Justin Appleyard

Justin lives in a high rise block in Halifax and has worked tirelessly to raise the awareness of building safety amongst residents, both within Together Housing and nationally. Justin was invited to join Together Housing’s Residents' Building Safety Panel (RBSP) which has enabled him to push forward with his work supporting fire safety. Justin founded the 'TRIO' initiative. TRIO is a unique approach to fire safety centred on the idea that everyone shares responsibility – residents, their visitors, the Fire Service and Together Housing. With this in mind, Justin has taken a number of steps to empower residents and make them aware of the ways in which they can keep themselves and their neighbours safe. Through Together Housing, Justin has formed a strong partnership with West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and has helped to successfully introduce a new system identifying the support needed by residents to evacuate safely in an emergency. With his support, residents have opened up about their disabilities or issues with evacuating. Justin and other members of the RBSP have been central to communicating with residents in high rise blocks about the type of building safety information