Boldly Going into the Beyond Hi everyone, my name is Aisha and I work for Poplar HARCA, a housing association in East London. I was asked to share my experiences and what I have done beyond the HDN Mentoring programme. The idea of public speaking is something that can really put the most confident person on edge. I used to be one of those people but then I had a job that involved going into schools and speaking to 16-18 year olds about donating their blood, organs, and bone marrow. With a topic like that it was not unheard of [...]

Celebrating a culture of can-do Industry awards highlight diversity and inclusion in construction, engineering and housing The people and organisations trailblazing the way towards a more inclusive and diverse built environment workforce were honoured at an awards ceremony in Manchester last week. Over 300 industry professionals gathered at the glamourous surroundings of the Hilton Deansgate in the city centre to applaud their peers at the Inspire Awards 2018, held on Tuesday 5 June. The event is dedicated to showcasing and promoting – indeed to inspire – a more diverse and inclusive culture in construction, engineering and housing. Set [...]

Cym D’Souza, Chief Executive, Arawak Walton and Chair, BMENational, and Raj Patel, Chief Executive, Housing Diversity Network Read more here

#housingdiversityday On Monday 19th March Housing Diversity Network (HDN) held the first #housingdiversityday social media campaign.  We are particularly grateful to Ben and Jane from Tower Hamlets Housing, a HDN member, who provided the energy and expertise in making this happen. Both 24Housing and Inside Housing partnered with us in this campaign. The momentum of activity built quickly with a mood amongst participants becoming joint owners of the campaign inviting their contacts to get involved.  It wasn’t too surprising that the analytics at the end of the day revealed #housingdiversityday was very successful.  At its peak we were trending as [...]

We seek enthusiastic, exceptional individuals to become mentors who want to build their own skills in particular in coaching and mentoring and want to share their knowledge and experience of working in housing to develop and support staff in the sector. We seek staff who wish to become mentees, who are ready to take advantage of this unique opportunity to be accelerated in their personal development and be supported by mentors to overcome barriers to their progression in the workplace.  “I think the programme was excellent. It covered a huge variety of subjects and was a valuable experience being able [...]

As government figures show race inequalities in housing, Sallie Bridgen reflects on what housing providers can do to tackle the problem What do this week’s hate crime figures and last week’s government figures on ethnicity mean for housing? The news that hate crime has increased by 29% in 2016 – with spikes after the vote to leave the European Union and the Westminster Bridge terrorist attack – comes close on the heels of the damning information on inequality published in last week’s Ethnicity Facts and Figures. Both should be of grave concern to those of us committed to a fairer [...]

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Raj Patel as HDN’s new CEO, who will be joining us on 15 November 2017. Raj co-founded Ashram Housing in Birmingham, and has worked in equality and diversity for more than a quarter of a century, leading organisations and consultancies in UK, Asia, Africa and Latin America. He brings a wealth of experience and expertise in equality, diversity and inclusion, and in leadership. Raj Patel new CEO said: 'We find ourselves in a time when the need for equality, diversity and inclusion is critical for the housing sector and the nation. The role [...]

  Throughout my own career I’ve had the benefit of some great mentors and role models who’ve helped me (I’ve been in management positions for  over 30 years – even I find that hard to believe). Those mentors provided me with a fountain of knowledge and contacts as well as sharing their own mistakes and challenges, so I could learn from them. It’s really helped me as I‘ve progressed in my career. It was great they showed their ‘human’ side – and I discovered making mistakes and not knowing everything was fine because you can learn, and you can also [...]

Theresa May said of the new ‘Ethnic disparity audit’, "…People who have lived with discrimination don't need a government audit to make them aware of the scale of the challenge…”.  While the audit doesn’t provide any new information, we welcome the Government shining a light on the appalling levels of inequality in our society, and committing to action. In the area of housing alone, the audit data reinforces what we know – that ethnic minority households are more likely to be living in fuel poverty, damp or overcrowded housing than White British households and, despite the myths, are less likely to [...]

Last week I shared my first blog about the HDN Mentees Programme. This week I thought I’d share my experience of the classroom sessions we completed. This may be beneficial for those who’ve applied for this year’s programme and anyone who has wondered what’s included in the sessions. I’ll also be adding links to some of the tools we used so that if you’re not on the programme this year, you can see what they look like and maybe even use them yourself. Classroom Sessions The classroom sessions are a great opportunity not only to learn but also to network with [...]