Communities that Work Team

Debra Scarratt, leads the employment support function across the south west at Abri, one of the south of England’s largest housing providers. The team deliver a range of contracts focused on moving people into employment, education and training. Prior to Abri, Debra held over 15 years’ experience working in careers and employment sector roles starting as a Careers Adviser and quickly progressing to working within senior management positions. Debra brings a unique and wide-ranging wealth of knowledge on best practice to support opportunities for social inclusion and mobility. Debra is hugely impressed by the excellent employment support that housing associations offer on a daily basis to support a range of people. Debra says: “There’s no question that Communities that Work has an important part to play in influencing policy and perceptions to recognise housing associations as leaders in employment and skill support. Housing associations are community anchors. We listen to communities and provide resources to help turn their neighbourhoods into thriving pockets of opportunity. This takes work; a meeting of minds with the same end goals – in this case to increase employment for those struggling to find it – to really tackle the issues we’re now facing. At Abri we’re committed to making this happen; our £15m five- year investment, which has a focus on employment, health and wellbeing, and community empowerment, will make sure we’re able to drive change where it’s needed most.”

Charmaine is Director of Customer Experience and Communities at Longhurst Group, one of the largest housing groups in the Midlands and East of England. Charmaine has responsibility for the Group’s Customer  and Communities strategy and has over 25 years’ experience in the housing sector, occupying a wide range of roles. With a strong passion for social justice and social mobility, she is chair of the Centre for Excellence Community Investment East of England network, co-chair of HACT’s Racial Equality Group and winner at the Women in Housing Awards 2021.

John Gleeson is Head of Funding and Innovation at Southern Housing Group, where he has led a range of initiatives and activities over the past ten years, including employment and skills, financial and digital inclusion and community development.

Prior to joining Southern Housing Group, John worked for a number of organisations involved in the provision of housing with support, where he gained an understanding of the support needs of clients further from the labour market.