Housing associations are the anchor that holds communities together and encourages them to thrive, Maryhill Housing Association’s shareholding members were told this week.

That was the message from Lynn Wassell in her first address as chief executive of the housing association since joining the organisation six months ago.

Appropriately, the AGM were held in the iconic Victorian Maryhill Burgh Halls which the Association helped bring back to life as a much-loved community venue.

Remarkably, the number of people attending the AGM this year soared to 83 – almost doubling from 2014.

Lynn told Maryhill’s members: “Housing Associations are the anchor that hold communities together. And we can be very proud of what we have done and continue to do to help the communities of Maryhill and Ruchill. It often falls to housing associations to take a lead on a range of issues. We will never walk away from supporting people.”

Lynn set out what was described as Maryhill’s “20/20 vision” – a number of undertakings which the Association is committed to focus on between now and 2020.

These include:

Meanwhile, tenant chair Lorain Mackinnon, beginning her fifth year in office, said the Association could be proud of a number of “big successes” during the past year including the ongoing partnership with Police Scotland to crack down on anti social behaviour and crime known as ‘Safer Streets’.

Lorain said: “We continue to be deeply engaged in the work of the Ruchill and Maryhill communities. In particular we have secured huge amounts of money for local people by helping them with welfare rights and financial services. And we’ve have taken on more staff to do this thanks to grants we’ve managed to obtain.”

@MaryhillHousing