Housing is a great place to work

Helen Keller once said that “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” That feeling of togetherness is one of the reasons I love working in housing.

My housing career began 15 years ago working as a sheltered housing scheme manager and evolved further, managing Extra Care Housing and Neighbourhood Services to now working within Abri Workplace Solutions Team.

It was whilst studying my CIH Level 4 Certificate in Housing that I had the opportunity to join the West Midlands regional group. I began writing blogs and supporting the group with initiatives. I came to realise the importance of the CIH community and lifelong learning.

This sense of CIH community led a group of colleagues and I to establish a CIH Club. The club enables CIH members within Abri to come together to discuss issues that are affecting the housing sector. It makes that important link between members and CIH and supports our student colleagues that are embarking on their studying journey.

Through lifelong learning there’s an opportunity to think about your professional development needs and how you can contribute to the professionalism of your organisation and the wider sector. That’s why I joined the CIH Professional Standards Committee last year working together with colleagues to support the ongoing development of CIH’s professional standards and help ensure membership remains current and valuable, with strong professional values at its core.

Whilst there are some challenging times ahead for housing, I believe that we can do so much as housing professionals to put our customers at the heart and empower people to take the lead where they live. Housing is a great place to work – it really does offer so much and the opportunity to make a difference, together.

Trisha Harrington Cert CIH, workplace services manager, Abri
Vice chair, CIH Professional Standards Committee

Find out more about our professional standards and if you're not a CIH member find out about the wealth of benefits to joining us here.