James Masters - Chair
Plymouth
My name is James Masters and I live in the North of Plymouth, on the edge of Dartmoor, in a small housing development that is part private owned and part social housing. I have been a LiveWest tenant for 9 years. I live with my wife and two teenage children.
I started volunteering with DCH and joined InFocus when it was setup by LiveWest in 2018. I have recently been appointed Chair of the InFocus group.
I started volunteering as I really wanted to make a difference for every LiveWest customer.
Being part of InFocus is very interesting and rewarding. We have covered a lot of different projects as a group and have learnt so much about how the organisation works, through carrying out service reviews.
We get to speak to different staff members who help to advise us on the subject we are looking at. The customer engagement team give us all the help and support we need to be able to complete the projects we are working on.
Overall, volunteering is very rewarding especially when you can see the difference it is making for the customers and the organisation.
Martin Grimmer - Vice Chair
West Devon
Hello, my name is Martin Grimmer, and I live in Tavistock, West Devon, in a LiveWest sheltered housing scheme. I have been a LiveWest tenant for just over two years. I am a retired widower, but my direct family live in the Tavistock area.
I have had a long-term interest and involvement in property ownership, property maintenance, and property management for many years, and as a result volunteered to join the LiveWest InFocus scrutiny group, which I did in September 2022.
I believe that LiveWest is a very caring organisation and believe that we will enjoy being their tenants if we collaborate with them to provide a better service to us all.
After my short involvement with the InFocus group, I would recommend that any tenant should volunteer to be involved, it can only make your enjoyment as a tenant more pleasurable.
Barbara Seacombe
Minehead
Hello, my name is Barbara Seacombe and I live in Minehead, Somerset.
I’ve had many years of volunteering for LiveWest. I applied to join the InFocus scrutiny group in 2019, back then we were able to attend face-to-face quarterly meetings.
It’s a really great group of people, with a real mix of interests. We get involved in various task and finish groups and meetings, dealing with various aspects of tenancies, repairs, anti-social behaviour and complaints. It’s an interesting insight into how LiveWest works and the services they deliver to their customers. I’m enjoying my time as a volunteer, learning so much about the housing sector and meeting other people, including from housing associations all over the UK.
I wasn’t personally in favour of the Knightstone/DCH merger as I was worried about being part of a large landlord, however I must say that after getting involved with InFocus, I have been pleasantly surprised. The staff at LiveWest are amazing, they want to get it right and make sure that all customers receive an excellent service and have a good tenancy.
I’d recommend for anyone to get involved in InFocus, especially if you like meeting other people and making a difference. Come and join our group!
Eileen
Portishead
Hi, my name is Eileen and I live in Portishead. I love living here and feel incredibly happy to have been a resident of LiveWest for 13 years now.
My last job was in London for the Citizens Advice Bureau as a Facilities Manager for 11 years. I have extensive experience in health & safety, auditing of premises/work areas and training new staff in H&S, as well as budget management, financial year-end processes, managing petty cash, the procurement of new contracts and seeking the best value for money. I have also worked for Mildmay Hospice for HIV/AIDS patients as a Secretarial Coordinator and I’ve worked for St Pancras Housing Association as a Customer Liaison Officer.
I have been volunteering with LiveWest for over 8 years. In that time, I’ve taken part in lots of different projects from procurement to website testing. I’ve joined discussions on safety and the Governments White Paper ‘a charter for social housing’.
I’m really pleased to have been selected as a member of the Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel. I have been part of the scrutiny group InFocus, since 2019, I find the role to be particularly informative and know that by working in partnership with LiveWest we are improving services for everyone!
Hugh Turner
Totnes
I have been a LiveWest resident for seven years. After being informally involved with assisting our Scheme Managers during this time, I was invited to join the InFocus team in its scrutiny of policies and operations from the perspective of LiveWest residents.
With some historical experience in residential tenancy management I am able to offer some observations and possible solutions on matters that may affect all customers at my own premises and within the wider domain of LiveWest operations.
I am finding the InFocus mixed group makeup of colleagues and customers works enthusiastically, sympathetically and cooperatively to solve issues it identifies as needing attention. This work is proving interesting and will be constantly challenging!
