"It might be small projects like litter picks, or community gala days, or it might focus more on looking at solutions to local issues"

Bringing communities closer together and improving their quality of life will be the focus of Ayrshire Housing’s new community engagement manager.

Sharon Mather has taken up the newly designated post with the housing association and is keen to get out and learn more about the communities she will be working with.

She said: “I’m really looking forward to meeting people locally and understanding what living in Ayrshire looks like, and feels like for them. I think this project is a real opportunity for the association to make a significant difference to the lives of local people.”

Ayrshire Housing was established in 2003 through the merger of Carrick Housing Association and South Ayrshire Homes. Since then it has grown rapidly to become one of the area’s leading providers of affordable rented housing, managing 1,700 homes in both urban and rural environments.

Sharon continued: “It’s a new role so has lots opportunities, I’m here to create a new agenda that engages with the people who live in our properties. My initial work will involve liaising with local people to find out what’s important to them, things that will bring people together, she added. It might be small projects like litter picks, or community gala days, or it might focus more on looking at solutions to local issues.”

Her job will adopt a whole community approach and won’t just focus on tenants, it’s about looking at initiatives that can bring whole neighbourhoods together.

Ayrshire Housing chief executive Lesley-Anne Junner said: “Developing and improving connectivity in our varied communities was a key deliverable set out in our 2030 business plan.

“Sharon’s job will be to identify what it is that local people within our geographically spread communities actually want to see happening on the ground and working with them to deliver a range of different projects that can make a real difference to the quality of people’s lives here in Ayrshire.”