Meet Matthew Rushton, Resident Involvement Manager
Hi Matthew, how long have you worked here and what do you do?
I have worked with here for just over 2 years now as Resident Involvement Manager.
How would you explain your role to someone who’s never heard of it?
I would say my role could be summarised as the link between our residents and Teign Housing.
Think of it this way: Teign Housing have to make lots of decisions about services, repairs, neighbourhoods, policies, and how money is spent. My job is to make sure our residents have a real say in those decisions rather than things just being decided for them.
A big part of the role is listening to our residents, finding out what matters to them, and creating opportunities for them to influence how services are delivered. That might mean running resident meetings, organising surveys, supporting resident panels, or helping residents scrutinise our services.
How does your role make a difference to our customers?
My role helps to make sure that our residents voice leads to change.
Without resident involvement, it’s easy for us to assume what our residents need. But the people living in our homes are the real experts on what it’s like to use the services every day. My role helps bridge that gap.
What do you enjoy most about working at Teign?
First of all, I would say the great group of residents I get to work with on a daily basis. I feel very fortunate that all the residents I work with have a real passion to help Teign Housing move in the right direction.
The staff and general feeling of the office is also amazing. All the staff really appreciate the benefit of resident involvement and the positive impact this can have on their departments.