30th August 2022
Sanctuary
Two new community roles will help Sanctuary build on its mission to create sustainable communities where people choose to live.
The Community Connectors - new to Sanctuary in England - will see us find out what really matters to our residents, what ‘neighbourhood’ means to them and what their interests and aspirations are – and then connect the pieces together to help them achieve this.
Community Connectors have already been working successfully for Sanctuary in Scotland and are being introduced in Ipswich and the Stoke-Stafford area.
Edith Mason in Ipswich and Irfan Taj in Stoke will chat to residents on their doorsteps, at the school gates, and at community meetings and venues. They will then go back to the community with the key themes that have arisen, so the community can prioritise where they want to direct their energies.
Alison Kenny, Head of Partnerships, said: “The aim is to bring people together who have a common interest or concern, so they can organise solutions themselves. For example residents may have skills such as gardening and we can connect them together to improve a neglected area.
“It’s about looking at what is there and seeing what we can build on. It needs to be driven by the residents and embedded in the community, so it is sustainable and creates lasting change.”
The new project extends our work beyond our six key neighbourhoods, into communities where Sanctuary is among the biggest landlords but we don’t have Neighbourhood Partnership Managers.
It will allow us to measure how people feel about where they live, and what differences we can make through this targeted support.
Irfan, a Sanctuary tenant, is Stoke born and bred and passionate about his home town. He will be working in three areas: Burslem, Hanley West and Fenton.
“I love helping out, working to solve people’s problems. I’m a proud Stokie; I saw this job and thought ‘this is my chance to make a change in the community I live in’,” he said.
Edith (pictured) is equally excited by her new challenge: “It’s my dream job and I can’t believe I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do. It’s a fantastic opportunity.”
She will be covering a variety of areas, the main one being Stoke Park in Ipswich, but also out to Felixstowe.
The new roles support our Community Investment programme and its strategy to increase our support in more neighbourhoods. The aim is for investments to be community-led and sustainable, rather than being dependent on us. Our approach is based on the model of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD). This means we believe that everyone is an asset, with skills, aspirations and abilities and that by building relationships in communities, these become stronger and better connected.
