Our Tenants' Got Talent

Our tenants really have got talent

Earlier this week I got the pleasure of being able to take a few hours away from my desk to pop down to the Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton to see some of the incredible talents our tenants possess. From singers and nail artists to cookery masters and photographers – our Flair Fair had the lot!

The stereo-type of council tenants still grates on me. A small minority who grab the unfortunate headlines have undoubtedly tarnished the reputation of council tenants across the country – but what about the silent majority who are simply getting on with their lives, working hard and providing for their families? The reputation hasn’t been helped in recent years by TV shows like Channel 4’s comedy, Shameless. Don’t get me wrong, Shameless can be really funny and has become a cult classic with viewing figures in the millions and spin-off series sprouting up across the world. But how many times have photos from Shameless been used to go alongside negative media articles about council house tenants?

How did I end up with Garfield?!

But are the antics of the Gallagher family really a true depiction of modern-day council tenants?

We launched our Flair Fair last year and it was a huge success. We’ve got a pool of exceptionally talented tenants. Earlier this week Flair Fair was back and I had the privilege of popping along to see for myself some of the tenants who were showcasing their talents.

We had singers, artists, photographers, nail technicians, cake makers, henna artists and clothes designers to name but a few!

I went along to the fair with the Chair of our Board, Sue Roberts MBE. Sue’s been a council tenant for more than 40 years, and with an MBE for her work in the community over the year I can safely say she couldn’t be further away from the Gallagher family!

It was wonderful to see so many tenants expressing themselves through their various talents and hobbies. For me, this is the story of social housing which, sadly, rarely gets told.

Proud: Our LEAP apprentices pick up another award.

And all this comes in the week where our LEAP apprenticeship programme beat of competition from companies like O2, Vodafone, NatWest and ASDA to be crowned overall winners of the Peer Excellence Awards for work in the community. Our tenant apprentices who come through LEAP have mostly either never worked, or are long-term unemployed. Perhaps it goes to show – our tenants have got talent – sometimes people just need to give them the break they need to realise how talented and successful they really can be.

Finally, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all of the tenants who came to the Flair Fair – it was fabulous to see so many people there and I’m already looking forward to popping down again next year!