The Association of Retained Council Housing (ARCH) announced
Ella Webster, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and the
Committee of the Arndale Youth Club, LB Wandsworth as joint winners
of the 2018 ARCH Community Champion Award at the Tenant Conference
on 18 September.
The award recognises the commitment and hard work undertaken by
tenants and residents of ARCH member councils to improve their
local communities. The ARCH Tenant Conference is held every year
and is organised by the ARCH Tenants' Group. All of the nominees
have made a significant contribution to their local community in
their own way and all should be proud of the fact that their local
council chose to nominate them for the Award.
Ella Webster has worked tirelessly to help improve the service
that her council provides. Her work ranges from taking part in
promoting DIY self-help videos to developing the Younger Tenants'
Group, empowering and shaping services for the needs of young
people.
Asim Munir, Tenant Involvement Coordinator in nominating Ella
said, "she is a compassionate and committed young individual, a
great ambassador for young tenants who is always willing to help
others achieve their goals."
The other winners, the Committee of the Arndale Youth Club
devised an activity programme and engaged young people in a range
of activities. These included promoting creativity, physical
challenge and exploring issue's important to young people, such as
on-line safety. Jo Baxter, Resident Participation Officer who
nominated the Committee of the Arndale Youth Club said, "they have
done an amazing job working with disadvantaged children in this
area. If only there was a Club in every community."
Jenny Hill, chair of the ARCH Tenants' Group said, "We received
some great nominations this year, however both Ella and the
Committee of the Arndale Youth Club stood out to the judges. It was
difficult to separate them and for the first time we had two
winners. It is so good to see young people involving themselves in
their community and acting as positive role models."
The other deserved nominations were:
Graham Cridland, Crawley Borough Council
Guy Pile-Grey, LB of Croydon
Les King, Norwich City Council
Terry Adkin, Norwich City Council
Nominations for the 2018 award were considered by a Judging
Panel consisting of members of the ARCH Tenant Group: Jenny Hill
(Chair), Marlene Price (Vice Chair), Martyn Lund (Member) and
ARCH Chief Executive John Bibby. The Panel gave careful
consideration to each of the nominations received and arrived at
their decision by evaluated each nomination on its merits and were
unanimously agreed on the joint winners.