Greater Manchester & Cheshire
Onward shows support for the LGBTQ+ community in housing
Onward is committed to listening to customers and providing plenty of opportunities for customers to influence services.
As part of this commitment, Onward colleagues attended the HouseProud Greater Manchester (GM) Customer Conference on 27 February, 2020, where tenants and housing association representatives were encouraged to talk about the quality of housing for the LGBTQ+ community.
HouseProud was set up in 2014 as a network for housing providers to improve their engagement, support and delivery of services to the LGBTQ+ community.
At the conference, Carl Austin-Behan, LGBTQ+ Advisor to GM Mayor Andy Burnham, delivered a presentation about his experience of life and work as an openly gay man. He explained his efforts in engaging the LGBTQ+ community in Manchester and how housing associations such as Onward can support the community more.
Also at the conference, tenants and housing association representatives were encouraged to get involved in workshops to discuss challenging topics about housing for LGBTQ+ tenants. Topics included isolation, safety, hate crime, and harassment procedures and policies.
John, an Onward tenant from Bolton, attended the conference with his carer and expressed how pleased he was that Onward are acknowledging the challenges which the LGBTQ+ community face.
For more information about the conference contact the customer engagement team at customerengagement@onward.co.uk and for more information about the services which Onward offers please visit the support services page.