Tenant Advisory Panel

Victor Andrews, Chair

Victor (Vic) Andrews is from East London and has been a social housing tenant since 2013. He lives in retirement living accommodation in Woodford Green on the East London/Essex border. 

Vic is a father of two and grandfather to three, and has two grandsons and a granddaughter. Vic has varied interests that include reading, watching sport, horses, politics and quizzes. 

He has been a representative of his peers, working people including minority groups for 50+ years. Vic was a former lead negotiator and Lay Tutor, as well as an experienced representative on disciplinary and grievance cases and procedures including industrial tribunals, up to his retirement. Vic has also been a governor of a large Primary school Trust in a deprived area of Essex, and first became an involved Tenant in 2015 as an ally of his Landlord’s LGBTQ+ and Equality and Diversity group activities. 

Vic believes passionately in voicing the concerns of people, that for many and various reasons, feel unable to represent themselves. Since becoming a member of his Landlords Tenant Executive Committee, Vic has been a Group Board Observer, and a member of two of his landlord’s Governance Committees. 

Stephen Johnson, Vice Chair

Stephen Johnson was born in 1966 in London. He studied at Hammersmith and West London College and Durham University where he obtained a BA Honours Degree in Politics. Stephen previously worked with London's homeless at St. Martin in the Fields. He has lived in social housing in Notting Hill since December 1994 and is very active with resident led groups such as the Health and Disability Group facilitated by his landlord, Notting Hill Genesis.  

 In 2010, Stephen helped set up Local Scrutiny Panels for tenants and leaseholders to scrutinise landlord performance, such as on repairs. He has been Chair of the Kensington and Chelsea Scrutiny Panel since 2014.  Stephen lives close to where the Grenfell Tower fire occurred in June 2017. It motivated him to apply to join the Tenant Advisory Panel when it was set up in Spring 2019.  

Stephen feels particularly concerned about anti-social behaviour (ASB) and how it is tackled within social housing and the wider community as well as how specific groups are affected by ASB and hate crime. Stephen is very active within London's LGBT+ community. He sits on a LGBT+ Independent Advisory Group that meets with the Metropolitan Police at New Scotland Yard as well as a local LGBT+ Advisory Group that meets regularly at Kensington Police Station.  

Stephen also lives with health and disability issues and is prepared to share his experiences especially when it comes to helping others feel safer in their own home and community.  Stephen is a strong advocate for the rights of people living with sensory disabilities to be able to fully participate in meetings and other tenant involvement activities.  

Valerie Oldfield

Valerie Oldfield has been a social housing tenant for 38 years and an active tenant for 21 years. Valerie was voted in as a board member by residents for three consecutive terms, resulting in nine years on the board of Hexagon HA of which four of those years in the position of vice chair. Valerie chaired NHF’s Tenant Advisory Panel from conception in 2019 until October 2023.

As a resident, Valerie has been active in many tenant involvement activities: a member of the performance review group, scrutiny group, resident design group, readers’ panel, a member and chair of the residents’ forum and repairs group. Valerie also attended many resident focus groups.

Valerie feels her varied life experiences of paid and voluntary employment, self-employment as well as being in a valuable position as an employed staff member in the resident engagement team of her housing association, gives her well-rounded skills and abilities to apply to her work on the Panel.

Coming from a business, creative and community background, Valerie strongly believes in residents and housing associations working in partnership and in the development of the relationship, understanding and services of social housing.

Kai Jackson

Kai has been a social housing tenant for most of her life. She is a mother of three, a psychology graduate, an involved tenant, a school governor, a Tpas Associate and author of the project ‘Diverse Voices: Transforming Tenant Influence in Social Housing.’  

She might not have been involved in tenant engagement as long as many tenants, but she is very passionate about the sector collaboration between tenants and their landlord, particularly bringing diverse voices together to correctly represent the tenant population and effect real changes.  

Prior to her role in housing, she was a senior healthcare assistant with the NHS and private agencies, a SEND teaching assistant, volunteered with mentor ex-offenders in an effort to reduce recidivism. Kai has met and worked with a large demographic of people over the years, and enjoys insight and learning and feels it is how we develop as people.

Sheila Capuano

Sheila is retired and lives in Northumberland in a small fishing village. She was originally born and bred on the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire border. Sheila was a single parent of 3 children and has lived in social housing the majority of her life. 

For the past 8 years, Sheila has been an involved tenant for her local housing association, Bernicia. She's been chair of Bernicia's Tenant Voice for the past year and is an original member of the NHF's Tenant Advisory Panel Sheila hopes to make a difference to the lives of tenants so they can live in safe, secure and warm homes without prejudice and stigma. She hopes to bring to the group the voice of a life lived, the untrained everyday tenant.

Sean Yewdale

Sean Yewdale is 61 years old and lives with his partner and two cats in Pensby Wirral and has been a social housing tenant for 38 years. Sean worked in retail for many decades as a management trainer and a health and safety compliance manager, however ill health meant he was medically retired. 
 
Since then he has been involved with the British heart foundation and the cardiomyopathy association and until covid was a support volunteer at the heart rehabilitation units at two of the local hospitals. 
 
In 2021 Sean became a member of the Communities Committee at his housing association and has been involved in empty homes hackathon and letting standards and many projects to benefit the living standards of his fellow tenants. He is passionate about social housing and has special interests in the environment and sustainability, as well as supported and assisted living. 
 
Sean says one of the highlights over the past year was being a tenant representative on the interview panel for a new CEO. It was quite a unique situation to be able to offer thoughts and be involved in the selection process. 
 
He is an avid gardener and enjoys not only tending his own garden but also helps the neighbours with grass cutting and maintaining their plants and borders. He says that gardening not only keeps him in contact with nature but has positive benefit to both his  physical and mental health. 

Lily Beck

Lily is 23 and has autism and dyspraxia and mental health difficulties. 

She has lived in her supported housing flat in Cumbria for three years.  Although she found the transition from home to independent living difficult, she is now thriving. She has been on the tenant board of her housing association for a year and is a keen advocate for the inclusion and equality of people with disabilities and autism.

Lily has been on interview panels and has helped her Housing Association recruit new housing and support officers. She has also been part of a group working on the Together with Tenants Charter, this year they have been working with the Landlord to get the repair process right. Lily has also been part of Starts at Home day and has spoken to her local MP about some of the issues the tenants have finding appropriate housing. 

Lily volunteers at the local Oxfam and at the Brewery arts centre. In her spare time, Lily enjoys playing the piano, singing and watching Disney films, musicals and animated films and other films in general. 

Rev James Olanipekun

Reverend James Olanipekun has lived in Poplar, London Borough of Tower Hamlets since 1991. He was the vice-chair of Poplar housing and Regeneration Community Association Board in East London (Poplar Harca), and was appointed ambassador after nine years. He is also the current chair of one of the estate boards in Poplar Harca.

Reverend James Olanipekun sits on several boards in Tower Hamlets including Health Determinant Collaborative Board (HDRC), Health and Wellbeing Coalition and the Safer Neighbourhood Board. He is the chair of Mile End Ward Panel, a trustee of Shorditch Tabernacle Baptist church, Christ Apostolic Church East London, Raines Foundation Trust, and was privileged to have been part of the group that reviewed the NHF's Governance code. Reverend James Olanipekun is also one of the 200 selected Social Housing Resident Panel members of the Department of Levelling up, Housing and Communities. 

Reverend James Olanipekun is a trained teacher and an author of six published books on Christian topics. He has been an unpaid Pastor of a lovely congregation for almost 35 years, and was a recipient of the 2015 LBTH Civic Award for Outstanding Services to the community. Reverend James Olanipekun is happily married to Jummy and blessed with children who are also involved in the community positively. 

Helena Ingham

Helena has been an involved resident of social housing for over 30 years, from a LSVT to housing association, and through several mergers. Through all this Helena has served as chair of a resident association, area, and regional panels.  

Helena has also served as a board member for over 9 years, prior to the 9-year rule. She has also been vice chair of her housing association's Resident Strategy Group. Helena has sat as chair of scrutiny panels, design groups, chaired complaints panels and review hearings,  to name but a few. She is still involved with her housing association now as a resident ambassador. Helena firmly beleives in a one team approach in social housing.