True North: Northern Star –– Onward Homes

Owning and managing around 35,000 homes across the North West, Onward Homes is a people-first not-for-profit housing association committed to collaboration, urban regeneration, and building neighbourhoods that create a real sense of community.

Onward’s CEO, Bronwen Rapley, tells us more.

Regenerating communities and empowering people

Onward is a business that is enormously invested in the communities we serve. We provide all the usual services you would expect from a landlord, but also some that you wouldn't. Our work goes far beyond putting good-quality roofs over people’s heads.

We actively support community regeneration by investing in our existing homes as well as new developments. While building new homes is important to meet housing needs, we need to ensure that the places people live today are in areas that are thriving, not just surviving. A great example is our neighbourhood project in Murdishaw, located in Runcorn, Cheshire. 

With around 500 homes across the neighbourhood, a place where people once felt forgotten is now a thriving community. We have worked with the community to understand what they want and the answer was improvements to some run down bungalows, better management of the open spaces and a local place to meet.  Working together, 5 years later, the homes are retrofitted, the green spaces nurtured, and the local people empowered to create their own community meeting place.

We often support people facing challenging times. Some have faced homelessness, but all have huge resilience and talent. Our mission is to enable people to be their best, while living in an area they love and a home they are proud of. 

The key word here is “enable” –– because we’re not doing everything for our tenants. We can offer a helping hand when needed that empowers them to unlock their own potential.

We’re specialists in the art of the possible

I like to think that Onward has developed a specialism in creating opportunity for our tenants and communities. We’re always looking for where we can make a difference and most importantly, who we can collaborate with to take our impact to the next level. 

What this really boils down to is simple: if you are thoughtful about the way you do your job, who you can collaborate with, and how you can have an impact together – you’re ultimately going to generate much better value.

Delivering that impact and value is about tapping into the specific strengths of your organisation and weaving them together with the strengths of the community, joining forces to create something together. Working hand-in-hand this way is always going to bring better results than working in silos. Onward is doing this in a really coordinated way. 

For example, we always ask our contractors to make a contribution to the community, but they often don’t know how to make a difference. We connect them directly into the community, pinpointing exactly where they can have the biggest impact. One of the ways we do this is through a tool called “Match My Project.” This enables local community groups and organisations to request support from contractors in our supply chain that share our commitment to making a positive impact. 

A recent example is in Bury, where we are developing 30 affordable homes and through Match My Project, our contractor is supporting a number of community initiatives. This includes a careers event at a local high school, the development of a green space for children with additional needs, and improvements to community spaces.

How to navigate challenge

Onward has had many conversations in recent years about how we develop our leadership in challenging times. As a result we’ve identified three guiding lights to help us to respond to rapidly changing circumstances.

Firstly, be strategic. You need to know where you're going and you need to know what your strategy is –– even when the winds are blowing against you. As long as you’re pulling in one direction as a team, you won’t be taken too far off course.

Secondly, you also need to be agile. Because while you may have a clear strategy and vision, it would be naive not to acknowledge that things change. Stay flexible and stay open to taking risks.

Finally – whether it’s with partners, colleagues, or the community –– you've got to be connected to stand a chance of tackling problems. We must maximise our joint strengths and assets to do the best for the people we serve. The more connected we are the more we’ll find those intersections where the magic happens.  

That’s exactly why True North can make a difference, because it brings together so many different people with complementary strengths. We can do more together.

Our advice for purpose-led businesses

Understand what you are really good at and use it for social impact. A great example is how different teams come together at Onward to incubate little community businesses. Our legal team gets together with marketing, facilities, and other departments, each bringing unique skills to the table to deliver community benefit.

Talk and listen to the people you want to help. They very often have a much better idea of what they need than you do. Rather than saying “Hey, I can do that, I think you need this, here it is” it’s much more effective to listen to the people you’re serving and truly understand what it is they want. Then you can work out how to do it.

Build an alliance for change. Find the people who want to work with you and create that alliance for change. That’s the way you build that impact.

To join a network of purposeful businesses like Onward Homes and build your own alliances for change, sign up for True North here.