The 24Housing Awards – A Dot Dot Dot Review

Last week Dot Dot Dot went down to the 24Housing Awards in Coventry. We were nominated for innovation of the year. Here’s what happened!

Upon arriving, we were lucky enough to meet Chris Smith, the editor of 24Housing. Chris was a very charming chap who was swiftly whisked away from us by others keen to chat, so we continued to mingle. We really enjoyed seeing our clients and partners in more of an informal setting and to see them get the recognition they deserve.

Awards for Community Achievement in Housing

The 24Housing awards are to celebrate community achievements in housing. It was great to hear some amazing stories and meet some inspiring people from across the country. It was especially nice to talk to housing associations that had brought along tenants. These tenants had either won awards or been working with housing providers towards bigger things.

We were lucky enough to be sitting next to a nominee for ‘Best Green Scheme’. This was a woman who works for Newport City Homes but is also a tenant. They cheered every time Wales was mentioned! She helped the housing association to create a woodchip fuel system farmed from sustainable forest which provided energy to an estate. It was brilliantly innovative and it was nice to see tenants involved in a partnership like this. A good learning for all!

We were also sitting on a table with Wayne Campbell, nominated for housing professional of the year with Sixtown Housing. On boxing day he was having lunch with his family when he heard about flooding in the area. He went out and spent the rest of his Christmas holidays helping people struggling with floodwater. A lovely guy!

Our Award Nomination

Dot Dot Dot were up for innovation of the year for our approach to regeneration and empty buildings. Whilst we were sad not to win, we were delighted to see that Poplar HARCA were recognised for their drive of turning empty spaces into community assets. This was done through OpenPoplar.com. This is a site that allows local people to browse empty spaces and think of innovative ways to use them. It’s a great way to encourage entrepreneurs, small business space and community development generally.  So well done to them!

All in all it was a lovely occasion which afforded us the opportunity to hear many inspiring stories and meet an array of amazing people. We look forward to attending similar events in the future and building upon the relationships we created.