What a busy summer it has been. Some of the highlights of the past few weeks are meeting with residents to set up new Tenants and Residents Associations, in Harrogate for the annual CIH Conference, planting a capsule at the site of the Skinners Academy with Mayor Pipe.

Whilst the schools are off on summer holidays, Hackney Homes uses this opportunity to meet with residents from estates right across the borough and put a face to the organisation.

In the past few weeks, we have worked with Tenants and Residents Associations to run fun days on estates throughout Hackney. This is one of my favourite times of the year as you really see the vibrancy and the community spirit in Hackney. Hackney Homes is committed to these and we are glad that Tenants and Residents Associations continue to raise the bar on what they provide at these fun days.

As the Chair of the Hackney Homes, I am proud of the make up of the Board which is very representative of the community that we serve. I was also pleased when Chief Executive Charlotte Graves and I were invited to speak to other ALMOs about how we achieve this diversity. It is always good to hear from colleagues across England and share experiences.

The next few weeks are busy with appraisals ongoing for all Board members and that is something that I undertake regularly. It is a 360 degree appraisal so we both feedback on one another and this gives me a chance to hear how their experience on the Board is. This is even more important as we have recently recruited two new members to the Board and we want to make sure that we are making best use of everyone’s skills and interests.

I, fellow colleagues on the Board and senior managers in Hackney Homes attended the National Federation of ALMOs Conference in York this month. There were many ALMOs represented from right across the country and we shared ideas, discussed our futures and built important relationships.

Also in attendance were several leading housing figures – Ian Wright MP - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State with specific responsibility for ALMOs, Sir Bob Kerslake, Chief Executive of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), Peter Marsh, Chief Executive of the Tenants Services Authority (TSA).

Elections also took place for the National Federation of ALMOs Board and Hackney Homes were tied with Colchester Borough Homes for the final representative place for London. The final decision will be taken before NFA Board meeting in late May 2009.

It was also a special event because Hackney Homes female carpenter, Callie Duncan was shortlisted in the ALMO Team Member of the Year category of the National Federation of ALMOs (NFA) awards. Starting in Hackney Homes as an apprentice, Callie has graduated to become the only female carpenter on the books and has been named young apprentice of the year by the Association for Public Excellence. As well as this, Callie takes time out of her spare time to spread the word and challenge the notion that construction is ‘blokey’. She does this by mentoring young girls weekly on a local estate showing them how they can also pursue a career in the manual trades. She has helped to apply for funding for the youth group and has been successful in running the workshop for the past few months.

So often we hear that staff across the organisations are doing a great job. Whether it is feedback from residents, their managers or their colleagues. But how many times do we actually take the time out to say thank you to them for a great job and encourage them to continue improving the service that they are providing for residents.

That was what myself as Chair of the Hackney Homes Board along with Vice Chair Alice Burke did all last week. We were up bright and early meeting staff whose daily shift starts at 7am carrying out repairs in around 24,000 homes across Hackney. With over 300 staff in the repairs section, we met them in groups of 30 over a whole week.

Meeting with staff is always something that I enjoy. It is a good opportunity to catch up with some faces that I have not seen in a while, to meet new staff and to learn about any issues and concerns that they are facing. It is also a good time to give them feedback about what residents are telling me when I meet them across Hackney about what is working and what they think may need improving.

The main feedback that I was able to give staff when we met last week was the admiration that I had for them for all the hard work that they had done to help achieve 2 stars for Hackney Homes. The Vice Chair also commented on how the inspectors were clearly impressed with the knowledge and commitment of our staff.

Staff left feeling refreshed, appreciated and many told me that they were on a buzz for the rest of the day. Meeting staff like this face to face is something that we will continue to do in Hackney Homes. We don't underestimate the impact that this has on staff.

Just over three years ago, I joined the board of an organisation in which I saw something different. I saw an organisation that showed passion, showed commitment and most importantly, showed a real vision for making a difference for Hackney residents.

My admiration for this resident focused organisation saw me stand for election as the chair of the board and in the past year as the chair, I have seen some remarkable changes for the benefit of residents.

I have seen more Hackney Homes residents getting involved and having their say on how money is spent and decisions are made. I have also seen a stronger commitment from Hackney Homes to employing local people and training young people through our apprentice scheme.

The impact that Hackney Homes is making in the borough is about more than managing homes - we are working with the council and our partners to help build and support thriving communities. And it is this that we must work together on to continue to develop. Thanks to all this good work, Hackney Homes has received two star rating from the Audit Commission, which entitles us to £225m of funding from the Housing Corporation.

This two star result will give Hackney Homes the capital needed to modernise 7,000 homes, to provide good quality living for our residents. It also confirms that Hackney Homes is providing a high quality service for residents and is a clear sign that Hackney is becoming a better, safer and cleaner place to live, work and play.