Leslie Channon My Story for Housing Day

Leslie Channon, Scrutiny Board Chair, Cottsway Housing

Leslie Channon

In 2010, I unexpectedly found myself a single mother, living in social housing on full benefits.

Whilst I was grateful for the roof over our heads, it was never my life-

goal. I had become a cliché – a single mother on benefits living in social housing!

For the first time in my life I experienced social shame from the

negative social-stigma attached to my new reality.

To me the future looked bleak!

When I saw an advertisement for Scrutiny in Cottsway's resident’s magazine, I applied – to gain a

recent job reference (as I previously worked for 16 years in Los Angeles)

and importantly they covered childcare costs. Little did I know this small pro-active step would

change the trajectory of my life. On the day of my interview it was hot

and I was heavily pregnant; I almost didn’t show up, but a little voice inside me said I needed to go. During the first few months of training I was able to take my new-born and breastfeeding was accommodated in meetings.

Over the passing months, as my confidence grew, I clung onto the Scrutiny Panel as a lifeline. Somewhere along the line, I developed a passion for housing – I caught the housing

bug! Housing is like a secret society where everyone within it is passionate about what they do, but somehow, curiously, this fact remains hidden to the outside world. Cottsway supported my thirst for knowledge, funding a CIH Level 4 qualification in Housing Studies. I

am currently the Chair of the Scrutiny Panel, a Board member on the Chartered Institute of Housing’s SE Board, and with the support from Cottsway, I am now in my final year of my

MA in Housing Studies at the University of Westminster. This year I became recognised at a Peer Mentor for Tenant Central and I have had many opportunities to speak on Cottsway’s TPAS Award winning Scrutiny model. I want to give back by sharing my personal

experience and the benefits I have experienced from becoming involved with my landlord. My decision to show up that day, when I felt my life was falling apart, was one of the best decisions of my life.

Leslie x