Spring - Severnside Housing
Transcription
Spring - Severnside Housing
Pillar A newsletter from Severnside Housing Spring 2012 Learning Programme launches page 4 Fire Safety advice page 7 Community Fayre 2012 page 9 College ‘takes over’ Severnside Helping students see social housing at work Just before Christmas, we invited students from Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology (SCAT) to spend a day working alongside the team at Severnside. The invitation marked national Takeover Day, a day where young people are given the chance to work with adults and help influence decisions in their local area. Students joined us and spent their day in different departments including Housing Support, Customer Services and Sheltered Housing. Claire Poulson, community development officer at Severnside, said: “Encouraging younger people to get involved with Severnside is important so that we can be sure their views and needs are heard and taken into account. “It was great to work with students from SCAT during Takeover Day. They had lots of ideas about how we could expand and encourage involvement of younger people, and they got a real insight into the vital work that housing providers deliver in their communities.” Gina Cusack, Student Liaison Officer at the College added: “Everyone who spent the day at Severnside enjoyed their time there, and was surprised at the different areas of work involved in social housing.” If you have a smart phone with a QR reader application you can scan this barcode to go directly to our web page. You will see more of these QR barcodes in Pillar which will link you to web pages to give you more or other related information on certain stories. Trimming the cost Present this voucher and get 10% off any hairdressing services provided by Shropshire County Training. Code: SSHR 2 Pillar Spring 2012 Get 10% off your next hair appointment Shropshire County Training is kindly offering all Severnside tenants a 10% discount off the cost of their entire hairdressing range of services, from cut and blow dries, to foils. To benefit from this great offer and to book your appointment, call 01743 248810 and quote the reference: SSHR. Remember to cut out the voucher and take it along with you. As well as this great discount, County Training is offering free hairdressing taster courses, through our Resident Learning Programme (see page 4 for more information). Tenants in conference Getting together to make sure your voice is heard Towards the end of November, we held a ‘How tenants can influence change’ day at Shrewsbury Hospital’s conference centre. The day, launched by Chief Executive Sarah Boden, was attended by around 40 people who are regularly involved with Severnside through the Resident Inspectors group, focus groups, and other resident panels. It involved a number of workshops looking at how tenants could influence change in particular areas, including equality & diversity, youth engagement and focus groups. The day also included presentations on accessing financial services, and keeping in touch with Severnside through Facebook and Twitter. Sue Dell, community development manager, said: “I think the conference has been a huge success and we have many great ideas and suggestions to take forward. I look forward to working with residents to make these ideas a reality.” The event was crowned by the presentation of four Resident Involvement Awards, recognising those residents who have gone the extra mile. Everyone chosen for an award was nominated and voted for by Severnside residents and staff. The winners were: • Enhancing Communities Award – June Jones • Outstanding Contribution Award – June Jones • Personal Development Award – Pamela Cathcart • Young Person’s Contribution Award – Liam Thomas At the end of the day, everyone was asked to rate the event. Feedback showed 95% thought it was good or very good, and 92% said that opportunities for involvement with Severnside were good or very good. If you are interested in getting involved with Severnside, and helping us deliver excellent services, please contact the Community Development team on 01743 285000 or email [email protected] Skills, confidence and pride Courses to encourage self-development and social awareness We’ve recently introduced two new training courses for young people to help improve their skills and confidence, and help them play a positive role in their local communities. In partnership with The Prince’s Trust and the City of Wolverhampton College, a group of 13 young people aged 16-25 are taking part in a 12-week personal development course which aims to improve confidence, motivation and skills, and encourage them to think about their future. Since the course started in November, they’ve gained qualifications in first aid, fire safety and food hygiene, as well as going on a trip away to a scout camp, where they had to budget, as well as cook, clean and wash up for themselves. Over the coming weeks, the group will be going on work placements where they can try out their new skills and confidence. Ultimately, they will gain City and Guilds qualifications in Development and Contributing to Communities, as well as several Key Skills Level 2 awards. We’re also working with Wolverhampton College to offer young people aged 16-18 who are not currently in employment, education or training the chance to develop their skills through the ‘Get It On’ course, funded by the Skills Funding Agency and the European Social Fund. This six-week course includes basic English and Maths training, as well as sessions on interviews skills and techniques, CV building and food hygiene. There will also be fun activities such as archery, abseiling and rock climbing. Edge Abboh, community development officer at Severnside Housing, said: “These courses aim to give young people the skills and confidence to progress with their personal development, make new friends, improve their employability and ultimately, play a positive role in society.” Pillar Spring 2012 3 Leaseholders. Do you regularly check your gas heating? Give your family some peace of mind If you are a Severnside leaseholder, do you regularly carry out gas safety checks and services? Severnside is responsible for checking and maintaining gas heating and appliances provided by us at our rented homes, but if you’re a leaseholder, you must do this yourself. Gas servicing and inspection can sometimes be overlooked or put off, but gas heating and appliances that are not regularly checked and serviced have an increased risk of breaking down or not operating correctly. This may lead to the release of carbon monoxide, a clear, odourless poisonous gas which in sufficient quantities can be fatal. Not keeping these checks up to date may be putting people in your home at unnecessary risk. As a special offer for Severnside, PH Jones has agreed to carry out these checks and services for leaseholders. You do have to pay, but at the same rate that Severnside pays for servicing and checks on our rented homes. To keep you and your family safe, we would encourage you to arrange regular safety inspections and services for your gas heating system and appliances. If you are interested in finding out more about this offer, call PH Jones on 01743 719051, email them at [email protected] or write to: PH Jones, Office 24, Evans Easy Space, Stafford Road, Battlefield Enterprise Park, Shrewsbury SY1 3FE There are plenty of qualified ‘Gas Safe’ engineers out there who can carry out these checks and services, including our own gas contractor PH Jones. It’s free to join the Severnside Learning Programme Follow your interests, learn new skills and meet new people After the success of last year’s Learning Programme, which was packed full of FREE short courses and taster sessions attended by more than 80 residents, we’ve now launched this year’s programme. Last year’s courses were a great success, so we’ve added even more sessions this year, particularly for the most popular courses such as energy efficiency, first aid, IT and photography. We’ve also introduced lots of new subjects too, including hairdressing and arts & crafts. Just like last year, all courses are run by Severnside staff and our partner agencies, and are FREE for Severnside residents. Others can enrol for a small charge, though priority will always be given to Severnside residents. 4 Pillar Spring 2012 If you’re interested in photography but don’t know where to start, or want to try your hand at hairdressing, researching your family history or flower arranging or more, these courses are for you. You can pick up a copy of the Severnside Learning Programme from our offices, request a copy by calling 01743 285000 or find out more on our website: www.severnsidehousing.co.uk/learning Remember, if you are a Severnside resident, we may also be able to help with transport and childcare costs, so get in touch to find out more. Could you feed four for a fiver? Always listening, acting, helping The importance of sustaining your housing support services Across Shropshire, more than 3,500 older residents and vulnerable people receive housing support services, enabling them to live independently either in their own homes or in sheltered housing schemes. These services are provided by local housing associations and other organisations, and are paid for by central government through what is known as Supporting People funding. This money is given to Shropshire Council, who then pay associations like Severnside to provide this housing support. We want your favourite recipes We’re putting together a selection of 14 quick, tasty and healthy recipes for a recipe booklet that will be given out at this year’s Community Fayre. If you’ve got a recipe that you love, that’ll feed a family of four for about £5, and will take no more than 20 minutes preparation time and 45 minutes cooking time, send it in to us and you could feature in the recipe book! Everyone who has a recipe chosen for the booklet will receive a £10 shopping voucher. So, if you’ve got a recipe that you want us to include, send it to us at: Recipe Suggestions, Community Development, Severnside Housing, Brassey Road, Old Potts Way, Shrewsbury, or email it to us at [email protected] by 20th April 2012. We’re on Facebook. Are you? Log on for the very latest from Severnside Have you visited our Facebook page yet? It’s another convenient way for you to keep in touch, give us feedback and find out what’s happening at Severnside. • Get real-time updates about what is happening at Severnside. The way that central government provides money for housing support services has changed, and, as a result, the funding from Shropshire Council has been greatly reduced. Severnside, and other housing support providers in Shropshire, were concerned about the potential impact of these changes on our older residents, so we joined forces to form the SUSTAIN consortium to deliver housing support services across Shropshire. By working together, the consortium aims to provide a consistent, county-wide standard of service and make best use of the limited funds available. Also, by listening closely to the needs of service users, the consortium can offer more flexibility, allowing them to opt in and out of services as their needs change. When the SUSTAIN consortium takes over sheltered housing in April 2012, Severnside will be responsible for co-ordinating SUSTAIN services in our local area. Despite these changes, we want to reassure sheltered housing residents that services such as communal rooms and other common services will continue, as promised when people first moved into sheltered housing. If you have any questions or concerns about these changes, please speak to your Scheme Manager who will be able to explain further. • Keep in touch, or ask us questions. • Take part in surveys and polls. • Be the first to know about training, events and activities available. • Get seasonal tips and energy efficiency advice. • Take part in fun competitions and win prizes. You can find us at www.facebook.com/severnsidehousing Pillar Spring 2012 5 Homing in on domestic abuse Severnside’s expert advice line is on your side Did you know that domestic abuse accounts for between 16% and 25% of all violent crime in the UK, with one instance reported to the police every minute? Domestic abuse can take many forms including physical, sexual, psychological or financial abuse; it’s not just limited to violence. Both men and women can be victims, and the signs aren’t always clear. At Severnside, we’re committed to supporting people who are suffering domestic abuse and have a dedicated advice line, with trained male and female operatives ready to take calls in confidence. If you are suffering from domestic abuse, or know someone who is, we can help. Our trained call takers can offer advice about housing and tenancy issues, recommendations for security measures, and details of other agencies who can offer support and help. We also provide assistance to help people find temporary accommodation. You can call in confidence on 01743 285123. 6 Pillar Spring 2012 We’re making some changes to our 24 Severn Careline service, which come into effect at the end of March. Although this means alarm calls will be monitored elsewhere, you should not see a change in the standard of service provided. We’ve transferred the monitoring of alarms to WELbeing, who are a leading provider of alarm monitoring services and have a team of highly trained operators. Calls that go through to the new alarm monitoring centre will still be charged at local rates and will still be answered as 24 Severn Careline, so the change should not affect anyone. We’re now contacting all 24 Severn Careline customers to let them know about this change and arrange to reprogramme their alarm equipment. We’re also reassuring them that they will continue to be safe and secure, with the knowledge that assistance is only a button-press away. For more information about these changes, or for information about 24 Severn Careline, please call 01743 246058. Do you have home contents insurance? If not, get yourself a little reassurance It’s estimated that around 50% of residents in affordable housing haven’t got contents insurance. This means that, in the event of a theft, a fire or a flood, those without insurance will not receive any money to replace their possessions. Severnside insures the structure of your home (the bricks and mortar), but not the items inside. This is your responsibility, so we always advise you to take out contents insurance. There are several home contents insurance schemes that will cover your home contents and belongings, with no excess and convenient payment methods. For more information, contact: • My Home Contents Scheme - provided by the National Housing Federation, on 0845 337 2463. • Farr’s Home Contents Insurance – provided by Severnside’s insurers, on 0870 702 2798. RA-RA-Residents! Residents from Holland Close sheltered housing scheme in Bayston Hill invited pupils from local Oakmeadow Primary School to join them for EXTEND exercise classes. Pupils made pom-poms from recycled plastic shopping bags, which they used to take part in the exercises. Fire safety at home – always bear it in mind Some facts, tips and reminders Over the past couple of months, there have been several serious house fires in the area, often the result of people falling asleep with cooking left on, or a cigarette left burning. Here are some shocking facts about fires: • Ninety people each year die because the battery in their smoke alarm is flat or missing. Cigarettes Stub cigarettes out properly and dispose of them carefully. Put them out, right out Candles We also work closely with Shropshire Fire and Rescue, who have provided a number of steps and suggestions to stay safe at home: Smoke alarm • Over half of all accidental fires in the home are caused by cooking accidents. You are twice as likely to die in a house fire if you don’t have a working smoke alarm, so get one and test it every week. • More than five fires each day are started by candles. Kitchen • Every three days someone dies from a fire caused by a cigarette. • Avoid leaving children in the kitchen when cooking on the hob. • Faulty electrics (plugs, wiring and appliances) cause around 7,000 house fires every year. • Keep matches and saucepan handles out of their reach. Severnside takes many steps to make sure that you are safe in your home, including fitting smoke alarms and carrying out regular gas and electric safety tests. • Take care when cooking with hot oil; make sure food is dry before putting it in hot oil so it doesn’t splash. • If the oil starts to smoke, it’s too hot; turn off the heat and leave it to cool. • Preferably, use a thermostatically controlled electric deep fat fryer; they can’t overheat. • If a pan catches fire, don’t take risks; turn off the heat if it’s safe to do so. • Never throw water over it or attempt to tackle the fire. • GET OUT, STAY OUT, DIAL 999 Make sure candles are secured in a proper holder away from materials that may catch fire, like curtains. Wheelie bins Put your rubbish out for collection as late as possible. Ideally bins should be six metres away from properties. Portable heaters Portable heaters are a convenient way of adding extra heating, however they can be a danger if not used and maintained correctly. Escape plan • Plan an escape route, make sure exits are clear and ensure everyone knows how to get out. • The best route is your normal way in and out of your home. • Think about a second route in case that one is blocked, and have your house keys to hand. Try to keep any stairs and hallways clear of belongings which may get in the way. What to do if there is a fire • Don’t tackle fires yourself. • Don’t waste time investigating what has happened, or rescuing valuables. • Keep calm and act quickly to get everyone out. • Call 999 as soon as you are clear of the building. Pillar Spring 2012 7 New homes under development We’re offering more affordable houses in more places We’ve all seen articles in the press recently about the need for more affordable housing in the local area. We know that there aren’t enough homes for everyone, which is why we have a multi-million pound development programme to build more homes. at a development in the centre of the village. These include one 2-bedroom home for social rent, along with a 3-bedroom home and two 2-bedroom homes for shared ownership. Although we’ve not given you an update on development recently, our work to build these new homes hasn’t stopped: • At Lady Forester Gardens in Much Wenlock (pictured below), we’ve purchased four new homes • Work has started on the third phase of our development at Oaklands View in Hanwood (pictured below), where we’re building 13 more homes which are due to be completed in November this year. These follow earlier building phases which provided 20 much-needed new homes for the local area. Nine of the new homes will be available for affordable rent and the other four will be offered for discounted market sale. • At Corporation Lane in Shrewsbury (pictured above), building work has just been finished on ten new homes, a mix of 2-bedroom bungalows and 2 and 3-bedroom homes. Two of the 3-bedroom homes will be offered for shared ownership, with the remaining properties available for social rent. All of the above new homes for rent will be advertised on Homepoint as they become available. New homes for sale will be advertised through Holland Broadbridge estate agents once they are available for purchase or call Kate Royle for more information on 01743 285000. New rent types explained Cutting through the jargon The way that housing associations’ new home developments are funded has changed recently, and as a result, there is less government money available to build new homes. This means that housing associations have had to look at other ways of funding new homes. Because of this, you may start to see some of our new homes advertised for different types of rent. 8 Pillar Spring 2012 These new terms can be confusing, so we’ve explained them here: • Social rent – this is our normal rent for existing tenants, and is set nationally. • Discount market sale – these are homes available to buy at a lower cost than they would be on the open market. To be eligible for discount market sales, purchasers usually have to be able to show a connection to the local area. Discount market sale homes are advertised through Holland Broadbridge estate agents, when available. • Affordable rent – this is a new type of rent, which costs up to 80% of the open market rent. Any homes that become vacant can be considered for re-letting on affordable rent levels, but will not affect existing tenants unless they choose to • Shared ownership – this is where move to a property of this type. you buy a share in a new home (usually 50%) and pay rent on the remaining • Market rent – this is the equivalent share. Shared ownership homes rent that would be paid to a private are also advertised through Holland landlord and is often known as open Broadbridge, when available. market rent. Estate Walkabouts Come and share your thoughts on your area Estate walkabouts give you the chance to join us for a walk around the area you live in, and identify any issues or concerns you may have. Walkabouts are led by your local Neighbourhood Officer, along with representatives from the council, the police and other partner agencies. Month Time and date Location Meeting place April 25 April at 2pm Bayston Hill Holland Close communal room May 16 May at 2pm Nesscliffe Garages at The Crescent June 27 June at 2pm Ford West View communal room Minsterley Longleat Close communal room July 18 July at 10am Action plans are drawn up following each walkabout, and copies are available from our website: www.severnsidehousing.co.uk/walkabouts Jubilations and Olympic Celebrations We’re pleased to announce that this year’s Community Fayre will be held on Saturday 9 June between 11am and 4pm at Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology (SCAT), off London Road in Shrewsbury. After listening to your feedback, we’ve moved the event for this year, and we’ll be starting an hour later, so hopefully even more people will be able to come along and enjoy this free day out for all the family. This year’s event will be themed around the Olympics and the Queen’s Jubilee and will have a real sports and health focus. Activities will include football skills training, zorbing, boxing taster sessions, archery and climbing, as well as armchair bowling, bingo and face painting. There’ll also be a smoothie bike, where you can pedal your favourite fruit into a healthy drink, a chance to try different foods from around the world and a special Jubilee tea party. We’ll be sending out invitations shortly, so keep the date free – we look forward to seeing you there! As with previous years, help with transport is available for Severnside residents. Pillar Spring 2012 9 What you say helps us perform better As with any large and growing organisation, alongside compliments about our service, we get to know from you the areas where we could improve. Wherever a complaint arises, we do all we can do to resolve the issue quickly. We then look to see if there is anything we can change, and if so, how we can change it for the better. Several complaints highlight the need for better communication – with our customers, between our teams, and with our contractors. Here are some examples of how your feedback has helped us improve our communications: Communication problem What has Severnside done? We appointed a new company, AllPay, to process direct debits on our behalf. However, we didn’t let customers know. This meant that several of you were surprised to see payments coming out of your bank accounts to ‘AllPay’. We review the direct debit system every two years. In future, we will make sure we let all customers know if we are going to change the processing company, and we have put it in our diaries to do this at the next review in 2013. A new tenancy had been granted but the new tenant was annoyed that there were still a lot of repairs to do. This was because we hadn’t explained that some of the jobs would be done after they had moved in. Customers have worked with us to write a new ‘lettable’ standard. This clearly sets out what the condition of a property should be when a new tenancy is granted. This is given to everyone taking on a new tenancy so they know what to expect. We will not let the property until we are happy the property meets this standard. A new tenant believed that a new kitchen would be installed as soon as they moved in. The letters sent to new tenants about kitchens have been changed to make sure no one has any false expectations. There was a delay in repairing cracks in a house due to poor communication between teams and the insurance company – everyone thought someone else was dealing with the case. Our legal team now carry out a regular review of outstanding insurance claims so there is no misunderstanding as to what is happening, and to make sure outstanding actions are chased up. Our gas and heating contractor, PH Jones, was slow in repairing solid fuel appliances and customers waiting for these repairs were not kept updated. We have monthly managers’ meetings with our contractor to check that they are putting things in place to improve the service provided to customers who have solid fuel heating. PH Jones has carried out further ‘toolbox talks’ with its engineers to drive home the importance of accurate and timely information to customers. A customer believed they had been granted a new tenancy when this was not the case. The Council had not told them their bid had been unsuccessful and we did not correct the information when they called us. Improvements have been made in our customer service centre to verify the progress of a customer’s application. We have put in place security questions to allow information to be shared. We have been working with our involved customers to improve communications in other ways, such as reviewing our leaflets, designing new leaflets, and looking at different communication methods such as texting customers. This coming year, we will also be reviewing the Tenant Handbook. In the meantime, we would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to help us improve our services. If you have any specific examples of how we could further improve our communication, it would be great to hear from you. 10 Pillar Spring 2012 DAWN’S SENATE BLOG Hello to everyone! Well it has been a very busy few months for the Senate. We are making positive plans for the Senate’s future and how we are going to be an active positive voice for all tenants. The Senate led a session at the Resident Conference which, once people knew what we are about, was very positive. The Senate members had a very interesting and positive Away Day in which all Senate members worked hard and believe me there was an awful lot of discussion , many Firstly the Senate has two new members. Interviews took different views voiced but in the end we all came together to place just before Christmas and I am pleased to say that move forward. I am happy to say that by the end of the day Steve Townsend and Heather Perkins have joined the Senate. we were all very enthusiastic with the plan for the Senate’s Both Steve and Heather have many skills to bring to the work over the next year which will cover four themes: Senate and are very much willing to take the Senate forward. • how the Senate links with other resident groups to feed key points up to the Board and feed back the results of this; • communication; • how Senate will make sure Severnside’s new ideas and policies have a tenant perspective, and • agreeing a set of customer standards. I will let you know how we get on in the next Blog! If there is anything you would like the Senate to know about, you can contact us in person, by email [email protected] or by leaving a message for the legal team or community development team. If you are aged 15 or under, try our spot the difference competition for a chance to win a £20 shopping voucher. Circle the 10 differences on the right picture, fill in you details below and send your entry to us by Friday 13 April 2012. Name ............................................................................... Age ............... Address ................................................................................................... ..................................................... Telephone .......................................... Send your entries to: Matt Critchley, Severnside Housing, Brassey Road, Old Potts Way, Shrewsbury, SY3 7FA. Pillar Spring 2012 11 WIN Any words spring to mind? £20 Find the ten spring-themed words for a chance to win a £20 voucher. Send us your entry by Friday 13 April (who says you won’t be lucky?) to be entered into the draw. The first correct entry drawn will win the prize. Send to Matt Critchley, Severnside Housing, Brassey Road, Old Potts Way, Shrewsbury, SY3 7FA. Name .................................................... .............................................................. Address ................................................. .............................................................. .............................................................. D B T S E A S T T O F B R E W O H E R Y S W P L S P W S E E A Y G S D N P U H R J F I U M N O K G S U F H M Z I O D G O L A M B S S O D P T N Q A P R I L I X B R E L L A Y V P L C R R T N S H I N E I .............................................................. .............................................................. Find these 10 words: Postcode ................................................ DAFFODIL EASTER Telephone .............................................. If you would like any more information about Severnside Housing, please contact us: Write to us Severnside Housing, Brassey Road, Old Potts Way, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY3 7FA Ring us 01743 285000 or 0845 234 2424 Email us [email protected] Visit our website www.severnsidehousing.co.uk Find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/severnsidehousing UMBRELLA RAINBOW APRIL SPRING LAMBS Severnside Housing provides a telephone interpreting service for more than 150 languages and can provide this document in a range of formats. ´ potrzebna jest jakakolwiek Jesli pomoc w zrozumieniu niniejszego dokumentu, lub potrzebne jest tumaczenie na inny jezyk, prosze o telefon na numer 0845 2342424. Os hoffech gael cymorth i ddeall y ddogfen yma, neu os hoffech gael ei chyfieithu i iaith arall, ffoniwch 0845 2342424. This document is also available in: Large print Audio tape Braille Different Languages Registered number: Tenant Services Authority LH4325 • A company limited by guarantee. Company No. 04025816 SEEDS SHOWERS SUNSHINE
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