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Knowing me,<br />
KNOWING YOU...<br />
Say hello to Philip Whyte, one of Clanmil’s new<br />
Community Cohesion Officers. He recently joined us<br />
to help with our work in supporting the communities<br />
where we have homes. Philip may be fairly new to<br />
Clanmil but he has more than 20 years experience<br />
working within communities, not just here in Northern<br />
Ireland but all over the world! Read on for an insight<br />
into this well travelled man who started out at 16 as<br />
an Ormo bread boy and who likes nothing more in his<br />
spare time than a spot of lawn bowls.<br />
What made you decide to work in<br />
social housing?<br />
I’ve worked in the voluntary sector for over<br />
20 years delivering various community<br />
projects including work on promoting<br />
cohesion within neighbourhood<br />
settings. What attracted me to the post<br />
at Clanmil was the opportunity to be<br />
involved in the creation of Shared Future<br />
housing. I see this as essential for us<br />
to move forward in Northern Ireland<br />
toward a more peaceful society.<br />
What do you like most about your job?<br />
I’m really excited about the chance to<br />
be involved directly in Shared Future<br />
initiatives. Part of my role will be to<br />
promote housing developments that<br />
give people the choice to live in a shared<br />
community if they wish.<br />
I’ve been involved in peace and<br />
reconciliation work throughout my<br />
career and believe that if we are really to<br />
have a shared future together we need<br />
to learn to be good neighbours and live<br />
side by side.<br />
What has been your worst job ever?<br />
When I was 16 I took part in a Youth<br />
Training Programme – most people called<br />
them YTPs – and worked as a bread boy<br />
in the Ormo Bakery. I had to get up at 4am<br />
every day (including Saturday) and deliver<br />
bread to shops all over Northern Ireland.<br />
Even worse than the early start was the<br />
fact that I was only paid £29.50 a week!<br />
What is your greatest achievement<br />
to date?<br />
Back in the late 90s I got involved with<br />
a Japanese Peace organisation called<br />
Peaceboat - basically a cruise ship<br />
that sails round the world like a floating<br />
university. My greatest achievement<br />
is bringing the ship to Belfast on three<br />
occasions with over 1000 passengers<br />
on board. I was also lucky enough to<br />
be invited back on board as a guest<br />
speaker a few times over the years<br />
which has given me the opportunity to<br />
see much of the world.<br />
What is your favourite film and why?<br />
I still love the cult film The Warriors. It’s<br />
set in gangland New York and I grew up<br />
watching it pretty much on a daily basis<br />
in the early 80s. I could almost tell you<br />
every line.<br />
When you’re not in the office what<br />
do you like to do in your spare time?<br />
Like most people I enjoy socialising with<br />
friends and family after a hard<br />
week at work. I also play lawn bowls for<br />
my local team over the summer and I<br />
just recently stepped down, after 15<br />
years, as manager of my local senior<br />
football team.<br />
What is your guiltiest pleasure?<br />
I’m a bit embarrassed to admit this but I<br />
enjoy listening to a bit of One Direction.<br />
Which super hero power would help<br />
you do your job better?<br />
Omnilingualism – the power to speak<br />
and understand every language in the<br />
world. We live in such a multi cultural<br />
society now and this superpower would<br />
prove very useful indeed.<br />
CONTACTLESS<br />
CARD<br />
PAYMENTS<br />
Gone are the days where paying<br />
by card in a shop or restaurant<br />
took so long! Now with the<br />
introduction of contactless card<br />
payments we can literally pay<br />
for things within seconds. Read<br />
on to find out just how easy<br />
contactless payments can be…<br />
Making your payments contactless<br />
1. If your card has this little symbol ….<br />
you will be able to make payments<br />
of small amounts quickly and easily<br />
in shops and restaurants which offer<br />
contactless payment facilities.<br />
2. Your contactless card holds a chip<br />
which holds all of your account<br />
information which is surrounded<br />
by a loop of copper wire that picks<br />
up power from a signal sent out by<br />
specialised card readers.<br />
3. These card terminals emit an<br />
electromagnetic field, meaning<br />
when a card chip enters this field it is<br />
powered ‘on’.<br />
4. The reader then introduces itself to<br />
the card.<br />
5. Only when the card recognises the<br />
reader will it ‘reply’ with a payment.<br />
6. The card terminal will then confirm<br />
that payment has been accepted<br />
usually within seconds.<br />
For more information on contactless<br />
card payments and for details on which<br />
shops and restaurant offer<br />
these facilities simply click onto<br />
www.theukcardsassociation.org.uk/<br />
individual/what-is-contactless.asp<br />
Clanmil Housing Group | 23
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