Halton Housing Trust’s annual customer conference provided a platform for 94-year-old Owen Davies, a sheltered housing customer, to exhibit his art for the very first time.

Widower Mr Davies who specialises in painting water colours and woodcarving only discovered he had a hidden artistic talent when he turned 80-years-old, after his wife bought him an art set for Christmas. For the last 14 years the great-grandfather has painted over 15 of his favourite landscapes and produced a number of woodcarvings.

His skill was discovered after Lindsey Hudson, the warden at Queen’s Close sheltered accommodation scheme in Runcorn, Cheshire, where Mr Davies lives, visited him at his home. Lindsey was so impressed with his work that she asked Mr Davies if he would like to display his work at the customer conference on Tuesday 18th September.

Inspired by places he has visited, Mr Davies was delighted to be given the opportunity to show off his artwork.

Mr Davies said: “This is the first time that I’ve ever exhibited and it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a number of years. It was wonderful, there were lots of positive comments and it was nice to stand back and listen to what people had to say about my work.

“I would really like the opportunity to enter them into an exhibition again and would like to thank Halton Housing Trust for giving me the opportunity to display them. I want other people to get as much enjoyment from my paintings as I have got from painting them.”

Trust customers were invited to Halton Stadium in Widnes for the customer conference to find out about the organisation’s priorities for the coming year. Customers were also given the opportunity to take part in pro-active workshops so they could give their ideas on how the housing service could be further improved.

They were also able to meet the Trust’s investment partners, Bramall, Connaught and Bullock, who are delivering the £129 million improvement programme to homes and SURE maintenance the Trust’s gas contractor.

Nick Atkin, Chief Executive of Halton Housing Trust, said: “I would like to say a big thank you to all of our customers who attended the conference. It was an ideal opportunity for our customers to find out more, get involved and have a say about the future direction of the Trust.

“We have taken the information and feedback our customers supplied to us and will be using this to help shape our services in the forthcoming years.

“The conference also provided a wonderful opportunity for us to exhibit the work of one of our very talented customers.”