Tell me a bit about yourself – what’s your background?
I come from Forres, on the Moray coast to the east of Inverness, but I’ve also lived in Switzerland, southern Germany, northwest England, and now in South Queensferry. I studied Law at the University of Edinburgh, but after a few internships decided that using the skills I gained from Law in another area was what I really wanted. I worked in the university accommodation services while I was studying, so housing felt like a natural place to go afterwards.
What’s your role at Housing Options Scotland – can you tell me a bit about what you’ll be working on?
My job title is HOS Helps Development Officer, working with Almond Housing Association to help solve issues their tenants are facing. Day to day that means I get referrals from Housing Officers or tenants themselves about issues, and look at ways to improve or solve them. This could be signposting to services, referring to charities, or sometimes just having a chat with them. I’m very excited to see where it goes in the future!
What are you most excited about now you’ve started at HOS?
I love contact with the tenants that I work with, and on more complex issues brainstorming with the rest of the HOS team to come up with the best solutions. I’ve experienced insecure housing myself, especially when living abroad, so I’m determined to help people find solutions to allow them to continue with their tenancies. I’m so glad Scotland has a really great voluntary sector and local authorities working really passionately to improve housing here.
Outside of work, what sorts of things do you get up to?
I love the outdoors, so that’s a big part of my life. I live in South Queensferry right on the Firth of Forth, so we have amazing wildlife and coast on the doorstep, as well as being only twenty minutes from Edinburgh, which to me is a perfect location! I love travelling, probably as a result of growing up in different places, and I hope to get back to that post-coronavirus.