Lydia Stockdale

Communications and External Affairs Director, Eastlight Community Homes Limited

1 What do you do for fun?

I focus on my kids. They’re very funny, quirky people. It’s impossible not to have fun with them.

2 You have the power to change one thing about the social housing sector: what would it be?

I think the sector is already heading in a good direction, but if I could speed something up it would be the way it advocates for itself. We need to build a more solid sector-wide reputation based on high levels of trust, so we’re in a stronger position when we demand political backing and greater investment.

3 What advice would you give to someone starting out in housing?

Know the reasons you’re here and hold on to them.

4 Who’s your favourite author, and why?

Anne Tyler – I love the way she builds characters and family dynamics. I find her stories stay with me.

5 Strangest thing you’ve ever experienced?

Childbirth.

6 What are your three favourite albums?

My current go-tos are Noah Kahan, Live from Fenway Park; Mumford & Sons, Live from South Africa; and Arctic Monkeys, Live at Royal Albert Hall. I find live albums have an energy I need in the morning, which is when I tend to listen to music.

7 Sat snugly at home or travelling around the world?

Travelling around the world.

8 A world without music or a world without literature?

If this only applies to me, a world without music. I need books.

9 If you had to work in housing in another country, which would it be, and why?

Canada – specifically Vancouver. I worked in a coffee shop there one summer when I was at university and it’s a city with everything: beaches, mountains, beautiful parks. However, it also has a shocking long-term housing and homelessness crisis. There’d be plenty of work to do.

10 Favourite food?

Anything my partner, Ade, makes for me. He’s a fantastic chef.

11 Pessimistic, optimistic or unsure about the future?

Optimistic. Got to be.

12 You can resurrect anyone from history and talk to them for an hour: who, and why?

William Shakespeare. There are lots of people who think a man from the Midlands with his level of education couldn’t possibly have written all those plays and contributed hundreds of new words to the English language, but I hope he did. I’d love to use my 60 minutes to gather as many details as possible.

13 Favourite film?

I can’t choose between Withnail and I (pictured) and Lost in Translation.

14 If you didn’t work in housing, what would you do?

I’d still work in comms, but in the third sector. However, I like to think there was a world in which I made a living writing and painting.

15 What makes for a good life?

I’m figuring that one out, but I think it comes down to loving people and trying to make life better for others. I believe we all only get one shot at this, so every day is precious.