Reena Purchase is ‘coming full circle’

So returning as chair, after a career which has also included setting up and being the first director of Octavia’s charitable foundation, is “coming full circle”, she says. “I wasn’t really looking for an opportunity, but I had always been interested in the issues with migrants and refugees and with their social purpose and links with the housing association movement. I thought my skills would be a really good fit to help the organisation in the next stage of its journey,” she says.

In 2016, Arhag broadened its mission to become a hub for various charities and community organisations working with east London’s asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. “Through our beautiful offices, which are based in Stratford right on the canal, we provide an environment where some community organisations can base themselves to support their communities and their residents,” Ms Purchase says.

“It’s non-negotiable, to work towards having residents on the board, particularly for small community-based organisations”

Ms Purchase took over as chair at a difficult time for any organisation focused on supporting refugees and migrants, with politics focused on a hostile environment. At the time of writing, the government is saying it will legislate to allow it to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, for example. Most of the families Arhag houses are in some of the most deprived parts of London, in Newham and Tower Hamlets. “The cost of living crisis has really hit them, alongside the issues around the hostile environment,” Ms Purchase says.

The primary focus for Arhag’s board is dealing with the same sets of economic and regulatory pressures as the rest of the housing association sector. “We’re below the cusp of 1,000 units. So we have a lighter-touch regulation,” Ms Purchase says. But she says that the board is still very much focused on improving services, “so that we can provide really, really good landlord and tenant services”.

A big part of that is boosting resident engagement – Arhag has a resident steering panel, but Ms Purchase is keen to create more opportunities for board members to interact with residents. The association is also seeking a resident board member, which she sees as key. “It’s non-negotiable, to work towards having residents on the board, particularly for small community-based organisations.”

Ms Purchase had quit full-time work, though, when the opportunity at Arhag came up (and she now combines working as chair with a number of other jobs, including being a yoga teacher and mindfulness coach, and trustee of a meditation charity).

There was also a resonance for Ms Purchase in returning to chair an organisation she supported back in its very early days, when she was working at HACT. It is also an organisation that might have changed considerably since those days, she says, but “the issues around migrants and refugees are still really, really important and still need to be addressed”.