Paul Bridge honours May Richards MBE

Monday 27 April 2009

May Richards, the Broadwater Farm resident who was awarded the MBE in the New Year’s Honours List, met Homes for Haringey Chief Executive, Paul Bridge. Over tea and cakes, May described her charity fundraising work for sickle cell thalassaemia, which affects thousands of children in the UK.

May has been a longstanding resident volunteer on the Farm. She is a former Chair of the Residents’ Association, and has raised over £18,000 for research into sickle cell.  

78 year-old May is the force behind the annual Broadwater Farm Gospel Festival, held every October during Black History Month.

May said, “It’s only too easy for people, once they retire, to stay at home and do nothing. I really didn’t want to do that; I’d much rather be out and about doing things. So I keep myself busy, and I particularly enjoy seeing young people taking part in things that they enjoy.”

Presenting May with a picture of her investiture with the Queen at Buckingham Palace, Paul Bridge said, “I was absolutely delighted to meet May. She’s a wonderful person who makes a real difference to her community.”

End

Notes for editors

Homes for Haringey is the Arms Length Management Organisation managing Haringey Council’s housing stock.

It is responsible for:

• Services to approx 21,000 council owned properties: 16,700 tenanted and 4,500 leasehold
• Tenancy and estate management
• Housing management of supported housing
• Rent collection and arrears management
• Repairs and maintenance
• Leasehold management
• Resident involvement
• Meeting the Decent Homes Standard.

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