Rodger Cairns
What do you know?
I have worked for 35 years across the social housing sector at the interface between housing health and social care. My work has ranged from being a residential social worker working with children in care to the Managing Director of TrustCare, Trafford Housing Trust’s Independent Living service for older and vulnerable people which involved establishing a registered domiciliary care business with an annual turnover of £2m. I am good at developing stakeholder relationships to support business growth and have used my experience to support other organisations with their business development and strategic growth plans. As a trained coach I enjoy supporting teams and individuals to assess and resolve the challenges they are facing.
I am the Chair of Macc – Manchester’s Voluntary sector infrastructure body - because I believe the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector plays a vital part in creating a kinder and more inclusive society. Plus, I’ve benefited personally from the experience of being a volunteer.
Why do you do what you do?
“We teach best what we need to learn,” said someone much wiser than me. I get real satisfaction from work that has a real impact on people and places, improving life chances and choices for the people who live there. At the heart of this work is a desire for people to be healthy (physically and mentally), happy and at peace. This is what I want for myself and my family and it’s what I want for others too.
How can you be useful?
People say they find me easy to talk to and I build rapport quickly with individuals and help me facilitate groups. I am naturally reflective, curious and analytical which means I will ask questions and encourage you to do the same. Clients have found my specialist knowledge and experience useful to help them review their services and approaches and to identify what approach will suit them best. I like to build on what’s already working because I’ve found people respond more positively when they can build on their existing successes.
Maybe it’s being left-handed but I do tend to see things from a different perspective and people find my insights and observations helps their own thinking and I enjoy collaborating with others to create solutions to the issues they are facing. This lead to Do-Well’s Eat Well to Do-Well Offer.
My interest in wellbeing means I am naturally supportive and encouraging which helps people explore new ideas and practices as they develop.
What album has most inspired you?
I love music – Spotify playlists and BBC6 Music are pretty much constant companions for me. Picking one album feels like a pretty impossible ask. Firstly there’s a lot of great music and secondly because so much depends on my mood. But if I want to be happy and feel alive the Jackie Wilson 'Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher' takes some beating but for straight out inspiration I think Marvin Gaye’s 'What’s Going On' nails it.
