Member Spotlight

It’s our members that make Tpas such a great organisation to be part of and what better way to show this than with our member spotlight feature.

Each month we will invite one of our members to share their engagement achievements, tips and ambitions, allowing you to keep bang up to date with what others are up to across the sector.

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Member Spotlight  - Gloucester City Homes  

We asked Mandi Holt, Commuity Investment and Engagement Lead at Gloucester City Homes (GCH) to share some of the work they are currently doing.

If you’d like to contact Mandi about any of the below, click here.

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Give us a little known fact about your organisation

GCH is one of the last housing associations in the country to have been created through stock transfer, becoming independent in 2015 after operating as an ALMO since 2007. But our story began with a strong show of tenant voice. In the early 2000s, there was a proposal to transfer Gloucester’s council homes to a large national housing association based in the North East. Tenants, concerned about losing local accountability, formed the Gloucester Tenant Federation and led a successful campaign to stop the transfer. Their efforts ensured that homes remained locally managed and laid the foundation for GCH to be established as a truly local organisation. Today, we continue to honour that legacy. GCH is proud to be rooted in Gloucester, shaped by tenant voice. We continue to take pride in knowing our neighbourhoods, listening to our residents, and delivering services that reflect the needs of Gloucester.

Tell us about a time that engagement has made a difference to your services or communities?

Last autumn our Scrutiny Group completed a review of communal areas, covering cleaning, health and safety, and communal garden management. They ran a survey to gather wider feedback, but it was clear from those taking part, all of whom lived in blocks with communal areas, that cleaning was the issue causing the most frustration. Many felt their service charge did not represent value for money. In response, the group met directly with the cleaning contractor to present their findings. This led to regular quarterly meetings where tenants and the contractor could discuss ongoing issues, hot spots, and possible solutions. This process gave customers a stronger voice, helped clarify what the contract covered, and ensured their feedback shaped improvements.

The strength of customer influence through this scrutiny was a key factor in GCH’s decision to make changes to the cleaning service in 2026. To build on this, we are creating a new full-time role dedicated to working with customers, making sure their voices continue to shape service quality and design. We are also looking for customers to join the team developing the new service and monitoring it in its early days, so the positive impact of scrutiny continues long into the future.

What are you currently working on when it comes to engagement?

We are currently actively working on encouraging a wider group of customers to get involved in shaping their housing services. Our Scrutiny Group is active with a core membership of 10 but they are keen for people to join in with their reviews in anyway they can, for a one-off exercise, joining online or via their local residents’ group. In addition, we are looking specifically for tenants to help us with some new developments, the development of a new customer portal and changes to the cleaning service contract delivery.

This summer we have made changes to the way that we have directly engaged with our customers. While we have still attended some key community events we have moved away from our traditional programme of summer engagement events and moved over to specifically discussing hot topics with customers via more door knocking. Our customers have told us via the TSM responses that fly tipping and anti-social behaviour are big concerns that they have, so our teams have been out on the patches to chat directly with residents about these concerns. We held a fly tipping day out on estates that are badly affected by this and included partners from the City Council. We ensured that we gave information about bulky item collection and reporting fly tipping as well as listening to people’s experiences and concerns. During ASB week (30th June – 6th July) we held a similar estate activity, giving people advice and guidance on what is ASB and what is considered to be neighbourhood nuisance and who to report to. We have based the conversations around a consultation form, but staff were able to take any feedback on the doorstep that customers wish to share. It has been a great success, and we have engaged directly with many more customers than we did previously via the traditional “stand under a gazebo” style event.

Why did you decide to join Tpas?

GCH were a member of Tpas before I joined them back in 2012, so I don’t know why the decision to join was made in the first place, however I am really glad that we did! I have benefitted in so many ways, from the support and training that I received back in my early days as a Community Involvement Officer (even pre-GCH) to the inspiring conferences and specific, ever evolving tenant training sessions that are always up to speed with the latest developments in Housing. Tpas is my go-to organisation for updates on changes to legislation. I also love that I have got to know the staff over the years, so it is lovely to attend events and see some old friends there.

What is your top engagement tip?

Time and trust. Trust can only be built up slowly so always build in the time to get to know your tenants before expecting them to want to help you with feedback and attending engagement activities. Popping into community groups for a cuppa might be seen as a waste of time by some, but that’s when the magic starts to happen.

What’s the one thing you are really proud of when it comes to engagement?

I am really proud that GCH continue, in this challenging financial climate, to provide spaces in our communities across the city, for people to get together and run groups and activities to enrich the lives of the local residents. GCH currently provide 4 spaces for community use, and each one is used very differently depending on community need, we have art and craft sessions, free and low-cost food distribution, after school activities, mental health support groups and Residents’ Group meetings, to name just a few, all going on because there is a local space available to get together. It might be tempting to think that these buildings are a “nice to have” and not a necessity but for some people they provide a real lifeline, combating isolation, providing help and support in tough times and just making life a little more pleasant. We benefit from these spaces too as they are a natural bumping space to meet with our customers, attend a local residents’ group and develop community partnerships. We can deliver information, reassurance and advice, listen to current local concerns and pick up on important information. Even in these days of online engagement, MS Teams meetings and social media, there is still a place for good old-fashioned face to face engagement in a place where everyone feels welcome and included.

 

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Previous Member Spotlights

August 2025 - Pembroke Estate Management Board

July 2025 - Coastline Housing

June 2025 - Colchester Borough Homes

May 2025 - Manningham HA

April 2025 - Leeds Federated HA

March 2025 - North Star Housing Group

February 2025 - Wigan Council

January 2025 - Worthing Homes

December 2024 - Lumensol

October / November 2024 - Orbit

September 2024 - Gentoo

August 2024 - Watford Community Housing

July 2024 - BFT Mastclimbing

May / June 2024 - Stonewater

April 2024 - Hull City Council

March 2024 - Partners Foundation

February 2024 - Red Kite Community Housing

January 2024 - St Leger Homes of Doncaster

December 2023 - settle

November 2023 - Flagship Group

Sept / Oct 2023 - Hinckley and Bosworth Council

August 2023 - Tenants Hub CIC

June / July 2023 - Dovecotes TMO

May 2023 - Stockport Homes

April 2023 - TPTracker

March 2023 - Metropolitan Thames Valley

February 2023 - West Kent

January 2023 - Fairhive

December 2022 - Platform Housing Group

November 2022 - Integrated Solutions - City Plumbing

September / October 2022 - Homes Plus

August 2022 - Aspire

May 2022 - Arches

April 2022 -  Acis Group

March 2022 - wdh

February 2022 - Michael Dyson Associates Ltd

January 2022 - South Yorkshire HA

December 2021 - Gateshead Council

November 2021  - LiveWest

October 2021 - YMCA Thames Gateway

September 2021 - Bernicia

August 2021 - Anglian Building Products

July 2021 - Warrington HA

June 2021 - Futr

May 2021 - Vale of Aylesbury HT

April 2021 - Aaron Services

March 2021 - Soha

February 2021 - North West Leicestershire DC

January 2021 - Vinci Facllities

December 2020 - Ongo

November 2020 - Places for People

October 2020 - Community Gateway Association

September 2020 - Dacorum BC

August 2020 - Eastend Homes

July 2020 - Connexus

June 2020 - Gridizen

May 2020 - Grand Union Housing Group

March / April 2020 - Onward Homes

January / February 2020 - Estuary HA

December 2019 - Muir Group

November 2019 - Blackpool Coastal Homes

October 2019 - Texthelp

September 2019 - Greatwell Homes

August 2019 - Selby DC

July 2019 - North Star Housing Group

June 2019  - Rotherham MBC

May 2019  - Homes for Haringey

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I'd like to be in the spotlight

If you'd like to be featured in our Member Spotlight and highlight the work you are doing, please get in touch by emailing lisa.holt@tpas.org.uk.