Upload
toast-design
View
213
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Housing for Women Annual Review 2012
Citation preview
Housing for WomenAnnual Review
Welcome to Housing for Women’sannual review 2010-2011
We are a charity and housing association and have beenproviding homes for London’s women for over 75 years. In these difficult times,the core of our work continues to besupporting women by providing secure, affordable housingand related services, helping our residents to make the mostof their life chances. We also provide targeted services forwomen who have suffered domestic violence, beentrafficked or have been released from prison.
Our MissionWe work to empower women through providing goodhomes and services and challenging inequalities faced by women.
Chair’s and Chief Executive’s message
This year is the two hundredth anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth. Dickens was
horrified by the conditions he witnessed of poverty in London and was a passionate
social campaigner. Although we don’t face the same levels of poverty as the
Victorians, the economic downturn means that times are hard for many on low
incomes in London. We are facing unprecedented cuts in social care and benefits
but the impact has barely started, with estimates that 80% of the cuts are yet to bite.
At Housing for Women we are committed to providing good quality housing and
support to give our residents security and stability to weather the hard times ahead.
We were delighted to learn from our tenants’ survey that 84% of our tenants now feel
we provide a good service to them, up from 72% three years ago. We continue to
work closely with our dedicated Tenants’ Panel to continually improve services.
We are pleased to report that we made another surplus this year after completion of
our major property improvement programme in 2009. It is important that we rebuild
our reserves so that we are in a stable financial position to face any adverse effects
from the current economic situation. We are still developing under the old grant
regime adding 61 homes to our stock last year with a further 38 in the pipeline,
together with the successful transfer of services from Greenwich Women’s Aid.
We said goodbye to two Board members this year: Tina Townsend who had served
four years as Chair and Mary Laing who retired after twenty years’ sterling service to
the Association. We are grateful to both of them for their hard work on behalf of the
Association and are pleased that Mary continues her links with us as a volunteer.
Our annual review sets out the challenges we face. We revisit the women we
interviewed last year to find out how they are getting on. These are real life stories of
the reality of life in London. What comes across is the resilience and courage of
these women to make the most of difficult circumstances. We hope that the work of
Housing for Women supports both them and all our tenants to succeed.
Barbara Riddell Elizabeth Clarson
Chair Chief Executive
Housing for Women | Annual Review 1
Hard times - the impact ofspending cuts has beengreatest on women,especially in Londonwhere living costs are higher.
There are 4 millionwomen and one
third of thesewomen are eitherBlack or Minority
Ethnic1
Women earn 87pfor every £1 earned
by a man – thehighest gender paygap in the country,
which has notchanged in the past
10 years1
630,000 childrenlive in poverty – thehighest rate of childpoverty in any UK
region2
Funding for servicessuch as Sure Startcut by an average of £50 per child3
Cuts to housingbenefit likely to
affect London morethan other areas of
the UK4
Women In London:
Footnotes1 GLAEconomics, Working Paper 45, Women in London’s economy – update 2010, Steven Edgson
and Margarethe Theseira.Women in London’s Economy, GLA 2005.2 London Child Poverty Commission, Legacy Report, March 2010
3 Tony Lloyd MP, March 2011, House of Commons Library
Work and pay
Women are hardest hit by the job cuts
in the public sector. This employs a
high proportion of black and minority
ethnic women, so they will suffer
disproportionately as a result of
these cuts.
Cuts in childcare benefits
The childcare tax credit has been cut from
80% to 70%, making childcare more
expensive for working parents. Nurseries
are closing and after school and breakfast
clubs are hit by rising costs.
Child benefit was frozen for three years
from April 2011. Because this benefit is
paid directly to the mother, this will mean
women become more financially
dependent on their partners.
Lone parents
They will be affected as they have to meet
childcare costs out of one income.
Women as carers
Women are traditionally the carers in the
family. As state services are withdrawn
they will have to take on ever increasing
levels of unpaid and informal care work.
These extra care responsibilities limit
opportunities for paid work.
Violence against women
Evidence shows that times of economic
pressure and high unemployment lead to
an increase in domestic violence. It will be
harder for victims of domestic abuse to
claim legal aid as the definition of
‘violence’ is changing. Funding for
women’s refuges is being threatened
as this is no longer ‘ring fenced’ and
cash-strapped councils review their
spending priorities.
Older women
Cuts in jobs and pay mean women are
more likely to suffer poverty in old age
because they are less able to save
for retirement.
By 2020 the state pension age for women
will be 66 years. This has been brought
forward six years earlier than originally
planned, making it difficult for women to
plan properly for their retirement.
Homes
Shortage of housing in London make it a
city of high rents so cuts in housing benefit
will hit Londoners hardest. In the first six
months of 2011 only 454 affordable homes
were begun, just 56 of these in London. In
2010 the number of affordable homes built
in the same period was 4000.
There were 53,000domestic violencecrimes reported
(2009)5
Costs for childcare,housing and travel
are higher thananywhere else in
the UnitedKingdom6
Two thirds ofpensioners living in
poverty arewomen7
200,000 peoplelive in overcrowded
conditions8
The unemploymentrate of 9.4% is well
above the UKaverage of 7.8%9
Archbishop says benefit cuts trap
jobless ‘in spiral of despair’
The Times 8 November 2010
Cathy Come Home’s lesson
will soon be learned again
Guardian 14 October 2011
Footnotes4 The impact of tax and benefit changes announced in Budget 2011 and previously on households in London, James Browne, Institute for Fiscal Studies, January 2012.5 Metropolitan Police Authority, Domestic and Sexual Violence Board, 2006-11.6 Impact of Welfare reform in London, Considerations for childcare, Kate Groucutt, Policy and Research Director, Daycare Trust, 2011.7 National Assembly of Women, Pensions, March 2010. The Scottish Widows UK Pensions Report, Sixth annual report on the state of retirement savings across the nation, June 2010.8 Shelter. www.londoncouncils.gov.uk, key facts about London.9 www.londoncouncils.gov.uk, key facts about London.
Do we care about 300,000 morechildren in poverty?
The Guardian 13 May 2011
UK unveils dramatic austerity measures
Financial Times 20 October 2010
Last year we talkedto some of ourresidents abouthow they cope withday to day living.This year we havereturned to some of them to find outwhat has changedin their lives.
These are stories of resilience, of making
do, of getting on with things and ‘toughing
it out’. As the costs of household and food
bills rise, they told us about how they cut
back. Low incomes are made to stretch
through frugality and doing without.
Some women are aware that they are not
fully realising their potential but feel ‘stuck’.
The women who are of working age long for
secure employment that suits their personal
circumstances. Low paid, insecure work is
easy to cut back as the market changes.
Against the odds perhaps, some lives
have also got better because working or
volunteering has encouraged a stronger
sense of self-worth and confidence. Those
women who are carers or single parents
find that they need other spaces in which
to ‘clear their heads’.
IrisIris is very conscious of making the best of
what she has, of making things last and not
being wasteful. In part she attributes this to
living through rationing (she’s 85) but it’s
also a deeply held philosophy – she cares
about sustainability. She belongs to the
Green Party, buys her energy from a ‘green’
supplier, and is a committed recycler.
Running taps and lights left on fill her
with horror.
Iris started working at a young age – her
mother died when Iris was 14 and by the
time Iris was over 17 she’d already had 2
jobs. Despite the fact that Iris worked all of
her life, the nature of the jobs available to
women like her means that she couldn’t
have a private pension.
She has to complete an annual form for
pensions credit and worries a lot about her
savings and how they might impact on her
credit. Her £400 fuel allowance has been
reduced to £300, but this had no real impact
on her.
Iris has always had a strong sense of public
duty and been engaged in voluntary work
with organisations such as Victim Support
and the Samaritans; this has been a hugely
rewarding experience for her. Iris continues
to have a highly active and engaged life,
from keep fit to current affairs classes and
attending £5 concerts at the Royal Albert
Hall. She has resolved to keep trying to
really live and enjoy her life.
Iris has been a tenant of Housing for
Women for 31 years. She’s pleased that
there’s now a caretaker for the property
she’s in and a handyman who cleans her
gutter every month. Julia, the member of
staff advising older tenants, has become
an invaluable resource for Ivy.
SarahSarah is a single mother to two young
children, an 8-year-old son (who has
autism) and a 6-year-old daughter (who has
sickle cell disease). The demands of
parenting two young children with a range
of complex needs take their toll on Sarah.
While she is proud that she is coping, she
is also frequently exhausted.
Sarah’s receipt of a range of welfare
benefits hasn’t changed since last year. She
gets anxious about what the government
may change in relation to benefits. She
already uses a budget planner and yet finds
it hard to cope with paying bills. She has
been struggling for some months to find
enough money to pay the water bill. There
are various insurance bills she has to pay
and she has noticed the price of food going
up – she probably spends £30-50 a week
on food. She doesn’t buy clothes very often.
When Sarah’s daughter has a sickle cell
crisis, she can’t walk and is in terrible pain
for several days. Her son’s autism can be
challenging. He is non-verbal – he
communicates his feelings and needs
through pictures. The support from the
school is amazing, though sometimes even
the school has to send him home when his
behaviour is particularly difficult. Sarah is
philosophical about her lot: “I need to stay
healthy for my kids’ sake. I’ve come to
terms with the fact that I’ll be doing
that alone.
The unpredictability of the children’s
demands makes the prospect of full-time
employment or even committed part-time
employment for Sarah impossible to
sustain. Sarah has started volunteering
once a week in the head office of a prison
charity, which puts her administrative skills
to good use. They are lovely people,
accommodating about her family
circumstances, and the experience
generally helps to ‘clear her mind’.
FionaA single tenant in Kensington, Fiona works
on a ‘zero hours’ contract as a teacher of
young adults. The hours she has currently
worked are fewer than the previous year
because numbers of students have fallen.
Over the last year, Fiona has noticed the
rising costs of food and other bills. Public
transport is expensive. In January she
hadn’t yet turned on her heating and was
resorting instead to putting on an extra
jumper. Although she is quite frugal in terms
of what she eats, Fiona has to cut back on
things if she wants to find enough money to
do something nice.
Fiona lives in a state of fragility, which she
says has got worse. She checks her bank
account daily. She is very conscious of what
feels like a fine line between her current
existence and suddenly finding herself
tipped into having nothing.
Fiona feels that it is important that a range
of people can live in inner London to bring
balanced and mixed communities. Some of
these people will be doing work that others
don’t want to do but depend on. It doesn’t
seem right to her that people on benefits
might be consigned to pockets of housing
in other areas and it’s not at all clear
where the ‘squeezed middle’ or people
on low incomes are supposed to live.
Moving people out of London feels to
her like ghettoisation.
Home ownership and secure employment
feel out of reach for her and other people
like her that she knows. The biggest step
that would improve the quality of her life
would be having a secure and guaranteed
income and not having to worry about that
any more.
6 Housing for Women | Annual Review
Special Projects
Domestic violenceOur refuges in South and West London
provide safe accommodation for up to 32
women and their children fleeing domestic
violence.
Families often arrive with few possessions,
uprooting their daily lives and routine. They
may be distressed, fearful, depressed and
with low self esteem after fleeing an
abusive, threatening or violent relationship.
Women are welcomed into a supportive
environment by trained and skilled staff who
will help them recover from the trauma and
distress of their ordeal as well as offering
practical help and advice. At the refuge,
women are able to use their time to reflect
on their lives and experiences and, with
support, they can start to make positive
plans for their future. A structured
programme ensures they take control of
their lives and move on to their own safe
permanent home.
Children are also witness to, and victims of,
domestic violence and each of our refuges
has a specialist Children’s Worker to
provide support tailored to each child’s
needs. This can include one to one
sessions and therapeutic group play to help
the child form positive relationships.
Over thirty-five women and their children
have moved on into their own homes
over the year.
I was covered in bruises when I was firstinterviewed at Housing for Women, butwithin two weeks I had been given a flat tomove to with my 18 month old daughter. Wesettled in well and I have since been tocollege, done my A levels and I am nowworking full time. I have been with Housingfor Women for eight years and I’m proud tosay I now pay full rent. I have always feltsafe and secure in my home and I am reallyhappy with the help I have had.
I came into the refuge a timid girl but now
feel stronger as a person and a mother.
Being in this environment surrounded by
women that I can relate to, made me realise
it wasn’t only me and it wasn’t my fault.
Re-Unite South London The Project has 10 homes across South London and a Resettlement Worker to
provide intensive support including: tenancy sustainment, finding work, education,
finding schools and help with legal/custody matters in respect of their children.
The support is intended to give the family stability by helping them to become
self sufficient, supporting the mother to avoid re-offending.
The Project has its own dedicated Children’s Worker to help the children
re-establish healthy bonds with their mothers.
Two Re-Unite families have successfully moved on into independent
accommodation this year.
I was so desperate. If Re-Unite hadn’t helped me, I don’t know what I would have done. I was
worried on a daily basis. I dread to think what would have happened. But the thought of being
in a hostel with the children was too much; I think it would have been devastating for them.
They would have suffered.
Housing for Women | Annual Review 7
Re-Place Re-Place offers second stage
housing and support for
women who have been
trafficked for sexual
exploitation.
Many of these women have been born into
poverty and are sold to traffickers or
promised ‘work and a better life’.
Re-Place provides temporary, self
contained housing and visiting support to
help with day to day activities. The women
who come to the project have a variety of
support needs including immigration, Post
Traumatic Stress, budgeting, fear of leaving
their home and isolation
We currently have 11 dispersed, self
contained flats with a dedicated Support
Worker who will develop a tailored plan,
signposting to specialist agencies as well as
providing a range of direct support.
“... my life now belongs to me .. and I can
make plans for the future.”
Clients are referred from ‘safe houses’
when they are ready to live alone with
support. We support clients until their
immigration status is resolved and they are
ready and able to move on to mainstream
housing and independent life, or return to
their country of origin.
Four women have successfully moved on to
independent accommodation this year.
Volunteers
Volunteers provide valuable additional
support in the running of our refuges
and include a parenting coach and
trained counsellor.
We have also recently recruited 10
volunteer mentors to provide additional one
to one support to Re-Unite and Replace
service users. They will work with the
women up to two hours a fortnight, helping
them to achieve specific goals such as
budgeting and accessing college courses.
All volunteers are trained, supervised and
CRB checked.
Lily StevensRe-Unite Project
Co-ordinator
Megan GriffinSupport Worker
Our TenantsWe have now hosted two tenants’ conferences, the first in Kensington and Chelsea
and this year in Deptford at the Stephen Lawrence Centre.
Our properties are spread across eight London boroughs and the conference provides an
opportunity for tenants to socialise and have a fun day out with their families. We always have
speakers and workshops on issues that affect our tenants and this year the focus was on
money matters.
Older tenants’ workerA quarter of our tenants are pensioners and many live alone.
We have a dedicated worker who provides advice and support to our older
tenants living in our properties. She helps with a range of issues from welfare
benefits, ensuring tenants receive appropriate social care and advising on
housing options. She is supported in her work by Mary Laing, who volunteers
with social activities. Mary is well known to many of the tenants from her
longstanding service as a board member and Vice Chair of the Association.
8 Housing for Women | Annual Review
Julia Linfoot
Partner Organisations A2 Dominion Housing Group
Affinity Sutton Group
Circle Anglia Limited
Commonweal Housing
London & Quadrant Housing Trust
Hanover Housing Trust
Medaille Trust
Older Women’s Co-Housing, London
Women’s Housing Forum, London
We work closely with two groups of small
housing associations:
SoLFed
Housing for Women
Ekaya Housing Association
Lambeth and Southwark Housing Association
New World Housing Association
Southwark & London Diocesan Housing Association
Solomon Group
Innisfree Housing Association
Shian Housing Association
Women’s Pioneer
ARHAG
Waltham Forest Housing Association
Referral Agencies
Church Army
Eaves
Lewisham Refuge
Look Ahead Housing and Care
Medaille Trust
The Passage
Southwark Women’s Aid
Charitable Funders
City Bridge Trust
Comic Relief
The Henry Smith Charity
J Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Foundation
Quaker Housing Trust
Notting Hill Methodist Church
Youth and Philanthropy Initiative – Quest Academy,
Selsdon
Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund
We are very grateful for the support we receive from
these organisations and donations from individuals.
For donations to our refuges see the Refuge
Annual Report.
Tenants’ PanelThe Tenants’ Panel had a very
productive year.
Early Spring discussions focussed on
Housing for Women’s Tenant Survey
which was carried out in 2011.
The Panel helped put together the
Survey questionnaire and considered
comments and results, making
suggestions for follow on work where
satisfaction levels needed improvement.
Panel members were also involved in
reviewing procedures and had an input
into the organisation of the tenants’
conference.
They have also been closely involved
in the monitoring of tenant complaints,
contacting tenants to find out if they are
happy with the way their complaint was
handled.
Since April 2011 a number of Panel
members have been involved in the
new SoLFed Scrutiny Panel, consisting
of tenants from other housing
associations in the SoLFed partnership.
The Scrutiny Panel has developed a
set of standards for organisations to
achieve across their services and it will
monitor how landlords meet these
standards over the coming year.
Come and join us.
Wilhelmina Buckley, Chair
Frances Blyther
Wilhelmina
Buckley
Roma Durban
Hilary Irving
Mary Johns
Twee Nguyen
Nancy Richardson
Yuleane Tulloch
Barbara Watson
Tenants’ Panel members
Housing for Women | Annual Review 9
Maintenance• We carried out a painting and decorating programme for 43 homes.
• We renewed kitchens in 26 homes.
• We upgraded gas boilers to ‘A’ rating in 41 homes.
• 27 homes received new bathrooms.
• We carried out roof renewals and installed doubled glazed window units infour homes.
• We were re-accredited with the BSI kitemark for our Maintenance Service.
• We continued to up-grade our fire alarm systems to Grade ‘A’ standard.
• We provided additional security and enhanced visibility to remove blind spotsfrom the pathways in one our block of flats.
• We upgraded the security of an internal door and door entry system to helpsome of our tenants affected by trespassers.
• We achieved 100% in gas safety inspections.
10 Housing for Women | Annual Review
Repairscategory
No of jobscarried out
Jobs carried out on time Oct 2010/Sept 11
Jobs carried out on time Oct 2009/ Sept 10
Emergency (24hr) 225 100% 100%
Urgent (7 days) 406 94% 95%
Routine (28 days) 2427 96% 97%
Total 3058
New developmentsThis year we took ownership of a large development of one and two bedroom flats in the
heart of New Cross, Lewisham and a block of 22 flats in Southall, Ealing. We were able to
work closely with both Ealing and Lewisham boroughs to allow clients from some of our
supported housing projects move to permanent homes in these schemes.
Housing for Women | Annual Review 11
“I love being aHousing for Women
tenant. I have beenvery happy here
and I reallyappreciate theservices I get.”
12 Housing for Women | Annual Review
Homes in management
Camden 10Ealing 74Greenwich 181Hounslow 43RB K&C 198Lewisham 180Southwark 121Westminster 24
Total 831
Bedsits 164
1 bed 291
2 bed 254
3 bed 81
4 bed 9
Hostel spaces 32
Total 831
Rents 09/10 10/11
Cash collected 99% 93%Average rent arrears 4.6% 5.5%Average re-let time 22 days 28.6 days
Housing Services
Bedsit
76.8
4
82.2
6
85.9
5
93.0
3
99.3
8
108.
13
113.
41
119.
55
125.
27
132.
26
1 Bed 2 Bed 3 Bed 4 Bed
09/10
10/11
Working full time Working part timeUnemployed job seekersRetiredNot seeking workStudentsLong term sick
15%
17.5%
30.5%4%
4% 5%
24%
Internal transfersLocal authority nominationsExchangeReferral agencies
14%
66%
19%
1%
Rent Levels
Who we housed
Housing for Women | Annual Review 13
The cuts mean women haveto take on increasing
unpaid care work, limitingopportunities for
paid work.
14 Housing for Women | Annual Review
Money mattersIncome and expenditure account for year ending 30 September 2011
All figures in £000's 2011 2010
Turnover 5,062 4,131
Operating costs (3,821) (3,544)
1,241 587
Interest receivable 10 52
Interest payable (679) (512)
Surplus/(Deficit) on ordinary activities 572 127
In 2011 the Association made another surplus and is now on the way back to profitability after
completion of the property improvements programme in 2009.
Turnover of £5.06 million (2010 - £4.13 million) includes £4.06 million from rents and service
charges paid by our tenants living in 799 self contained homes and 32 hostel bed-spaces.
The remainder of our income was attributable to other sources such as supported housing
grants, grants from charitable trusts and local authorities, donations, legacies and interest on
deposits.
At April 1st 2012 the Association took over the services of Greenwich Women’s Aid.
Six months income and expenditure from those service are included in these accounts.
Balance sheet as at 30 September 2011
All figures in £000's 2011 2010
Fixed assets 70,210 61,298
Grants (46,845) (40,800)
Depreciation (2,844) (2,560)
20,521 17,938
Current assets 3,509 5,947
Current liabilities (2,152) (2,205)
1,357 3.742
Net Assets 21,878 21,680
Long Term Loans 17,528 17,902
Reserves 4,350 3,778
Reserves and Long Term Financing 21,878 21,680
A full copy of the accounts is available on request from the Chief Executive
Housing for Women | Annual Review 15
At 30 September 2011, the Association owned or managed 799 properties and 32 hostel bed-
spaces. We plan to manage or acquire a further 38 homes over the next 12 months.
96.3% of our net fixed assets, after deducting grant and depreciation are social housing
properties. The depreciated values of assets in our accounts are historic and do not reflect
the current market value of the Association's property; we estimate that the open market
value of all the Association’s property is in the region of £110 million although the value if sold
as social housing would be closer to £40 million.
At the end of the financial year the Association held £2 million in cash from its facility with
Nationwide Building Society. This money will be use to fund the Association’s development
programme in 2012.
How every £1 was spent
In 2011, after paying for interest on our loans, we had a surplus of 14 pence for every pound
of rent to put towards rebuilding the Association’s savings which fund future re-investment in
the Association’s properties.
Services ManagementRepairsImprovementOtherInterest and savings
7
6
21
35
29
10
11
5
2916
12
19
2010
2011
Barbara Riddell MA OBE (Chair)Appointed to Board May 2009
Barbara has over 30 years experience at
senior level in central and local government
and two of London's emergency services -
the Metropolitan Police and the London Fire
Brigade (LFB). She recently retired from
being Director of Resources at LFB where
she took a particular interest in the
recruitment and promotion of women in
the service, for which she was awarded
an OBE.
Barbara was appointed as Chair of Housing
for Women in June 2011.
Karen Bradshaw MA (Vice Chair) Appointed to Board January 2007
Over 20 years senior management/project
management experience in the third and
public sectors including specialist services
development for minority groups,
fundraising, financial management
and IT projects.
Sheila Belgrave BA MBA (Chair Diversity Working Group)Appointed to Board March 2010.
Sheila has over 30 years experience in the
housing sector as a senior manager, a
housing inspector and has served on
several housing association boards and
sub-committees. She is also vice-chair of
the SWAN Group Board. Sheila is currently
the Chief Executive of Homes in Havering,
an ALMO based in the London Borough of
Havering in Essex.
16 Housing for Women | Annual Review
Board
Elizabeth CarsonChief Executive
Chris LawalDirector of
Property Services
Judith ChambersDirector of Housing
Sefvices
Meera BediDirector of
Development and New Initiatives
Zaiba QureshiDirector of
Supported Housing
Caroline AllenDirector of Finance
Senior Staff
Caroline Donaldson MA ACA MBA (Chair Audit Committee) Appointed to Board May 2009
Originally trained as a chartered
accountant, Caroline has over twenty-five
years experience in a wide range of
businesses and roles in public, transport
and charity sectors. She is currently
working as Bid Director for FirstGroup plc.
Dr Fahmia Huda OBEAppointed to Board August 2011
Currently working as a management
consultant having held senior policy and
delivery posts in a number of Whitehall
departments including the Home Office,
Communities & Local Government and the
Ministry of Justice. Other posts currently
held include board director of Social
Pioneers, a social business development
agency, and director at Eurisco Solutions.
Previously a board member of Community
Housing Therapy and the Holocaust
Memorial Day Trust and served for five
years as a lay member of a local mental
heath panel.
Liz Marsh BSc (Hons) MRICSAppointed to Board September 2009
Surveyor with over 20 years commercial
experience of many sectors of the real
estate industry.
Marie-Louise Clayton LLB FCCA Appointed to Board May 2009
Marie-Louise has had 25 years experience
in the private sector as a Finance Director
for a number of large companies. She took
a Law degree at Exeter University and then
qualified as an accountant in industry. She
now works as a non-executive for a number
of private companies.
Diane Herbert BA (Hons)(Chair Remuneration Commitee)Appointed to Board May 2009
Director of Human Resources at Channel 4
with over 20 years experience in
organisation development, leadership,
internal talent management and people
management within blue chip organisations.
Bernadette O’Shea Appointed to Board March 2010
Bernadette spent 20 years working in local
government doing a variety of jobs including
community worker, women's equality
adviser, senior advisor on policy and
performance and Director of modernisation
and customer services.
For the last four years she has been the
Chief Executive of Hounslow Homes,
a local authority housing 'company'
responsible for the management and
maintenance of 16,000 homes.
Housing for Women | Annual Review 17
Company Registration no: 420651Tenant Services Authority no: L0970Registered Charity no: 211351
A company registered not for profit, limited by
guarantee and not having a share capital.
Principal BankersLloyds TSB Bank plc39 Threadneedle StreetLondon EC2R 8AU
SolicitorsCoffin Mew22 Kings Park RoadSouthamptonSO15 2UF
AuditorsBeever and StruthersChartered AccountantsAlperton HouseBridgewater RoadWembleyMiddlesexHA0 1EH
Internal AuditorsSmith and WilliamsonChartered Accountants25 Moorgate
London EC2R 6AY
Housing for WomenSixth Floor, Blue Star House, 234–244 Stockwell Road,London, SW9 9SP
Telephone: 020 7501 6120Fax: 020 7924 0224
PhotographyJohn Stuttle
Laura Mtungwazi
Designwww.toastdesign.co.uk
TextHousing for Women and
Campbell Tickell,consultants in the
not-for-profit sector
FS74779Maintenance Services