Block champions celebrate a year of their successful volunteering with a thank you lunch
In August we held our Block Champion Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Birkenhead Park Pavilion. Over 30 tenants came together for an afternoon of celebration to look over their accomplishments in the past year and discuss their ideas for the future of the blocks.
Guest speakers were Lynn Struve, Eco Schools Officer for Wirral Council and Pat Gibbons, Station Manager for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS). Lynn delivered a great talk and insight into the successful upcycling partnership initiative, Refresh. Block Champions were very impressed, and some were keen to get involved in the next stage of the scheme when it hopefully relocates to shop premises in the next few months. Pat Gibbons focused his presentation on the importance of keeping communal areas sterile in flatted accommodation.
Pat said: “MFRS has a strong partnership with Magenta Living, who takes the safety of their residents very seriously. They have robust procedures in place to ensure they are fully compliant with fire safety legislation. The most difficult area to manage is ensuring communal areas are completely sterile as residents for many years have been personalising them with mats, plants and various other items. However, Magenta Living has had to get strict with this and are enforcing a zero-tolerance policy, so nothing can be left to interpretation.”
Alan Dollery won the top prize of ‘Block Champion of the Year’ for 2018. Unfortunately, Alan was unable to make the event to accept his engraved glass trophy, but we know he will be delighted with his award. Alan has been proactive throughout the year, ensuring improvements were carried out to the Prenton blocks and to the services they receive. Margaret Smith from Moreton was the lucky winner of the movie night hamper which included a selection of treats and family DVDs, including the new Block Champion DVD, which you can watch below.
Karen Lear, Environmental Services Team Leader at Magenta Living said: “I have a great rapport with the Block Champions, I’m on the phone to some of them daily! They have been up and running for years before I took over the role and I can honestly say without them I couldn’t do my job. There is no way that I can physically get around 500 blocks of flats, so their observations are crucial to our striving for excellence objective. I’m really keen to try and get one or two more Block Champions in every block. An ambitious target I know, but that way we will have more people actively pushing to make things happen in the neighbourhoods where they live.
If you want to get involved as a Block Champion and help make a difference, please contact Karen Lear on 07825281024 or use the online membership form, here.