PRESS RELEASE
CHERIE HONOURED AT THE 2010
HOUSING HEROES AWARDS

The achievements of the unsung heroes of the social housing world were honoured at a glittering awards ceremony in London last week, hosted by adventurer and TV presenter Ben Fogle, and organised by Inside Housing magazine and the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Cherie Tinenti, a Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing resident was the winner of the Inspirational Tenant of the Year, beating stiff competition from around the country.

Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing nominated Cherie for the award in recognition of the way Cherie and her late husband, Marios, worked with Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing, the Community safety team at Charnwood Borough Council and the Police in making the Peel Drive area a safer place to live. In spite of tragic personal circumstances, Cherie has continued to work tirelessly for the community and has been instrumental in the provision of a community flat for the local area.

Sue Taylor, Chief Executive of Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing said: “We are delighted that Cherie has been recognised by this prestigious award. Cherie is an inspiration to others and has helped to motivate others to come forward and work with us to rid our estates of anti social behaviour. Well done Cherie!”

The Editor of Inside Housing, Stuart Macdonald, said: “The housing sector is characterised by the commitment, passion and flair of the people who work in it. They are dedicated, innovative and creative individuals and teams. That’s why we run these awards – to shine the spotlight on those ‘unsung heroes’ so others can learn from them. I was amazed by the number of entries we received this year – more than 300 – and the overall calibre. The standard was really high.”

The 2010 Housing Heroes Awards was sponsored by Campbell Tickell, The Hire Standard, United House, Asset Skills, EMA, Insight, Tribal, Kinetics and Xmbrace.

Around 800 guests gathered for the celebrations at the prestigious London Hilton Hotel on Park Lane on 14 May and enjoyed a terrific presentation by Ben Fogle.

The judges included some of the most respected people in the social housing sector, including Roy Irwin, the Chief Inspector of Housing at the Audit Commission, Elaine Elkington, the Director of Housing at Birmingham City Council, David Grayson, Chairman of Housing 21, Tom Nicholls the Group Director at L & Q, Simon Chatfield from The Hyde Group and Cora Carter from TAROE.

For more information about the awards visit Inside Housing’s website – www.insidehousing.co.uk. This has more details of the judges, sponsors, pictures and details of all the other finalists shortlisted for the various awards.

For all press enquiries please contact Maria Maltby, Service Improvement and Communications Manager for Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing Limited on 01509 632578, or email maria.maltby@cnh.org.uk

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The full Roll of Honour for the awards is shown below:

Financial or Procurement Team of the Year
Wolverhampton Homes – Grounds Maintenance Service

Development Team of the Year
Derbyshire Dales District Council

Maintenance Team of the Year
The Wrekin Housing Trust – Managed Services Team

HR Team of the Year
Shepherds Bush Housing Group

IT Team of the Year
The Cadarn Housing Group

Frontline Housing Team of the Year
Liverpool Mutual Homes (LMH) – Intensive Community Payback Team

Tenant Empowerment Team of the Year
Poplar HARCA – Resident Empowerment Support Team (REST)

Ground Breaking Service Team of the Year
Moneyline Cymru Steering Group - Affordable Lending Initiative

Support/Care Team of the Year
The Cyrenians – Adults facing Chronic Exclusion (ACE) Project

Inspirational Leader of the Year
Neil Biddiscombe – Advantage SW

Inspirational Mentor of the Year
Richard Husband – Worcester Community Housing

Inspirational Colleague of the Year
Francis Kabia – Brent Housing Partnership

Career Development Star of the Year
Dawn Aston-Adams – Wolverhampton Homes

Inspirational Board or Cabinet Member of the Year
Kate Willis – Glasgow Housing Association

Inspirational Tenant of the Year
Cherie Tinenti – Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing