My RHA
Snapping up the prize
16th December 2022 | posted in News
Winning our annual photography competition has resulted in Louise James being able to combine two of her favourite hobbies.
Louise enjoys taking photographs with her iPhone and during one of the pandemic lockdowns she spotted a good picture opportunity whilst walking near her home in Darlington.
She submitted her picture of a meadow at Baydale Beck to Railway Housing Association’s photography competition and this was selected by a group of residents as being the best.
This means Louise’s picture now adorns the front of the Association’s 2023 calendar, which also contains its annual report on the previous year.
And with the £100 she received for winning the competition, Louise, who in-laws Philip and Sheila Beaumont live in a Railway Housing Association property in Darlington, has been able to indulge one of her other hobbies – buying Harry Potter Lego.
Louise says: “I have always enjoyed taking pictures and like everyone I had more time on my hands during lockdown so I did more walking, and I would always have my Nikon camera or iPhone with me.
“I was very happy with the picture I took at Baydale Beck so knowing about the competition, through my mother and father-in-law, I entered, and I was stunned but delighted when I discovered I had won.
“Another thing I did during lockdown was Lego and being a big Harry Potter fan, I made the Hogwarts Castle so with the money I won in the competition I was able to buy sets which accompany the castle.”
Anne Rowlands, Chief Executive of Railway Housing Association, said: “This is the third year we have run a photography competition and we’re getting more entries year-on-year, and the quality of the pictures sent in are exceptional.
“That made this year’s judging incredibly difficult but members of our Residents’ Forum and Focus Groups particularly liked Louise’s beautiful picture.
“It’s nice to be able to capture so many nice images of the areas where have homes, from Hereford to Northumberland and everywhere in between.”
