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Tenant champion dies after illness
Tenant champion Gill Lawson has died at the age of 57 after a long illness.
Ms Lawson was a founding member of Community Gateway, the first housing association to operate the ‘Gateway model’, which aims to place communities at the heart of organisations.
She was consistently passionate about giving tenants a voice and was invited to many other housing associations, conferences and the Houses of Parliament to present the model.
Ms Lawson stepped down from the Community Gateway board in 2014. However, she remained involved with the organisation as an associate member after this.
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She also continued to be involved in action groups reviewing service standards, policies and procedures and conducted mystery shopping, despite her illness.
Nic Bliss, head of policy at the Confederation of Co-operative Housing, supported Community Gateway when homes were transferred to it from Preston City Council.
Of Ms Lawson, he said: “Take it from me – she was a special woman! She was very instrumental in setting Community Gateway up.
“I remember the first meeting she came to – she sat at the back saying nothing and then right at the end she asked very sheepishly in a quiet voice, ‘Do you think I could get involved?’ A far cry from the feisty and lively person she later became!”
Louise Mattinson, executive director of customers and communities at Community Gateway, added: “She was my customer conscience on my shoulder, for example if we were changing policies or structures, I always had ‘How is Gill going to react to this?’ at the back of my mind.
“She was the voice of the customer and was prepared to challenge you. She would ask, ‘Have customers been involved, is this right for the customer?’ She would hold people to account.”
Nigel Wilson, chief executive of Gentoo, was also a founding member of the organisation and worked with Ms Lawson.
He said: “I worked alongside Gill for over nine years; she was a heart-on-the-sleeve person who put the people of Preston and Gateway tenants first in everything.
“She could be fiery and was never shy in sharing exactly what she thought on the subject in discussion. She was a great board colleague, a woman of passion and pride in her Gateway and her Preston. She is missed.”
