NFTMO Community Champion 2025

Meet Deborah Crorken from Blenheim Gardens RMO who has just received the NFTMO Community Champion 2025 Award at the Gala Dinner at this year’s conference.

Deborah is currently the Secretary of the RMO which is based in LB Lambeth which she undertakes in addition to her role as a parent of two children one of whom was Chair of the RMOs Youth Forum. In her role she has been working to support the local community for several years.

In response to the government’s cuts to the winter fuel payments she undertook a drive to ensure as many residents as possible applied for pension credits. Despite not having any previous experience or training in this particular area Deborah upskilled herself to the degree that she now runs regular training sessions for the local community providing welfare benefit advice. As part of this drive, she helped fill in application forms for almost 80 residents. This has made a real difference to people’s lives. She then started on PIP and, given the proposed changes to the PIP allowance has helped those entitled to it to complete forms to claim it.

She also supports a fit and well club for more mature members of the community.

Through this she then started an informal befriending service helping residents cope with grief whilst also ensuring that they are maximising their benefit entitlement and, where appropriate, have the correct care package in place.

Deborah volunteers at the RMOs foodbank and for a small charity (as a trustee) associated with the neighbouring windmill, where she plans activities for the Community Club and helps provide lunch for 25-30 older people from the community. Danny Howcroft, Estate Director of the RMO, says “it’s great that community champions such as Deborah receive recognition for what
they do from the NFTMO. Deborah is a wonderful example of a community champion. She is selfless, people focused, passionate, resilient and she can never do enough to help others and better the community in which she lives. How Deborah balances everything is beyond us, but one thing I do know is that the estate and the RMO is a better and more rewarding place to live and work due to people like Deborah. She is a shining example of why tenant management works so well.’’  The judges agreed!