On Friday 16 th of September Liz Downie, Chair of the Board, welcomed tenants, staff and stakeholders to our 44 th AGM at Redhouse. As well as facilitating the official proceedings, Liz welcomed our Chief Executive Karen Courts who provided an overview of the organisation’s achievements for the 2021/22 financial year. We were pleased to welcome and appoint 4 new Board members, Janet Bochel, Ian Carr, Jo Fairley and Kellie Thorne.

In celebration of our 45 Ssapphire year anniversary (1977-2022), Huw Williams, local historian, and Board member, provided a brief history of social housing in Merthyr Tydfil, and the role that MTHA has played within it. A highlight of his speech was of the names Glynne Jones and Glyn Jones in Merthyr Tydfil, and the role that these two individuals had within the local history of Dowlais. Of course, our development in Dowlais is named Glynne Jones, but did we reference the correct one?

After the AGM we gave thanks to Tim Smith, who joined the Association as a Board member in 2017 and became Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee in 2019. As a retired Chartered Accountant, Tim brought a wealth of financial experience to the Board and was a highly committed and valued Board member. We were sorry to see Tim stand down as a Board member and wish him all the best for the future.

Our AGM gives MTHA an opportunity to celebrate its tenants especially the contribution that they make to their community and to MTHA. The Desley Reynolds Award is our annual celebration of tenant participation. The Award was created to celebrate the memory of our late friend, Desley Reynolds. With the blessing of her family, we wanted to remember her
contribution by naming our Tenant award after her. The Award is given to an individual or a group that has gone above and beyond to support their community, or has engaged, developed, and flourished from their involvement with MTHA projects and activities. This year, the Award was given to our Tenant Service Standards Group (TSSG) members, Avril Spacey, Keith Estebanez, Joss Falls, Wendy Scott and Rebecca Little. The TSSG have devoted their time during the most challenging circumstances, to support MTHA in shaping our services and developing policies. The Award was given to these individuals to thank them for their commitment to MTHA.

We concluded the AGM with light refreshments.