I have been counting down the days to Wednesday, 6th November when I was going to be the Guest of Honour at “Our Journey Together”. This event took place at The Making of Harry Potter – Warner Bros. Studio Tour London.

The guest list was strictly by invitation only and yes, yours truly had a ticket. Of course I had to make sure that I looked the part so I overhauled my roof and brushed up my shoes to ensure I really shone out in the crowd.

The evening commenced with presentations by key speakers and Tina Barnard, our Chief Executive, started the evening by setting the scene and discussing our Vision and Values. Diane Lee, who has been our Chair for the past six years, talked about how we have achieved our promises and that we are a community business. This was followed by Dorothy Thornhill, Watford’s Elected Mayor, who talked about the success of the transfer of homes in 2007 from Watford Borough Council to Watford Community Housing Trust. I was so proud of all the hard work that the team had achieved here at the Trust The presentations were really engaging and it was really inspiring to hear David Orr, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation, talk about how housing associations make a difference to local communities and can put tenants at the heart of the decision making process. Richard Harrington MP also gave a presentation, and talked about how we had worked in partnership with him on his Private Member’s Bill on tenancy fraud.

The presentation came to a close with John Swinney, our new Chair, explaining that we are more than “bricks and mortar” and that we also invest in the wider community. John also spoke about our Business Plan and our priorities for the next five years.

We had a fantastic cross section of organisations attending including contractors, consultants, health professionals, Local Authorities and the voluntary sector to name a few.

After the presentations there was the opportunity to visit the Tour and of course, the main reason we were there ………… in order to develop a greater understanding of how we can all work together to improve Watford and Three Rivers for the benefit of local people.

I was really busy chatting to all and sundry about how we can continue to work in partnership and forge new relationships as well. I tried very hard to make sure I made everyone feel welcome and explain exactly how the Trust works in partnership with others.

The evening was a great success and feedback has been extremely positive. I even managed to fly on a broomstick which was a truly magical experience.

For further information on Our Journey Together or for anything else happening at the Trust, please contact me at trusty.house@wcht.org.uk or follow me on Twitter @trustyhouse1.