Hello, and welcome to my latest - and final - Chief Executive's blog

Today is my last day at Southway. It has been an incredible journey, and I’ve had the privilege of meeting and working with so many amazing, hardworking, and committed people, from our team of staff to our volunteers and the tenants and residents I’ve met in our South Manchester communities.

I started work in housing with Manchester City Council as a temporary housing assistant in the Sharston Housing Office. That was a great job, and I loved being involved in something that I felt was important. Everyone should have a decent home, somewhere to feel safe, secure and happy and from which the rest of their life can grow.

Southway’s Board gave me a chance to be Chief Executive of what was a new organisation back in 2007, and I’m so glad they did. I was relatively young: in my early 40s, a woman (which was quite rare for a Chief Executive in those days), and not really in the traditional mould for a leader. I loved working for Southway from day one and, even though we still face many challenges, I’m pleased to say that our vision is still to make sure our homes are good places to live, and we treat our customers with trust and respect.

Lots of people have asked me what my highlights have been over the last 17 years and there really are too many to mention. But some of the things I will remember most are:

🏠 Fitting new windows in a house on a noisy and busy corner of Princess Road on Southway’s first day, and how delighted the lady was who lived there was with how it reduced noise, improved the insulation, and made the property look much nicer.

🌳 Southway’s 5th Birthday Jubilee Woodland project, turning a neglected grass verge into a beautiful green space that still looks great today and helped shape our ideas about how we could make more of our green areas

🏡 Our first development project on Mersey Bank, providing homes and improving community services, including supporting BMCA

👵 Our age-friendly initiatives, starting with our Old Moat age-friendly neighbourhood, followed by our age-friendly homes at Minehead, Dahlia and Gorton Mill (just around the corner from where I grew up). They have really set a standard for reducing loneliness and isolation

🤝 Our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion through programs like our BOOST leadership mentoring programme, in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University and Greater Manchester Housing Providers, and the Breakthrough Disability Discovery Project.

👩‍🤝‍🧑 Finally, the best thing about Southway is, of course, the people. I’ve met some lovely people living in our communities and I will remember the annual Volunteers Event as a particular highlight, learning about all the work people do every day to help others.

What's next?

I do believe the future looks bright. We have a new government which has made housing one of its early priorities and has committed to building new homes. This is backed up locally by the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham’s commitment to put housing first, recognising that, without a home, people can’t grow and flourish.

Although we’ve had a difficult couple of years since the pandemic and still face some challenges, I’m hopeful that our efforts are starting to show results.

I will miss Southway but will continue to follow its progress. Thank you for everything, and best of luck to John for his future as the new Chief Executive of Southway. What a lucky chap he is to have all of this ahead of him!

Best wishes, 

Karen

Karen with Southway's old mascot, SouthPaw, and other staff members during a Community Commitment Day in 2014