Radius Gets the Gold!
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Sheenagh McNally presents the award to Tenant Engagement Officers Lesa Kelly and Ashleigh Mulgrave
Supporting Communities was thrilled to present Radius Housing with our first Gold Level Accreditation in Tenant Participation.
Our ‘TP’ accreditation Award assesses ten standards, requiring landlords to demonstrate how tenants have influenced and shaped service improvements. The accreditation is a robust and structured process where tenant engagement activities are independently scrutinised. The final report provides practical and achievable recommendations and a roadmap for improvement.
The process has five stages, including an intensive self-assessment, the independent appraisal, and testing engagement practices by meeting with tenants, staff, and senior managers. All accreditations are validated by an independent panel of assessors and awarded at bronze, silver, or gold level. Successful organisations are accredited for three years.
Radius was the first organisation in Northern Ireland to apply for accreditation in 2021, scoring a silver-level award. Since then, we have been delighted to see Radius take our recommendations on board, resulting in an incredible gold standard this time.
Sheenagh McNally, chair of the independent panel assessing the accreditation, said, “I am delighted to award Radius the Gold Standard, the first of its kind on the island of Ireland. Radius clearly demonstrated their ambition to continuously strive for better, taking on board all the recommendations from the first submission. The team’s hard work, commitment, and dedication has set the bar high for tenant engagement in Northern Ireland and further afield.”
The assessment panel wrote, “There is clear evidence that TP is embedded into the culture of Radius, and there are many examples of tenants influencing decisions and making a change. Staff are keen and enthusiastic and see TP as a huge benefit to the organisation—more importantly, this comes from the top and is embraced by everyone we met.”
The assessors were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm, commitment, and understanding among participants in the various focus groups. Their testimonies brought the documentation to life and confirmed the implementation of Radius’ Tenant Engagement Strategy across the organisation. They also acknowledged the organisation's continuous learning and willingness to improve service delivery where needed.
Loma Wilson, Radius Director of Communities, commented, “When we received the silver level, we took on board all the recommendations and improvements suggested in the previous report and made a concerted effort to implement them. A huge effort went into collating the information for this, our second submission, and we wish to pay tribute to all the staff involved. This effort has allowed us to improve the services we bring to our tenants, making our whole organisation work more efficiently with better outcomes for all. We see real value in the accreditation process and would welcome its addition to the regulatory process for housing associations as a mechanism to ensure the Consumer Standards are being met for all social housing tenants.”
Tenant Engagement Officers Lesa Kelly and Ashleigh Mulgrave received the award on behalf of Radius. “We are absolutely delighted that the hard work and commitment we all put into our TP Strategy and delivery over the last three years has been recognised and rewarded in this manner. We are privileged to have worked alongside tenants who were instrumental in their efforts to support us through this journey to receive Gold in the TP Accreditation.”
It is an honour to recognise Radius Housing with the first Gold TP Award in Northern Ireland. Their work in tenant engagement has been sector-leading and has inspired others to follow suit. As more housing associations engage with the accreditation process, collectively, we are raising the bar and taking tenant engagement practices to the next level.
Supporting Communities and Radius Housing Staff and Board celebrate the Gold Award
