Living in poor conditions is never ideal, whether you’ve got some mould
growing in your apartment, a leaky tap or something even worse. For many
people living in social housing, the conditions are less than ideal… and
student Kwajo Tweneboa has experienced it all. He has lived without a
bathroom, without a ceiling during the winter and among vermin and mould,
even as his own father was suffering with cancer.
Appeals to Housing Associations
Despite many appeals to the housing association, his living conditions did
not improve. However, he has not let his experiences set him back, Kwajo
has become a social housing activist, offering his services free of charge
to other social housing residents experiencing similar problems. Despite
being a full-time student, he spends a large proportion of his free time
writing to MP’s, and to social housing landlords in order to try and seek
justice for those living in poor social housing. He also shares the stories
of social housing tenants online in order to help get their stories heard
and to help fight his campaign.
Steven Bartlett – Dragons Den
After hearing about Kwajo’s activist work, Dragons Den’s Steven Bartlett
decided to make him an offer in order to support Kwajo in his efforts to
improve social housing in the UK. In his pledge Steven outlined that he
would donate £10,000, provide camera equipment in order to ensure that more
content can be produced to educate and inform others about the topic, and
that he would mentor Kwajo in anyway that he could. Steven’s aim was to
provide Kwajo with the foundations that he needed to carry on his work. He
does not specify how the money should be used, or where it should be spent,
but only indicates that Kwajo use it as he sees fit. Steven himself has
received support from strangers in his past which helped him on his journey
to success, and by making his offer to Kwajo he hoped to do the same,
giving him a push in the right direction.
Newsbeat Article
In a recent Newsbeat
article Kwajo discusses how the money can be used to take his efforts to
‘another level’. He feels strongly that no one should be forced to live in
poor conditions, and he hopes that through his continued efforts he can
make a real change. Thanks to Kwajo there’s someone in your corner, if
you’ve experienced adverse living conditions while in social housing then
don’t hesitate to reach out.
Find out more about Kwajo’s story here
and keep up to date with his latest efforts on his twitter.
