25 April 2014 | News and features | Back to Blog
Dot Dot Dot guardians in The Guardian!
We were delighted to see Emma Howard’s piece in The Guardian this week about her experience of being a guardian with Dot Dot Dot.
Emma wrote: “Nostalgic friends comment that my housing situation sounds “just like living in student halls”. What they mean, is that I am part of a community. Ideas, advice and DIY tools are shared around, spontaneous socials are common and there is always a neighbour around to help.”
“My neighbour, Musaddiq Ahmed, has lived on the estate since 1986, but will have to leave when developers arrive. “I have watched my neighbours leave – about 80% have been forced to leave Tower Hamlets and find housing they can afford 20 miles out in Romford or Dagenham.” Still, he thinks the property guardian concept is “a marvellous idea. If the guardians weren’t here, we would be on our own.” His daughter is now considering applying to be a guardian.”
It’s always fantastic to hear from our guardians that we’re succeeding in what we set out to do – offering them a way to reduce their living costs at the same time as supporting them to volunteer and helping them to form a community among themselves and with their neighbours, and at the same time giving landlords a way to make sure that their void properties are being lived in and looked after by responsible residents.
You can read the full article here.