New tenant Board member for Merlin Housing Society
24 Jul 2008
A new tenant representative has been appointed to the board of Merlin Housing Society.
Mangotsfield resident Alan Rundle has been busy getting to grips with his new role, which will see him involved in setting the direction of the society, and attended his first Board meeting last week.
Alan, 70, was appointed following a selection process to replace former tenant Board member Bob Skingsley who retired in February. Alan has only been a Merlin resident since May 2007 when he moved into the Rodway Court sheltered scheme. A few weeks later he was asked to attend a sheltered housing meeting, which is where his involvement in Merlin began.
He explained: “I met Mike Dale [a member of Merlin’s Service Improvement Team] at the meeting and we got on and he asked if I would be willing to help with something else Merlin was working on and I thought ‘why not?’. It all just snowballed from there and people kept asking me to join various groups. So when the vacancy came up on the Board I decided to apply for it.”
Alan brings a wealth of experience to Merlin from his working life, having run his own garage and worked as a manager for British Gas. He also thinks that his recent experiences of being made homeless and as a sheltered scheme resident will add a new dimension to the Board.
“I have no illusions about sheltered housing, it’s not something I have read - it’s something I am living. I know I can help other people who have been in a similar situation to me and can see things from their point of view and am keen to do all I can for them.”
Merlin’s chairman Les Good said: “I would like to welcome Alan to the Merlin Board. We are looking forward to working with him in the coming months as we strive to improve our services for our residents. I am sure that Alan's experience will bring a great deal to the Board.”