whg colleague shortlisted for national fire safety award

A housing association colleague responsible for helping keep thousands of homes safe has been shortlisted for a national fire safety award.

Martina Lydon, Fire Protection Manager at whg, has been named as a finalist in the Woman in Fire Safety category at the Aico Community Awards 2026.

The awards recognise individuals making an outstanding contribution to improving safety in homes and communities. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the ICC in Birmingham in April.

Martina leads fire protection across around 9,300 homes, including 16 higher-risk buildings, helping ensure more than 19,000 customers live in safe homes.

Her shortlisting reflects a year of major progress in strengthening fire safety standards across whg’s homes. Within 12 months of stepping into her role, Martina led the organisation to achieve BM TRADA accreditation for fire door installation, introducing accredited processes that have improved quality standards and strengthened assurance that fire doors will perform as intended in an emergency.

Chris Luke, Director of Building Safety at whg, said: “Martina’s shortlisting is thoroughly deserved. She combines practical experience, technical expertise and real determination to continuously raise standards.

“Fire safety is one of the most critical responsibilities we have as a housing provider, and Martina’s work has strengthened how we manage risk, improve quality and give customers confidence that their homes are safe.”

The recognition also comes at a time when whg has been strengthening its wider building safety approach.

Last year the organisation introduced a new Building Safety team, bringing together more than 118 colleagues responsible for areas including fire safety, gas, electrical compliance and building safety management.

The structure was introduced following new legislation introduced through the Building Safety Act, helping ensure clearer accountability, stronger oversight and specialist expertise across safety functions.

The Fire Safety team carries out assessments across whg’s homes and inspects more than 1,000 fire doors each year, while visiting every high-rise building annually to ensure fire risk assessments remain up to date.

The organisation has also continued to invest in professional development, with all fire risk assessors progressing along Level 4 training pathways to strengthen in-house expertise.

Chris added: “Customer safety is always our top priority. The work Martina and the wider team are doing demonstrates the strength of the systems and people we have in place to protect our customers and their homes.”

The winner of the Woman in Fire Safety award will be announced at the Aico Community Awards ceremony on 16 April 2026.