Broadacres housing association has announced two new appointments to its senior team.
Alison Rodgers (pictured) joins Broadacres as Health and Safety Manager, while Sharon France joins as Head of Customer Experience Housing and Support.
Alison Rodgers
Rodgers is tasked with taking a strategic approach to health and safety culture within Broadacres, ensuring the association remains fully compliant with the latest legislation, guidance, and policies and engaging with staff, partners, and other stakeholders to further improve working practices.
One of Rodgers’s first jobs is to help steer Broadacres through the COVID-19 crisis.
“Like many businesses, we’re now looking to get back to some form of normality as lockdown restrictions are lifted but at the same time ensuring that our customers and staff continue to remain safe,” says Rodgers.
“COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon, so there’s lots of planning involved as we attempt to stay ahead of the game and be in a position to respond quickly to changing circumstances.”
Alison, who lives in Selby, has worked in health and safety for a large part of her career, the last 11 years spent working for the Construction Industry Training Board.
“This is my first role within a housing association,” said Alison, “but the principles are the same, and ultimately it’s about implementing best practice and going above and beyond when it comes to health and safety.”
Another key focus area for Alison will be looking at the health and wellbeing of staff.
She explains: “The health and safety industry has tended to focus on the safety element, but there’s now just as much emphasis on health, particularly mental health.
“We need to be able to support people with their physical and mental well being and work with them to recognise the triggers which can cause stress and other health issues.”
Sharon France
Sharon France joins Broadacres as Head of Customer Experience Housing and Support
Appointed during the lockdown, Sharon has spent a lot of time using video conferencing to get to know Broadacres’ colleagues, residents, and other stakeholders.
In this newly created, wide-ranging role, she has been tasked with overseeing the development and delivery of an excellent customer experience to a wide range of Broadacres’ customers, meeting one of the key objectives of the association’s corporate strategy.
Customers include those living in regular residential homes, extra care housing schemes, women’s refuges, physical and sensory disabilities accommodation, young people’s homeless schemes, learning disability housing schemes, and mental health support services.
“Starting a new job from home is a new experience,” said Sharon, “but I have managed to speak to lots of people virtually already, and I don’t think it could have gone any better in the circumstances.
“I am delighted to have joined Broadacres and to be leading a team at the forefront of excellent service delivery.”
Sharon has worked in the housings sector for 35 years, the last 20 in a leadership role.
Prior to joining Broadacres she was a housing consultant, and before that she worked for Wakefield District Housing and St Anne’s Community Services in Leeds.
“Whether it’s residential housing or more specialist supported housing, the aim is to ensure our customers always receive an excellent experience,” Sharon said.
“We will achieve this by working collaboratively and sharing best working practices across the organisation and with our key stakeholders.”
Andy Powell, customer experience director at Broadacres, said: “We are delighted to have been able to attract someone of Sharon’s calibre to Broadacres.
“Her background and experience will stand us in great stead as we continue to deliver all elements of our corporate plan and ultimately achieve our vision of being the best rural housing association in the country.”
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