Thank you very much to everyone who attended our 2010 Tenants and Leaseholders conference. It was held on 15 May at the Marks Tey Hotel, just outside of Colchester.

The Conference was opened by Nigel Chapman, who is a Vice-Chair on our board.

The theme of the event was how we intend to deliver excellent services to residents.

The compere of the Conference was Community Involvement Manager, Gill Thomson.

She began the event with a short presentation about some of the improvements we have put in place. Residents were given a chance to put their questions to us.

Residents were given a chance to participate in interactive voting sessions.

Communications and Marketing Officer, Richard Saw, asked people what they thought about Housing News and Views, our tenants and leaseholders newsletter.

Customer Services Manager, Karen Williams, spoke about how we want to provide excellent customer service to tenants and leaseholders.

Residents were given their chance to vote on the values that they feel are important to them when they deal with Colchester Borough Homes.

In the photo are (L to R): Greg Falvey, Chief Executive; Lynsey Hanley; Alison Inman, Chair of the Board, Michala Carey, Vice Chair of the Board; Nigel Chapman, Vice Chair of the Board.

Our guest speaker was the writer Lynsey Hanley, who grew up on a council estate in Birmingham.

She wrote Estates: An Intimate History.

Senior Policy Officer, Kate Tilley, spoke about the role of our new regulator, the Tenant Services Authority.  She explained there would be local and national standards.

Residents were given a chance to vote on what we should be providing in terms of local standards.