Meet Keeley, Community Resolution Officer
The Support and Enforcement Team have a range of responsibilities that help you maintain your tenancy and keep your neighborhoods safe and peaceful. The team deal with anti-social behaviour (also known as ASB), which refers to a wide range of unacceptable behaviour in the community. It can include things like neighbour disputes, arson, noise, assault, hate crime.
- You can find out more about ASB and how to report it to the Trust here.
The entire team work hard to make sure your home and neighbourhood is a peaceful, enjoyable place to live. In this blog, we're meeting Keeley.
Tell us about yourself
I’m Keeley, Community Resolution Officer.
I work with anti-social behaviour, tenancy enforcement and safeguarding and the latest member of the Team.
What's your favourite thing about your role?
I am naturally an organised person, and this role challenges my boundaries bordering on the chaotic side so when you gain a successful outcome for me it is pure job satisfaction. Also, you never get bored because no day is the same organising a lot of case work during the busier periods you must be constantly on your toes, and I thrive on that pressure.
How did you start working in this sector? Was there anything that made you want to work with our communities?
I started off working on a reception desk in a busy housing office in the South end of Liverpool for the biggest housing provider in Liverpool 17 years ago I was supposed to only stay for 6 months covering maternity leave!!
I had just completed my Law Degree and was at a crossroads deciding on what career path I wanted to take. I have worked in various roles within different housing providers in the Liverpool City Region and was constantly busy working in the inner city with often complex situations working alongside Merseyside Police, Liverpool City and Sefton Councils and many charities and support services.
I worked with some of the most talented officers and colleagues over the years fed of their knowledge and experiences therefore, this has developed adapted me to the officer I am today.
Being the Scouser on our team, I was attracted to Peaks & Plains Housing Trust because of the intimacy of the team and the relationships they have formed within the local community. After working most of my career in housing in an inner city setting, it can be a bit robotic, moving on from case to case and not really developing and sustaining relationships with the community. I wanted a new challenge working within a more rural setting. I am confident and know with my experience, that I can make an impact in the Trust and help improve customers lives.
Tell me about a day at work that you’re really proud of
Our caseloads tend to be more in depth, complex and take time to resolve.
I have 100% success record of any case I take to legal enforcement, which has had a significant impact on local communities that have been suffering due to anti-social behaviour. It is often not the aim to take cases to legal enforcement, however some cases give you no choice to move forward and resolve the issues or more customers are impacted by other people’s behaviour.
I can tell you about the many cases that I have been proud of over the years, and I have many, however anti-social behaviour is not just about reacting to bad behaviour it is also about preventing that behaviour from starting and encouraging customers to take ownership of their environment and working together, is also a vital part of our role.
In my last post I help raise 84k to take back control of a green space within an estate that had become a dumping ground, fly tipping was the norm. It was a hive of drug dealing activity the use of scrambler bikes on the green space, black patches where fires were often lit and overgrown bushes and trees often used by sex workers and drug users and the homeless. Customers were constantly impacted from the noise the criminal activity criminal damage fences used for fire wood. Halloween was a nightmare for these particular residents.
Within a space of a year, we cut back all the trees and bushes built a dog walking and cycle path fitted the area with City Watch CCTV and extra street lighting.
We encouraged the local community to take back this space for them to enjoy and alongside other agencies we planted wildflowers and had benches and seating areas installed and a local artist to paint the walls facing the green space with the Liverpool skyline to promote pride back into the area that had been neglected for many years. This area is now used for families taking their dogs out using the green space for get togethers every spring there is an impact day where stalls from independent businesses sell goods bouncy castle and activities for the children and the housing provider and strategic partnerships to promote the area. This has totally transformed the area for the better, families actively want to live there now and there is a sense of pride restored from the community.
What do you do in your spare time?
I am a massive Liverpool Football Club support and get to as many matches as I can. I am very family oriented and spend the majority of my time with them. I like to walk so coming out of the city to work, I look at the views in awe you are so lucky to live in an area with some of the most stunning countryside. I am not used to the sheep being so close and the smells as a city girl. I cannot wait to check out the little boutique shops and the cute little pubs in my down time.
I love to travel I lived in Cyprus for a time, so I have an infinity to anything Greek, especially the food. I also love a cheeky city break with the girls 😊
Meet the rest of the team
- Meet Sue, Customer Support and Enforcement Manager
- Meet Lucy, Community Resolution Officer
- Meet Lyn, Community Resolution and Support Officer