WISH North Wales Spring Newsletter 2019

An Exciting Year Ahead for WISH North Wales

The first WISH North Wales event for 2019 ‘Nobody’s Perfect’ took place on Thursday 24^th January. Hosted at the brand new 1891 restaurant in Rhyl, which is part of the Denbighshire County Council-lead waterfront regeneration project.

The event was facilitated by Paul Johnson and his team from 3Dk Solutions who shared their expertise on confidence, creating the perfect team for success and how to ‘Strive for progress, not perfection’. These objectives were demonstrated via a series of group tasks, mind-teasing challenges and presentations.

Almost 50 people from across the housing and construction sectors attended, including male employees of Building Careers UK and Tai Goledd Cymru (North Wales Housing). The North Wales board were thrilled to have the male gender supporting the WISH North Wales network, WISH is always keen to encourage male attendance at the workshops, to share even more professional expertise with all our members.   

Alex Taylor from Building Careers has commented:
"I attended my first WISH event in January and I was impressed with the fantastic venue and organisation of the event. I felt welcomed into the group and enjoyed the interactive tasks that had been set. The workshop was based around creating great teams, whilst Paul elaborated on some useful points about time and resource management to complete a common goal. Overall my first WISH event was a great experience and I’m looking forward to the next.”

Louise Blackwell from Clwyd Alyn, part of the Pennaf Housing Group based in St Asaph said:
“Thanks for a truly fantastic morning. The event was actually held on my day off, but I'm so glad I chose to attend, the WISH North Wales events are always so worthwhile! Thank you so much to all involved in organising!”

Each WISH North Wales event is structured to allow for an inclusive environment, where members in the development and social housing sectors can network, focussing on supporting each other with professional development, whilst benefitting from learning from inspirational and successful business people, such as Paul Johnson.

Val Wynne from Anwyl Construction said:
“WISH North Wales has provided me with a golden opportunity for networking amongst all interested parties in our industry in a convivial environment.  It also enables us to have a better understanding of each other’s challenges in bringing social housing projects from the point of construction through to their end use.
Paul talked about the key to a successful career being within the team you surround yourself with, and the communication and mutual support offered by WISH North Wales is a hugely positive influence on that.”

A huge thank you from all the WISH North Wales board to Denbighshire Council's housing team for kindly organising the facilities and refreshments.

Celebrating International Women's Day - Friday 8th March saw a record turnout of our WISH community to celebrate International Women's Day!

We were honoured that Alison Inman was able to make time in her busy schedule to visit us in North Wales, which resonates how highly regarded the WISH North Wales network is. Alison regaled us with an insightful history lesson on the birth of social housing and the inspirational women that have made such a huge difference to the sector, including Ethelred Browning and Octavia Hill. Interspersed with some very humorous stories about Alison’s own journey in housing. The essence of International Women’s day was very much captured and the event was one to remember and truly highlighted why we have so much to be proud of.

Alison’s speech also touched upon domestic violence, an issue she is extremely passionate about, having chosen this to be an area of focus during her year as CIH president. She told us: “I wanted to do more than fundraise, I wanted to raise awareness”.’ Alison’s ‘Making a Stand’ Campaign certainly achieved this. During her speech Alison reiterated the integral role housing providers and the construction companies can play in making this stand and tackling the problem.

Sarah Schofield, Director of Customers and Communities for Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd followed Alison, the audience benefitted from a moving and thought-provoking presentation about domestic violence and the long-standing impact it can have through generations of an affected family. Sarah pointed out how the duty of having the confidence to support tenants and staff who are often dealing with harrowing situations is integral to the role of Housing Management, although is often overlooked. Sarah shared: “Alison’s pledge and the national spotlight it has placed on this issue has helped Housing Management to highlight the importance of these issues”

 Sarah learnt of the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) accreditation during a business conference and is now bringing the Housing Associations across North Wales together to fully understand the eight priority areas that DAHA has identified in tackling the issue and to ensure there are no gaps in knowledge on the extent of domestic abuse experience in North Wales.

We’re always thrilled to hear positive feedback from our members…

“Alison’s talk was very inspiring, re-affirming why we’re all working in housing in some way or form!” Anne-Louise Gilmour, ALG Consultancy

“This is my first WISH event andI wasn’t disappointed. On first arriving, I was greeted with a warm and friendly smile from Nikki which immediately made me feel relaxed, welcome and ready to enjoy the talk. I always keep an eye out for WISH events as they are really beneficial to women in social housing, wanting to make a difference.”

Vicki Shenton, Denbighshire County Council

A full programme of events

We are currently planning events for the rest of 2019 with subjects that respond to what our valued members are asking for in the feedback forms we provide. Some of the dates planned in so far include:

• The Optical Illusion of Communication – Are you communicating clearly, are you being heard?
• Networking – are you getting the most out of the events you attend, all the do’s (and the don’ts)!
• Women at the Top
• ‘Speed Networking’ (with a delicious afternoon tea)!

Look out for further details on these events, to be released shortly! And don’t forget to keep up with us on Social Media to make sure you don’t miss the chance to book your places!

Connections

We are receiving very positive feedback regarding the useful connections being made at our events. However, sometimes there are occasions where opportunities can be missed. If you would like any introductions facilitating, please get in touch and we will happily arrange.

Croeso

Finally, a huge WELCOME to Natalie Palframan of Anwyl who has joined the WISH board as an Ambassador

Natalie Palframan – Communications Coordinator at Anwyl Construction

A bit about me!....

I started working in the Construction industry to embark on a change in career in 2015. Anwyl Construction primarily work with Housing Providers, currently sitting on many frameworks in the housing sector as well as working on partnered projects with many long-standing clients, working throughout North Wales and into the North West. 

My role as Communications Coordinator covers Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Digital Marketing, PR/Comms, and Community Engagement. Working with our clients to engage with local communities and deliver positive outcomes is where my passion lies and I think it’s so important to ensure we build vibrant communities for our clients and their customers, creating new jobs, apprenticeships or training opportunities and enabling community activities and projects through both funding and coordination. 

I first heard about WISH North Wales during its evolvement from our Chair, Nikki Waud. I have found WISH is a brilliant platform to meeting other likeminded people who want to get on in their careers, a place where everyone can access support and encouragement from other members and the board whilst also benefitting from inspiring and influential speakers and workshops. It’s truly beneficial to meet other people within the housing sector and understand the critical issues and pressures our clients face and I always leave an event feeling upbeat, confident and motivated. Therefore, I was thrilled when the WISH Board invited me to become an ambassador.

I am due to start a CIM course in April 2019 to gain my Level 3 Foundation qualification in Marketing. I’ve joined the WISH team to assist with Marketing and to manage the Social Media Platforms to push the North Wales name out across the housing and development sectors. This will support me in gaining my Marketing qualification, as well as growing my own network and experience. I’m excited to be working closely with a board of influential and successful women within the housing sector and I hope this will open up new avenues for me to explore in my role at Anwyl when coordinating CSR and Community projects in order to further meet our Clients’ agendas.

Outside of work I enjoy keeping fit and experimenting in the kitchen with new recipes, not forgetting to take time out to support my favourite independent coffee haunts. I also enjoy being chief party planner for my friendship group and family!

We look forward to seeing you at our next event, in the meantime, please follow us on:

Twitter: @WISHNorthWales

Facebook: Women in Social Housing North Wales

Linked In: Women In Social Housing (WISH) North Wales

We very much welcome your input, feedback and love to hear of what you are up to!