Welcome Anthony, the new Resident Engagement Manager

We’re delighted to welcome our new Resident Engagement Manager, Anthony Burrowes, to Clúid! We caught up with him for a chat – he was incredibly energetic and showed a real passion for increasing opportunities for residents – for you, our residents, to be active contributors in conversations that affect you in your homes and supporting you in building thriving communities. Below is an extract of some of the questions we asked him which highlights his interests, experience and what he wants to bring to the role.

What skills, strengths, or experiences do you have that you are looking forward to bringing to your role?
Over the past 20 years, either through a voluntary or professional capacity, I have worked in the NGO field. NGOs are non-governmental organisations such as charities. I have worked in a variety of organisations from European advocacy to Mental health and wellbeing, widening participation in Higher Education and, most recently, tenant engagement with another Approved Housing Body.

My strengths would be communications, creative facilitation and finding the most effective ways people can work together

I have only recently started in the role, and I have already seen and heard some of the incredible work that Clúid does in the field of resident engagement. I am looking forward to build on the momentum of the work previously done and seek out new opportunities for residents to be engaged.

What excited you most about the role of resident engagement manager with Clúid?
Through previously working in another Approved Housing Body, I heard a lot of positive conversations about Clúid’s culture and that the ‘We’re All Clúid’ mindset was not just a tag line but a way of working. I believe that if resident engagement is to be done correctly that it needs to be a partnership, that it must take a whole organisational approach. I am excited to have my assumptions proved right, that there is a hungry appetite for engagement and collaboration in Clúid and that there is an energy for this to grow through enhanced innovations.

What are your core values and how do you intend to bring them into your role?
The question around values is something that I think about a lot to ensure that I am staying true to them. My three core values in my professional life and how I intend to bring them into my role are:

Everyone has an expertise. This expertise does not have to be from a college degree, it can be through lived experience. Within this role I intend to ensure that there is a partnership between residents and my Clúid colleagues and that there is a respect for everyone’s expertise.

I am curious. Everyone brings something different to the conversation. Everyone has had a different path to get to a single moment in time. Everyone makes decisions or has opinions based on their beliefs and experiences. I am curious about people, their interactions and how best we can work together so that those experiences can be heard and respected. I want to work with my colleagues and residents to build on the ethos that has been developed that ‘We’re All Clúid,’ quirks and all.

I am an optimist. In my professional life the glass is always half full!!! There have been many obstacles, challenges and puzzles that have had to be pieced together throughout my career both operationally and emotionally. I don’t tend to give up. I find solutions, collaborators or alternative approaches that better suit the situation. I look forward to bringing this energy to my role as Resident Engagement Manager.

Is there anything else that you would like to add to this conversation Anthony?
It is important to create safe spaces for real collaboration to occur, but not every resident will want to sit in a meeting, and it is important for all of us to remember to actively listen so that we can truly hear what residents want to say.

I am very much looking forward to the journey and to see how I can contribute to the work of my predecessors.