Three new faces have come on board at Warwickshire Rural Housing Association (WRHA) to help provide more affordable homes for local people at a time when they are needed more than ever.
Emma Harper, Deanna von Anrep and Ann Lattimore have joined the Board as non-executive directors, bringing with them a broad range of expertise and experience.
WRHA is committed to bringing affordable homes to Warwickshire’s rural communities, enabling people to afford to live in the villages where they have grown up, work or have close family ties, and preventing them from being forced to move away.
Emma, who lives in rural Warwickshire, joins the Board with several years of experience in social housing. Emma, who is currently Head of Transactional Services for Britvic plc, previously held a number of key financial roles, including Head of Corporate Shared Services and Group Finance Manager (Shared Services), for Sanctuary Housing, one of the largest providers of affordable and social housing in the country.
Emma says: “There can be no doubt that housing associations have a significant role to play in helping to build more homes to meet an ever-increasing demand for housing across England in general.
“I saw that WRHA were looking for someone with financial acumen as well as social housing expertise, and I am very much looking forward to my new role.”
Deanna von Anrep is a member of the Senior Housing Leadership team at PA Housing, who provide more than 23,000 affordable homes across Midlands, London and the South East.
Deanna, who grew up in Georgia, USA, joined PA 15 years ago and developed a strong background in business management, voids and allocations and homelessness, before taking a more strategic role.
However, she also has a key interest in ensuring the best possible relationship between WRHA and the communities and individuals its serves.
Deanna says: “I am really passionate about customers and my culture is all about customer service.
“I am looking forward to having the opportunity to really drive that in my new role with WRHA and to help to develop that relationship with our customers above all else. We should be providing all our customers with an outstanding level of service.”
Ann Lattimore joins the Board following a varied career, which has included roles with the Women’s Royal Naval Service, the Police Service and the Police Authority, where she was a Policy Advisor with particular responsibility for Citizen Focus.
Following her retirement in 2012, she became Community Champion for a large supermarket in the North Cotswolds, before joining one of the country’s leading housing associations as Community Connector and, ultimately, Neighbourhood Coach/Housing Manager for Stow on the Wold.
Ann, who finally retired earlier this year, says: “As someone who lives in rural Warwickshire, I feel passionately that real communities work when they are made up of people of all ages and all walks of life.
“The housing provided by WRHA is essential to that purpose, and I hope that the skills and experience I have gained throughout my career will benefit the Board in its oversight of the organisation.”
Warwickshire Rural Housing Association Company Secretary, Richard Mugglestone, added: “A wealth of skills have been brought to the Board through these three new appointments, putting us in an even stronger position to help Warwickshire’s rural communities to remain sustainable by providing local affordable housing specifically for local people.”