North Star Housing Group, with roots going back nearly half a century, is having a bigger impact on North-East lives than ever. PETER BARRON talks to the award-winning housing association’s Chief Executive

GROWING up on the streets of a County Durham pit village, Angela Lockwood quickly became aware of the impact poverty was having all around her.

“I was lucky but there were kids whose parents were out of work,” she recalls. “It wasn’t their fault that they didn’t have anything, and I was just struck by how unfair it all was.”

Fairness has remained a core driver for Angela throughout her life, and it’s at the heart of her role as Chief Executive of North Star Housing Group, a not-for-profit housing association, committed to providing affordable homes and support services across Tees Valley, North Yorkshire, and County Durham.

“We’re much more than a bricks and mortar organisation – we make a difference by doing the best we can for those living in our housing,” says Angela.

Looking after others was part of the culture in Murton, where she was raised as the youngest of four children. Miners had to rely on each other to survive down the pit, so that spirit of trust was embedded like a seam through the community.

“People left their doors open because they trusted each other – that’s just the way it was,” Angela explains.

Her father, Albert Swan, was a pitman at Elemore Colliery, down the road at Easington Lane, and the family’s mining roots can be traced back to the 1700s. Her mother, Margaret, was a housewife and home was a two-up-two down terraced house.

When Angela says she was lucky, it was because her dad not only dug out a living as a miner but supplemented it by being a talented footballer. He played in the Northern League – for Crook Town, among others – and once trod Wembley’s hallowed turf.

Burnley and West Ham chased Albert’s signature, but he could earn more down the pit and playing in the Northern League, so he stayed put. Margaret passed away when Angela was just 11, and Albert died from pneumoconiosis, through breathing coal dust.

Angela left school at 16 with a handful of O-levels but no idea of what to do next. “There were no aspirations in the village. Only one member of our class did A-levels and none went to university,” she says.

Instead, she got a job as an office junior for a marine insurance company in Sunderland and impressed enough to progress to credit controller before taking a year out to have her son, Jamie.

It was a case of “needs must” when she returned to work, with jobs including evening shifts at Fisher Price Toys, in Peterlee, and putting jam into donuts at another factory.

Angela’s first step into the housing sector came when she landed a temporary contract to become Sunderland City Council’s first female rent collector since the war.

Again, she witnessed plenty of deprivation. “It was always the women who came to the door if they couldn’t pay the rent, so there were lots of doorstep negotiations.”

She also learned about isolation, often being the only face many elderly people saw for days.

From there, she took a permanent rent collector’s role with Home Group – the country’s biggest housing association at the time. She took the Chartered Institute of Housing qualification, and quickly moved up the ranks to become area manager.

After 11 years with Home Group, Angela’s next move was to Endeavour Housing Association, formed in 1974 by a group of Cleveland churchmen, who were concerned about housing conditions in Middlesbrough.

With the backing of a Government grant, Endeavour began buying empty terraced housing in the town, then did the same in Stockton and Hartlepool. Building conversions followed, including schools, a convent, bank, police station and restaurant.

Endeavour opened the first women’s refuge in Hartlepool, and took over Webb House, opposite Middlesbrough Railway Station, converting the grand, listed building into units for people recovering from mental health problems.

Angela joined Endeavour in 1996 as housing manager, studied for an MBA at Newcastle Business School, and went on to become a director and Deputy Chief Executive.

Endeavour’s influence spread to County Durham when an opportunity arose to take on some former mining cottages in the Teesdale village of Evenwood, and that success was followed by a sheltered housing scheme in Barnard Castle.

When Teesdale District Council could no longer invest in its stock of 1,000 houses, Endeavour was chosen as the preferred partner, leading to the creation, in 2006, of the Teesdale Housing Association.

At that point, it was decided a parent company was needed – and North Star was born. A group of tenants was asked to help come up with a name, and Angela admits she hated it at first.

“I thought it sounded too much like a newspaper, but it actually fits really well because North Star is Polaris, and when people get lost, it guides them to a safe place,” she explains.

Angela took over as Chief Executive 12 years ago and North Star continued to expand, with the Darlington Housing Association joining in 2017. Three years later, the group’s various strands were consolidated under the single banner of North Star, and its portfolio now includes:

  • A stock of 4,000 houses, with 100 new units built annually.
  • Five women’s refuges, including the original one in Hartlepool.
  • Schemes for people with learning disabilities and mental health problems.
  • Drug and alcohol rehabilitation initiatives.
  • Support accommodation for homeless people.
  • Young people’s accommodation.
  • A scheme for women with complex needs.
  • ‘Extra Care For Older People’ – 50 units in Stockton, catering for older people, with a bistro, hairdresser, and social services on site.

North Star’s operations are financed through rental streams, with a Government grant covering 40 per cent of new-builds, and the rest coming from loans.

The group, which employs around 100 people directly and many more indirectly, maintained all services throughout the pandemic, without furloughing anyone.

“The staff were phenomenal – it was like a wartime effort,” says Angela, proudly. “They carried out a huge amount of frontline community work, including prescriptions, food banks, and befriending.”

In September, North Star was named “Employer of the Year” at a national awards ceremony organised by the Chartered Institute of Housing, and the group was also shortlisted for the Landlord of the Year title in the UK Housing Awards.

Meanwhile, the organisation was re-accredited with the Investors in People platinum award, with 93 per cent of staff returning a feedback survey, and 100 per cent of those saying they trusted the leadership. To crown an unforgettable year, that led to North Star winning the Investor in People’s UK Employer of the Year Platinum Award last month.

Days later, North Star was also highly commended in the Landlord of the Year category in the UK Housing Awards in London.

Much has been achieved since those humble churchmen, with a social conscience, launched Endeavour Housing Association 47 years ago – but there’s no time for complacency for North Star Housing Group.

“We are in the midst of a housing crisis, so we have to carry on and there’s a robust growth strategy,” says Angela. “People need us, and you can make a world of difference by being kind, respectful and fair,” she adds.

It’s a philosophy that comes from growing up in a mining community, where looking out for each other was simply a way of life.