Jack-of-all-trades Reuben stands down with pen poised

A Leicestershire grandfather with a colourful career has bid farewell to board meetings to finish his long overdue autobiography.

Retired school caretaker Reuben Reynolds, aged 83, of Enderby, has stood down as a Three Oaks Homes’ tenant board member but will remain an active member of TOH Tenants’ Federation.

Reuben, who ended his working life as senior caretaker at Brockington College, Enderby, has also spent time as a farm labourer, journalist, photographer, bus conductor and chimney sweep. He said: “I’ve had a finger in every pie and have been all over the place.”

He now intends to complete the book he started in 1977 and spend more time gardening and with wife of 46-years Maureen, their three children and four grandchildren.

Reuben, a former bus conductor on the Midland Red 658 Leicester to Coventry service, was an early champion of stock transfer from Blaby District Council to TOH, launched in 2008, on the basis it would attract significant investment in homes and the community.

He talked to neighbours and visited fellow tenants in their communities to explain the benefit of transfer and how it would affect them and all his time has been given on a voluntary basis.

Now he would like to pass the baton on to the next generation and said: “I hope more tenants will want to get involved. They need to speak to their landlord, makes their voices heard, because it is all about their homes. It’s about negotiation, not ultimatums, and it’s all done with good manners.”

Reuben’s contribution has been wide ranging. He has served on a variety of committees, helped monitor the repairs’ service and inspected properties being prepared for rent.
Chairman Colin Norman paid tribute to his involvement. He said: “I have worked alongside Reuben since 2002, when our journey to transfer began and with him as a board member since the inception of TOH. We are all grateful for his unstinting work for tenants and TOH, before and since transfer and wish him well in the years to come.”
Three Oaks Homes, a registered social landlord, has promised to invest more than £30 million over five years in affordable homes across Blaby. Improvement work is underway; with old windows, doors, kitchens and bathrooms being replaced for new. TOH is also developing new homes in Duncan Avenue, Huncote.