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From the frontline - Robin Woodward
Robin Woodward, a community connectors team leader at Curo, talks about helping people live independently and safely at home
Tell us about your job.
I lead a team of Curo well-being workers who work with isolated and often lonely people across South Gloucestershire.
We help reconnect them with activities and other people in their communities.
We support people to improve their well-being using our ‘five ways of well-being’ model: connecting, being active, taking notice, learning and giving.
How did you get into housing?
My background is in international IT sales, but after taking a long sabbatical to travel the world I returned to the UK and volunteered at a community healthy living centre. I soon realised working with people was far more rewarding than selling boxes of hardware and software.
At Curo, I started on a small community-building project and moved on to manage a passionate team in our South Gloucestershire service.
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What is the best part of your job?
The individual stories we hear every day.
I’ve met people who came to our service with severe anxiety and depression and who are now leading new community groups. People who were in danger of losing their homes now live independently and safely at home. It’s an honour to be in a job supporting those who need it.
What’s the worst part?
Often we will need to signpost people to other services that are oversubscribed so there are long waiting lists for the likes of mental health services and befrienders.
What would you change about the sector?
I would ensure that housing associations are known as significant providers of health and community support services that are as crucial as the NHS to people’s well-being.
If you could be prime minister for the day, what would you do?
In the words of comedian Robert Webb: “If I ruled the world, I’d order elections immediately and have myself arrested. No one person should rule the world because we’re all basically mad.” Before I was whisked away I would rush through a bill to ensure the finance was made available to support the housing sector to build the quantity of housing, including social, that politicians constantly talk about but never achieve.
What’s the most private thing you’d be willing to admit to your colleagues?
I’m always happy to share with my colleagues that I love travelling the world. As I recount my nine-month expedition from London to Cape Town, their eyes close, presumably as they imagine the human and animal encounters I describe.
