ao link
Twitter
Facebook
Linked In
Twitter
Facebook
Linked In

You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles

A week in the life of… a head of corporate social responsibility

Helen Sheen works at Morgan Sindall Property Services. She talks us through her week of working on projects to help residents during the pandemic, interviewing young people for work placements, and purchasing an automatic ball launcher

Linked InTwitterFacebookeCard
Helen bought an automatic ball launcher for her dog Rolo
Helen bought an automatic ball launcher for her dog Rolo
Sharelines

A week in the life of Helen Sheen, head of corporate social responsibility at Morgan Sindall Property Services #UKhousing

Monday

It was my first day back from a week off, so I first dealt with a backlog of emails and then had my weekly one-to-one with my team to check in on all the different projects we have in progress.

It’s a busy time of year, but I am lucky to have an enthusiastic team.

First up was Kyla, who has started a new initiative with organisation Bags of Taste to provide an online cookery class to residents, showing them how they can create healthy meals on a budget. The pandemic has meant we had to adapt how we work and consider how we could still engage with residents from afar, so courses like these are a great example of that.

My Romanian rescue dog Rolo then started barking at me to throw his ball again. I read somewhere that there is such a thing as an automatic tennis ball launcher, and I’m seriously thinking about investing in one.


READ MORE

Unloved? Maybe, but here’s how social landlords should demonstrate their worthUnloved? Maybe, but here’s how social landlords should demonstrate their worth
The heart of the housing crisis: meet Jo Richardson, new CIH presidentThe heart of the housing crisis: meet Jo Richardson, new CIH president
Becontree: the 100-year-old estateBecontree: the 100-year-old estate

Tuesday

This morning I was interviewed as part of an audit to achieve our Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance accreditation. The accreditation involves training all employees to spot the signs of domestic abuse, so we can then help residents who might be victims of abuse or colleagues who may need support.

In the afternoon I attended a celebration event with the Construction Youth Trust. My team have worked closely with the trust and Fulham Boys School as part of its Building Brighter Futures programme. Our team provided guidance to students who were creating their own well-being area for students and teachers, alongside volunteers from across the business who provided insights into different career paths.

I also took the plunge and purchased the ball launcher.

Wednesday

Most of this morning was taken up with planning for a short corporate video that myself and a member of my team are involved with. We filmed in Basildon, where Luke, the social value contact for this area, had been extremely busy hosting mentoring and workshop sessions to help those who are currently unemployed.

The pandemic has had a massive impact on employment, and it is part of our role to help residents get back into the workplace.

It’s nice to see residents that we have coached in these sessions get the job they want, and it makes me incredibly proud of the team. There’s an immense satisfaction to hear when someone has been successful in a job application – it gives me a real sense of purpose.

Thursday

Today started with a call regarding our Kickstart scheme with my colleague in the North of the country. Donna took me through where we are, and I’m pleased to see that we already have five young people working with us on a placement. This is a great opportunity for young people, and I will be keen to see how they develop.

I then have a catch-up call with each member of my team. As we are a national organisation, they are all over the country.

The team works closely with the partnership directors and clients to ensure that our social value offer is engaging and responsive to residents’ needs. This may be creating digital inclusion activity in sheltered housing for our older residents, providing energy advice and awareness sessions to save residents money on their bills, or holding employability sessions.

We are working on a virtual community centre to support our geographically dispersed residents on a contract we have in the North. The pandemic highlighted to us that vulnerable residents who may not have a local neighbour or support network really suffered during this time, so we are introducing this as a way of ensuring our communities are connected.

Friday

I spent the morning undertaking mock interviews with students as part of our week-long virtual work experience programme.

The programme gives students the opportunity to work together with others on a few different areas, such as adapting a home for a resident who has additional needs following an accident and their return to home from hospital.

Students are given presentations from staff in the organisation, such as quantity surveyors and resident liaison officers, to give them a flavour of these roles.

The candidates I interviewed were all impressive, especially Deborah who is interested in a role in civil engineering. Deborah will be a great advocate for women in construction.

Rolo’s ball launcher came today, which is great news as hopefully that will relieve the constant ball-throwing activity. I tried it out and it looked like it’s going to be ideal, but Rolo didn’t seem sure!

A week in the life series

A week in the life series

Our ‘A week in the life’ series features housing professionals talking through what they do in their job on a day-to-day basis.

Find out about the different challenges housing workers in a variety of roles face in a given week. 

We aim to feature staff from housing associations, ALMOs, local authorities and more.

Click here to nominate yourself or a colleague for inclusion

A week in the life of… a damp, mould and condensation officer – featuring Andy Sherritt at South Yorkshire Housing Association

A week in the life of… Kensington and Chelsea’s Rough Sleeper Dual Diagnosis Service – featuring Gavin Stewart and Charlotte Northall

A week in the life of… a money guidance officer – featuring Debbie Woodcock at Clarion

A week in the life of… a part-time social prescribing link worker – featuring Dawn Perry at WHG

A week in the life of… a transitions and implementation lead – featuring James Brown at Places for People Living Plus

A week in the life of… a tenancy support manager – featuring Jackie Bird at Community Gateway Association

A week in the life of… a head of asset management – featuring Zoe Carmichael at Alpha Living

A week in the life of… an environmental sustainability manager – featuring Alice Lovatt at Sanctuary 

A week in the life of… a housing support manager – featuring Sara Dunnet at ForHousing

A week in the life of… a place-shaping manager – featuring Sarah Smith at Vivid Plus

A week in the life of… a part-time work planner – featuring Siwan Hammond at WHG

A week in the life of… a marketing communications customer lead – featuring Leah Thompson at Thrive

A week in the life of… a housing co-ordinator – featuring Sharon Chambers at Sovereign

A week in the life of… a senior community partnerships manager – featuring Brian Hamlin at The Guinness Partnership

A week in the life of… an asset compliance team leader – featuring Emily Elsworth at Longhurst Group

A week in the life of… a business continuity manager – featuring Chloe Fox at Abri

A week in the life of… an employment advisor – featuring Vanessa Loveridge at A2Dominion

A week in the life of… a housing association surveyor – featuring Andy Davies at Thrive Homes
A week in the life of… a youth support worker – featuring Treaser Jassal at Poplar Harca

A week in the life of… a head of community and housing-related support – featuring Daniel Revell-Wiseman at Longhurst

A week in the life of… a building safety manager – featuring Lisa Leather at Trafford Housing Trust

A week in the life of… a forensic mental health service manager – featuring Camille Lapaix at Look Ahead

A week in the life of… a communities apprentice – featuring Alex Perrin at Clarion Futures

A week in the life of… a supported housing officer – featuring Tamara Suppria at Housing Solutions 

A week in the life of… a senior occupational therapist – featuring Gemma Carr at Grand Union Housing Group

A week in the life of… a concierge officer – featuring Tyrone Wilson at Citizen

A week in the life of… a policy and practice officer – featuring Hannah Keilloh at the Chartered Institute of Housing

A week in the life of... a delivery manager – featuring Rebecca Bewick at Gentoo

A week in the life of… a fire safety project officer – featuring Victor Liburd at BPHA

A week in the life of… a ‘HomelessWise’ information co-ordinator – featuring Fiona McCarthy at St Mungo’s

A week in the life of… a national property development manager – featuring Heidi Fisher at Housing 21

A week in the life of… an apprentice electrician – featuring Selda Ponari at Bournville Village Trust

Sign up for our daily newsletter

Sign up for our daily newsletter
Linked InTwitterFacebookeCard
Add New Comment
You must be logged in to comment.