YMCA DLG Horsham Y Centre has been improving resident participation through residents meetings over the last 3 months. The latest development was a resident meeting with a difference as it was run entirely by the residents with no staff members present. The newly recruited resident rep Emily chaired the meeting and prepared the agenda which included feedback, suggestions and a guest speaker. The resident also cooked the food for the meeting.
Emily became the first ever resident rep in Horsham earlier this year after going trough an application process that involved a formal interview. The interviews were designed to be a two way process to find out if the residents are suitable but also to ensure that they understand the role and what would be required of them.
The application process and the interviews proved to be a great experience for the residents and everyone received feedback on how they did.
After the interviews Emily was offered the resident rep position and another Horsham Y Centre resident Malaki accepted the role of Vice rep. Emily and Malaki held their first resident meeting in March with support from the Engagement & Learning coordinator. The event was a great success and it was decided that the future resident meetings can happen without direct staff supervision.
