Regional interest groups EM

Our regional interest groups provide an opportunity for members to share good practice and agree shared approaches and strategies.

Brief descriptions are posted below but if you would like more information about the groups or their activities, please download our latest East Midlands regional interest groups brochure.

Interest groups

Care and support group

This group offers specialist providers of housing and support a forum for sharing good practice and raising common issues for discussion and guidance.
Chair: Jackie King-Owen, Enable HA

Central Home Ownership group

The central home ownership group shares good practice and information, covering topical issues and sharing costs for training, leaflets and marketing. The group focuses on benchmarking and acts as a forum for HomeBuy agents.
Chair: Bob Deol, Mercian HA

Chairs forum

This group is for Chairs of Housing Associations and provides national and regional policy updates, along with the opportunity for attendees to share their own news with peers and find out more about the work of others. Meetings also include focussed discussions on topical issues for housing associations.
Chair: Revolving

Continuous improvement group

Open to chief executives, senior managers and heads of service improvement from both the East and West Midlands, this group shares experience and good practice on organisational change and how to drive improvement in organisations.
Chair: Kathryn Webster, East Midlands Housing Group

Development Group

The group meets four times a year to discuss the latest development issues and input into national and regional policy work.
Chair: Jim Patman, East Midlands Housing Group

Finance Forum

Meetings attract a range of speakers and encourage the sharing of best practice. Steve Danby of Mazars is a regular attendee, giving updates on accounting issues.
Chair: Rob Griffiths, Longhurst Group

Financial Inclusion group

This group brings together practitioners from housing and local authority backgrounds to discuss and share current financial inclusion activity and support people in planning their work with financially excluded tenants. As well as promoting joined up working, sessions involve external specialist speakers and look ahead to the challenges posed by external factors such as welfare reform and changes in financial legislation. The group meets 4 times a year at venues across the East Midlands.
Chair: Peter Cowley, Nottingham Community HA

Governance and legal compliance group

Aimed at company secretaries and others in related roles this group provides an opportunity for discussion of issues related to governance and compliance matters.
Chair: Joanne Tilley, East Midlands Housing Association

HAMMAR group

This group is under development and aims to provide a forum for sharing information, knowledge and experience and raise the profile of maintenance and asset management as a specialist but integral function.
Contact: Steve Grocock, Trent and Dove

Human Resources group

This group provides a forum for senior HR practitioners and managers in housing associations to come together and share, discuss and develop best practice approaches to human resources management in housing. Meetings take place 4 times a year and attract expert external speakers as well as utilising members' own experience and expertise.
Chair: Daniel Taylor, Tuntum - Midland network for resident involvement

Midland network for resident involvement

With around 30 member organisations represented, this group shares best practice and also resources, getting better value for money and encouraging partnership working. The group also delivers joint events.
Chair: Chris Pinson-Bradley, Heantun Housing

PR and communications group

This network provides an opportunity to share expertise and good practice as well as joining forces for specific projects and campaigns and participating in National Housing Federation media campaigns.
Joint Chairs: Alison Bessey, Waterloo Housing Group and Mel Grant, Longhurst Group

Small and BME housing association benchmarking group

Members of this group share performance information and benchmark their performance with others in the group, using 'hot topic' discussions to focus on particular areas of concern.
Chair: Nikki Chawda, Foundation HA

Social Enterprise forum

This group is for those involved in managing, developing or exploring social enterprise opportunities in their organisation and/or procurement processes. It provides opportunities to share best practice and explore the practical issues involved in engaging with the social enterprise agenda.
Chair: Claire Eden, Framework HA

Strategic housing management forum

The Forum enables members to network, share good practice and discuss topical and or broader housing management issues and champion housing management matters. To inform and influence the development of national and regional policy on housing management and to facilitate consultation between members and key bodies. The forum serves managers operating at a strategic level within their organisations. Meetings take place between in different location four and six times a year.
Chair: Sharon Singleton, Nottingham Community HA

Yorkshire and East Midlands diversity discussion forum

This new network is aimed at facilitating discussion and the sharing of best practice, benchmarking and closer cooperation in raising standards in equality and diversity among housing and social support providers.
Contact: Hannah Mason, Housing Diversity Network