rue Garande, Eastlight's Community Empowerment Co-ordinator wearing a vibrant blue jacket with an orange and white African patterened motif.

Staff and residents at Eastlight Community Homes have been shortlisted for six Housing Heroes Awards and Women in Housing Awards, more than any other housing provider in the country.

Award judges put the 12,500-home housing association’s people and teams forward for some of housing’s most coveted individual and team trophies, with the winners being announced in Manchester on 26 June.

All In, Eastlight’s community programme, has been shortlisted for Recruitment Campaign of the Year at the Housing Heroes Awards, in recognition of its “innovative and effective approach”.

Through the programme, the housing association is working with hundreds of its residents and community members to make a real difference to people’s lives.

Colchester resident and Eastlight customer Rue Garande is shortlisted for Tenant of the Year, a title reserved for “a tenant who has gone the extra mile and demonstrated an innovative approach to helping others”.

Another Eastlight resident, Catherine Turner, who is a member of the housing association’s Board and Customer Influence Committee, is shortlisted for Board Member of the Year.

Catherine Turner, Eastlight Board and Customer Influence Committee Member

Katie Behan, the organisation’s Housing Manager responsible for safeguarding and tenancy sustainment, is in the running for Woman of the Future, an award that showcases women “who are set to be the housing leaders of tomorrow”.

Meanwhile, Eastlight’s chief Executive, Emma Palmer, is up for the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, an accolade reserved for an individual who “has driven change within their organisation and the housing sector as a whole”.

Last, but not least, the housing association’s MOT Team, which proactively checks residents’ homes to identify any repairs required and gets them done quickly and efficiently, is up for Team of the Year – a highly contested category entered by teams working across organisations, across the UK.

Eastlight Chair, Hattie Llewelyn-Davies, said: “Eastlight has been shortlisted for half a dozen awards — more than any other housing association or local authority landlord across the UK.

“We’re extremely proud that two of Eastlight’s residents have been shortlisted for the work they do to shape our organisation, and that our work both within our communities and inside our customers’ homes has received national recognition.”