Laurence Ford has a passion for where he lives. He’s one of the estate champions working with us to make your estates and local communities cleaner, safer and more resilient.
Laurence has been an mhs homes resident for 11 years. He lives in Luton, Chatham, and describes it as a thriving community where people really care about each other and their environment.
“We love living here, and we want to protect it,” he explains. “My role as an estate champion is to keep an eye out for any issues, to listen to what other residents are saying and make sure our voices are being heard.
“People tell me about things like nuisance neighbours or fly-tipping and I make sure they are raised with the housing and estates teams at mhs.
“By shining a light on what’s happening, we can get problems sorted more quickly and avoid some of the frustrations.”
Laurence is modest about the difference he’s making, but as a builder by trade he takes a very practical approach to some of issues that come up.
“It’s good to get out on the area walkabouts with mhs housing officers and local councillors so I can explain what’s going on. I also get progress reports on how things we’ve raised are being dealt with.”
Laurence says he’d encourage other residents to take up the opportunity to become an estate champion. “If you want to help make improvements where you live, this is the way to go. mhs homes teams can’t be everywhere, but by being involved and keeping them updated, we can be part of the changes we want to see.”