FCHO employee recognised for work making local communities environmentally friendly

One of First Choice Homes Oldham’s (FCHO) employees has been admitted to a prestigious global sustainability body in recognition of her work in making local communities environmentally friendly.

Olivia Greenhalgh is now a member of the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP) – an accreditation that comes with Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) status too. 

The housing association’s sustainability manager had to write a personal statement, submit supporting evidence from colleagues and other professionals, and undergo a two-hour interview before she was accepted to become a member of ISEP. 

Criteria she was judged on included sustainability leadership, innovation and an understanding of policy and legislation. 

The former teacher’s membership now allows FCHO access to ISEP's global resource of collective expertise and experience in sustainable leadership, knowledge, skills and practice.  

“One of my passions is to leave the world in a better place than we found it and to apply my skills to help the pressures we face on our planet, in our communities here in Oldham and to allow our customers to live and prosper within a sustainable future,” said Mrs Greenhalgh, who has been working at FCHO for 18 months. 

“Having access to ISEP will allow FCHO to make further progress in achieving its sustainability targets. It will also allow me to professionally develop further leadership on sustainability and, most importantly, it will allow me to do my job of helping people and supporting colleagues.” 

FCHO chief executive, Mark Gifford, added: “We are very proud of Olivia’s membership of ISEP. Developing staff skills is vitally important because it helps us grow as an organisation and meet our customers’ needs in important areas like how we protect our environment.”