Housing Officer Bids Fond Farewell to Weir after Six Years

Highly respected and long term Weir Estate Housing Officer, Grace Eyamba has told of her sadness and fond memories of Weir Estate and its residents. At the beginning of June, Miss Eyamba departed from managing the estate after six hard working years.

In a statement sent to WERA last week, Grace tells of her gratitude to Weir Estate residents for ‘taking her under their wings and making her so welcome’ and tells of her sadness at having to move on from serving the residents of Weir Estate. She also recalls her commitment when she arrived to staying on as Housing officer for at least two years, going on to keep that promise remaining for six years.

Residents have become familiar with Grace as she has attended meetings on a regular basis and has served the residents well by tackling concerns on a one on one basis. She has worked out of the housing office at Worsopp Drive Clapham housing since 2004.

In her statement Grace says ‘I have greatly enjoyed and cherished my time as the Housing Officer for Weir Estate.
Some of you may not know that I became the Housing Officer for Weir Estate back in February 2004 and at that I time I promised all of the residents & TRA’s that I would do everything in my power to remain their Housing Officer for at least a minimum of 2 years. I am happy to say that I was able to achieve this promise…’
Many residents who heard of Miss Eyamba’s impending departure have expressed their disappointment and sadness at the news of Miss Eyamba’s departure after years of building up a good relationship with residents and Weir Estate Residents Association.

Tenancy Manager, Daniel Idoller has also joined Grace Eyamba in departing from the area to move to Brixton. Lambeth Living will undergo a major restructuring later in the year, which could well see further changes to Clapham Housing Area.

The area has a history of being under staffed and these sudden departures could well see further strain on services to residents.
Grace goes on to add in her heartfelt statement ‘I am very sad to have to leave this patch especially as I when I first started in Lambeth 6 years ago it was the residents of Weir Estate that took me under their wings and helped to guide me around the estate…’

Dave McEvoy, WERA’s Chair said of the Housing Officers departure “We are incredibly saddened by the news that Grace has left as our Housing officer and has come as a shock to many.  Grace has been a highly regarded and respected officer for both Lambeth & Lambeth Living during her time here. Many residents will have a heavy heart at seeing Grace leave but of course we wish her all the very best of luck in her new area who I am sure will realise how fortunate they are to have her.”

Mr McEvoy also revealed that Grace was the person who first encouraged him to stand as Chair for WERA when he signed his tenancy with her in 2007 “Grace encouraged me to get involved in WERA from the first day and this shows her commitment to Weir Estate and its residents, for this I will always be grateful.”
A new Housing Officer has already taken over with Teodoro DeCarvalho filling the post. WERA will now be seeking to build a new rapport with Mr DeCarvalho and Daniel Idoller’s predessor, Aletha Baird as Tenancy Services Manager.

Dave insisted “We of course welcome the opportunity to work with somebody new, after losing Grace, whose shoes will be hard to fill but we will make every effort as we always do to welcome Mr DeCarvalho and continue to build on the success we have had in the past”

Mr DeCarvalho will now be invited to attend a WERA meeting to meet residents and see how WERA operates.
Grace has now moved to Clapham High Street area following her departure from Clapham Area.
Grace will be missed by all at Weir Estate and we wish her and Mr Idoller well for the future in their respective new areas.

You can read Grace’s full statement below:

Some of you may not know that I became the Housing Officer for Weir Estate on 14.02.04 and at that I time I promised all of the residents & TRA’s that I would do everything in my power to remain their Housing Officer for at least a minimum of 2 years. I am happy to say that I was able to achieve this promise.
I am very sad to have had to leave this patch especially as I have when I first started in Lambeth 6 years ago it was the residents of Weir Estate that took me under their wings and helped to guide me around the estate.

I will surely miss the likes of Mrs Crawford, Mr and Mrs Broderick (I would often call on this lovely couple to tap into their fountain of community knowledge and also for directions when I could not locate one of the properties), Sue, Mrs Ellen Hawkes, Mrs Adjei, Ms O Neil, Claire & Ian Rennie and their long standing commitment to the Weir Link Development, TRA Chair Dave McEvoy (keep up the good work) and for those of you, whom I have not named individually please note that I have not forgotten you, it is just, that there are so many, many lovely people on this estate and working with all you has been an amazing learning experience for me. You have all helped me to grow and develop in this job/role, that I can never thank you enough.

All the Best and Take Care xxx
Regards,
Grace Eyamba