Hightown Housing Association Residents' Voice & Scrutiny Panel (RVSP) and VoiceBox (Hightown's service user involvement group) successfully hosted their first joint networking event at Hightown's head office in Hemel Hempstead, in September 2023.
Shetal Jagatia-Patel, Head of Housing (manages the RVSP members) and Abbey Oakley, Head of Care and Supported Housing (manages VoiceBox) presented at the networking event, highlighting the roles of their respective groups and the work the members do to help the Association improve the services that directly affects them. The members had one to one and group discussions to find out about each other and their roles and experiences of being an involved resident and service user.
Hightown's Chief Executive, David Bogle, also attended the event and provided the group with the latest update on the Association.
This collaboration was an excellent opportunity for the two groups to learn about each other's roles and to share ideas and knowledge.
Residents and service users enjoyed meeting each other and learned heaps from their discussions.
A member of RVSP said:
"It was lovely to hear what the VoiceBox gets involved in. It shows what an amazing joy it brings to all those service users within VoiceBox. I had never heard of VoiceBox so it was lovely hearing the stories of what Hightown offers service users - it was a true eye opener. It gave a sense of hope and friendship and a chance for people to make new friends. I didn't realise there was a mother and baby unit in St Albans, too. I learnt a few new things about Hightown and the services they provide."
