VIP guests and project partners have joined residents to celebrate the opening of a new £4.7 million housing scheme in Nottingham named after two pioneering former city councillors from the Windrush generation.
Delivered by Tuntum Housing Association in partnership with Homes England and Nottingham Community Housing Association, the development at Manning Street off Woodborough Road comprises 17 houses and 11 flats at affordable rent for individuals and families on low incomes.
Tuntum has named the streets after two civic icons from the Windrush generation.
Des Wilson Mews is named after the first black Lord Mayor of Nottingham and Tony Robinson Close after the city’s first black Sheriff.
The families of both men took part in the formal opening ceremony alongside the President of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), Lara Oyedele; the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Cllr Carole McCulloch; the Deputy Leader of Nottingham City Council and former Chair of Tuntum, Councillor Audra Wynter; former Leader of Nottingham City Council, Jon Collins; and the Member of Parliament for Nottingham East, Nadia Whitome.
Founded in 1988, Tuntum is a Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) led housing association based in Nottingham which manages over 1,600 homes for more than 3,000 people in 12 local authority areas.
It also provides accommodation and specialist housing services for older people, refugees, young mothers, people suffering with mental health difficulties and homeless young people.
In addition, Tuntum delivers a range of non-housing initiatives including the Nottingham Carnival, Refugee Futures, Headwize and staff-led ‘Social Value’ days.
Richard Renwick MBE, Tuntum Chief Executive, said: “These 28 new social homes – which are already fully tenanted – will make a real difference to many lives.
“We are immensely grateful to Homes England, which provided a £1.1 million grant subsidy, and our lead delivery partners, Nottingham Community Housing Association, for their magnificent support which enabled the development to progress.
“Tuntum is also indebted to the families of Des Wilson and Tony Robinson for giving permission for the streets to be named after these two great men, and for taking part in the opening ceremony itself.
“Their presence made the occasion even more special.”
Junior Hemans, Tuntum Chair, said: “This is a proud and historic moment for us.
“Tuntum’s founders were from the Windrush generation and, as the only independent BME-led housing association in the East Midlands, we will always remain true to their ideals.
“They were community activists and professionals from Nottingham’s black community, motivated by the desire to correct inequality in housing provision, to demonstrate black community self-help, to create economic opportunities and to help build social capital.
“The 17 houses and 11 flats that now stand on streets named in honour of two trailblazers from the Windrush generation are wonderfully appropriate tributes to their collective legacies.”
Lara Oyedele, CIH President, said: “I am ever so proud of Tuntum’s achievement in building these properties and, more importantly, naming the streets after two of Nottingham’s outstanding Windrush pioneers.
“This is a living example of the important role that BME housing associations play in supporting local communities and reminding the housing sector of what the ‘social’ in social housing stands for.”
