Mendip Housing nominates grandmother best neighbour award

Somerset grandmother Gloria McClurg is competing for the title of Best Neighbour in a top national awards ceremony next week (Thursday September 18).

 Gloria McClurg, who lives at Mendip Housings sheltered housing scheme in the village of Meare near Glastonbury, was nominated by the local housing association for the accolade part of the National Housing Federations Neighbourhood Awards scheme.

The local housing provider, which manages around 4,000 properties across Mendip, is also short-listed for another award after putting forward its tenant-led Environment Improvement Fund for the Local Engagement and Involvement Award, one of 10 awards that will be handed out at a special ceremony hosted by daytime TV star Lorraine Kelly at the Birmingham ICC on the evening of Thursday September 18.

Gloria, who is chair of Mendip Housings Sheltered Housing Tenants Forum, was nominated in recognition for the many years she has spent helping her village, which started in her teens when she became a Sunday School teacher and created a youth club. She also spent 25 years on the parish council and has been instrumental in helping the village to get a playing field for all to enjoy and for the nearby Glastonbury GP surgery to get a pharmacy, an important facility that helps a lot of people.

Since retiring as the villages sheltered housing scheme manager, which she moved onto with her husband Jimmy once shed given up the day job, she has brought her expertise to Mendip Housing in a different way as a tenant. She is heavily involved in bringing the residents perspective to Mendip Housing, which is a member of the Aster Group.

It was a real honour just to be nominated, said 67-year-old Gloria, who has one son and three granddaughters. Just to be shortlisted was a great surprise.

Were rooting for Gloria because we think she thoroughly deserves this award, said Mendip Housings Community Involvement Manager Beverley Breeds.

We rely on our tenants to give their time and energy to help us get better at what we do. Like many organisations we could not do what we do without the willingness of others to volunteer. Gloria has shown such commitment throughout her life to help her village community so were really pleased that shes been recognised through this nomination. Part of our role as a housing association is to try to build better communities for everyone, not just our tenants, and Gloria is an excellent role model for how we can all play a part in making our local community a better place for everyone.

Also at the awards dinner to see if they have helped to scoop another award will be Mendip Housings tenants Ken Johnson from Wells and Mandy Buckley from Street who both work on their local tenants forum deciding how to turn tenants good ideas into reality.

The Environmental Improvement Fund is an £80,000 pot of money which is spent by Mendip Housings four tenant forums. They take the bright ideas put forward by tenants to make their local neighbourhoods a better place to live and make them a reality. Over the past year the fund has been used to put in dog bins on Hillmead to help pet owners keep pavements cleaner for everyone, security fencing to help tenants feel safer and patio areas at sheltered housing schemes to help residents enjoy social get-togethers.

The National Housing Federation Neighbourhood Awards were established in 2004 to celebrate and share the success of housing associations and their residents.