Our Deputy Manager, Anne Timeyin, announces retirement

Anne Timeyin has decided to retire at the end of December after 33 years of Housing Service including 26  years at Leathermarket Joint Management Board Ltd.  Anne has been an exceptional Manager and she will be greatly missed by Colleagues and the Board and Residents alike. Anne’s contribution to the sector and the success of Leathermarket JMB is enormous and we wish her a long and happy retirement.

Andy Bates speech:

‘An academic named Juliet Davies his written this book entitled The Caring City. Juliet looked worldwide for examples of where people who work and live in a neighborhood take special care of it. She came up with examples is Singapore, India, Austria and the JMB.

The chapter on the JMB, Juliet entitled Continuity, Attachment and Care. These are the three words that sum up Anne. Continuity, attachment and care.

As well as the JMB Anne’s continuity, attachment and care is to her family and her church.

Anne and her husband, Ben, have high status within the Nigerian community. I’ve benefitted over the year’s from Anne’s thoughts about the responsibility of leadership.

Anne had a great role model. Her mom, who rose to be a senior executive at Sainsbury’s. You need to be my age to understand what an achievement this is and how prevalent racist and sexist attitudes were.

Anne’s degree is in social work and she went on to pass the Chartered institute of Housing Qualification.

Anne, like her mom, entered a working environment, in which black women were in a minority. Southwark in the 1980’s knew that it needed to address this. Anne was a Positive Action Trainee in Housing (PATH)- and it was a pathway for black women who came after her. The scheme meant that Anne worked in different sections across the housing department. I know that Anne still has friends from these days.

I first met Anne in 1991, when I was the Leathermarket Neighbourhood Housing Manager and Anne was a Neighbourhood Housing officer (an RSO in today’s money). Anne’s ethical and conscientious approach impressed all of us and Anne progressed to become the Senior Housing Officer, Finance Officer and then Deputy Manager.

I’ll miss Anne’s wise counsel. The way that she will go off and fight my battles and only tell me about it afterwards. Anne has also pulled me out of fights I didn’t need to get into.

Juliet in her book talks about attentiveness to people’s concerns and respect. These are absolutely Anne’s values. Anne over the years she has had to tell many people what they don’t want to hear. However, nobody has ever said that Anne has not listened to them or showed them respect.

They say that in life you are privileged to meet great people, who have a positive effect on you. Anne is definitely

Attachment, continuity and care for 31 years. It takes this long to shape the values of an organisation. Even though Anne is leaving us, these values are imprinted in us’.