Springboard spring 2016

Spring 2016

Courtney Livesey – the future queen of retail!

Shine like stars Supported Housing Winners at our annual awards

Sprucing up for Spring Our new grounds maintenance team

Keeping it green Recycling at Palatine Road Springboard

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Protecting our communities The community safety team work across Great Places neighbourhoods to tackle unacceptable behaviour.

We work alongside our neighbourhood staff and other agencies to put you first.

What do we do?

We investigate incidents of: • Anti-social behaviour • Domestic abuse • Hate Crime • Crime and nuisance • Neighbour issues Safety first!

It’s all about early intervention and prevention. We want to resolve issues and work with you. We know it’s important to you that appropriate action is taken against those responsible. We work closely with the police and other agencies to reduce crime and nuisance in your neighbourhoods.

How to get help We want you to feel comfortable about approaching us.

We’re a friendly team and we’re here to help. We will listen without judging you, and offer advice. Our staff are fully trained and you will be treated with complete discretion. If you need the help of an interpreter we will arrange this for you.

If we visit you, we will always show an identity card and will respect your home, privacy, customs and culture.

REPORT IT Please call 0300 123 1966, email cat@greatplaces.org.uk or visit www.greatplaces.org.uk and search for ‘community safety’.

If you need to call us out of office hours, please use our anti-social behaviour reporting line 0845 250 4626 which is also open 24 hours on Bank Holidays and weekends.

You can also get information on our community safety team, anti-social behaviour, hate crime and neighbour issues our website www.greatplaces.org.uk. Look out for our leaflets and videos on YouTube too.

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WELCOME TO

Write to Springboard at: Communications Great Places Southern Gate 729 Princess Road Manchester, M20 2LT

Email:

Spring 2016

communications@greatplaces.org.uk It’s always nice to have your good work recognised, and that’s exactly what happened when some of our residents triumphed at the Great Places Community Stars Awards held in April. Find out who our winners were, and what they did to earn their awards, on pages 14 and 15.

Facebook us at facebook.com/GreatPlacesHousing

We’ve also got the story of Courtney Livesey of our young parent’s scheme and the training course she completed, which you can find overleaf on pages 4 and 5.

We’ve already sent a magnifying sheet to our visually impaired residents. Let us know if you need one. An audio version of Springboard is also available.

Now the weather is getting warmer too, you’ll be able to spend more time outside.

The way we’re looking after our green spaces for you is changing, as you’ll see on page 7.

Tweet us @MyGreatPlace

Access for all

Cover stars: Courtney Livesey – the future queen of retail!

Have a great spring and we’ll see you again soon.

Sally Watts Assistant Director (Supported Housing)

What’s inside?

Regulars

You could win a £20 high street voucher in our competition.

6 News: from Great Places

You’ll find it on the back page!

8 and 9 Your news: what’s been happening at our schemes?

10 Money Matters: looking after your cash 11 in:team: how you can get involved

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Our new grounds maintenance team pages

pages

Courtney Livesey - the future queen of retail

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Community Stars Awards pages

page

RAMP-ing up motivation

14-15 Springboard

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Courtney Livesey – the future queen of retail!

Courtney Livesey, who’s been living at Great Places’ young parents scheme Olivia Lodge for just under two years, has baked up the foundations of a satisfying career for herself by training with one of the UK’s major retailers, Asda.

The 18-year-old, who had no previous work experience and suffered with confidence and anxiety challenges, was eager to develop her career opportunities so she could support herself and her little boy Riley.

“I hadn’t worked a day in my life before I did my training and I would easily get put off by something and feel out of my comfort zone if I didn’t know how to do something.

“But I wanted to make Riley proud and give him a stable future – I’ve got a son who’s dependent on me.”

Courtney went along to a taster day at Asda where she completed an interview and a number of tasks and activities that showed how she worked in a team. After impressing the supermarket’s staff and the Prince’s Trust team running the course, she got a call the next day to say that she’d been selected for it.

“I was absolutely buzzing! As soon as I found out, I went downstairs and told the Olivia Lodge staff – they were jumping!”

Courtney shone on her three-week course in the bakery department and on the shop floor of her local store.

The proud mum made some great new friends on the course and she’s now looking forward to the future after putting down the roots of a new life.

“The course has really helped to build my confidence for the future.

I have more belief in myself that I’ll be able to make a new life for me and Riley with a bit of hard work,” said Courtney at the prospect of taking the first steps towards a new career.

“Making new friends and speaking to customers really boosted my confidence. I feel a lot more independent.

“My advice to someone who’s in a similar position to the one I was in is to take whatever opportunities come to you, stick it out and sooner or later good will come to you. I felt like I had nothing a year ago – now I have so much more.”

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new friends “Making and speaking with

customers has really boosted my confidence.

I feel a lot more independent.

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Your news Matt’s message It is important that you, our customers, can have your say in the way we deliver our services to you and the business as a whole is looking to get more of you involved in this.

We are looking to move away from people having to come to an office and instead find different ways for you to give your views, whether that is over the phone, via email or even social media.

It’s called Building Greatness, and it’s all about making sure that we’re here for you.

Listen and look out for it, because you’ll be hearing much more about it in the future.

One thing I need to mention is home contents insurance. That is something you have to provide yourself, so for example if your house flooded as some of our homes did during Christmas, then you would have to pay for the damage to items like your television, carpets and fridge. We’ve teamed

Van-tastic!

Great Places have given their van and car fleet a ‘vantastic’ new look!

There are four different types of vehicles specifically designed to make sure that our repairs staff have the right tools on-hand to allow them to complete more jobs on the first visit to a customer’s home.

Colin Manion, our repairs field manager, is pictured here showing off his new-look company vehicle.

We stand together Our Customer Involvement Team celebrate how ‘different but equal’ makes for successful teams and communities!

If you’ve got a photo to share celebrating how your neighbours or community stands together, please send your tweets to @MyGreatPlace and use the hashtag #WeStandTogether.

Our favourite photos will feature in the next issue of Springboard, as well as on our Twitter feed!

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up with insurance company Aviva to provide a discounted scheme. You can find out more details by talking to your neighbourhood officer or coordinator.

Finally, it was a great privilege to be involved in our Community Stars Awards ceremony in April. I had the pleasure of reading some of the nominations, which were truly inspirational.

We’ve got stories about supported residents and their places in the awards on pages 14 and 15, and if you search for Great Places Housing Group on Facebook you’ll be able to find a whole album of photos from the glitzy event that we held at Gorton Monastery in Manchester. Click onto it and give us a ‘Like’!

Great Places have made some changes to the grounds maintenance service tenants pay for, to ensure a good-quality service at a cost-effective price.

A new look gardening and grounds maintenance service What you can expect from your new grounds maintenance service

Introducing our contractors — from 1 April 2016:

Grass cutting, trimming hedges and litter picking around blocks of flats and communal areas are just some of the services tenants will receive. Tree maintenance is covered by a separate arrangement with another contractor.

Meet Greenfingers – In Greater Manchester, Salford and Fylde, your contractor is Greenfingers. They have worked with Great Places for a number of years and by developing our relationship in the future we are confident their service provision will continue to go from strength-tostrength.

The new contractors will be easily recognisable — staff will wear uniforms and their vans have their logo on. Ask for identification if you are unsure and, contact Great Places if you have any concerns.

What your new contractor will do

How often they will do it

Weed any borders by hand

Three to four times per year

Cut the grass

16 times between March and November. Whenever the grass is cut the contractor will collect all of the grass cuttings

Edge the lawn with hand tools

Once a year

Trim the hedges

Two to three times per year

Weed the paths

Taller weeds will be removed by hand once or twice a year.

Chemicals will be used carefully to remove smaller weeds

Prune any shrubs

Two to three times per year

Remove litter

Every visit

Remove any clippings and cuttings

Every visit

Ga rd en in g tip s fr om ou r new te am s

Have your say – If for any reason you have any concerns about the standard of work from your new contractor, please contact Great Places’ Customer Access Team (please see page 2 for contact details).

Perfect your pruning techniques to care for your shrubs and trees – Hard pruning stimulates new shoot production when leafy growth is required. Light pruning stimulates bud development.

Remember: too little pruning is safer than too much.

Collect all your prunings. Dispose of large branches or diseased prunings and compost them.

Remember to tend to your lawn between March and May

Know the best times to sow: indoor and outdoor planting from seed February to April: sow seeds indoors in pots or trays of seed compost. Keep the compost moist but not saturated.

April to May: sow seeds outdoors in flowering positions.

Water plants if conditions are dry and feed with a fertiliser.

June to October: this is typically flowering time so keep your flower beds weed-free, feed your plants and deadhead flowers throughout the season.

Breaking a few eggs at Pomona Gardens

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‘Cracking’ job every

Residents at Pomona Gardens have been getting together on Sunday mornings to cook breakfast.

In February we had loads of eggs to work through - so residents taught each other to make omelettes.

Pictured right are omelette chefs David Griffiths, Rachel Hancock and Barry Carroll at Pomona Gardens

Flipping great at Olivia Lodge It was a super Shrove Tuesday at Olivia Lodge as residents and staff took to the kitchen.

They whipped up a storm, making pancakes and topping them with all kinds of sweet and savoury treats like banana, chocolate and hazelnut spread, sugar, lemon and syrup. A fun afternoon was had by all!

Project Support Worker, Jacqueline Mongan is pictured here demonstrating her flipping skills to the residents.

You’ll have to trust us when we say she doesn’t have a pancake for her head in real life!

Pomona Gardens gets a spring clean Residents of Pomona Gardens have recently seen the inside of their building get a spruce-up after it was refurbished.

Decorators worked hard over the course of several nights to get the shared spaces and communal areas looking spick and span – and their completion has given the building a whole new lease of life.

As well as the lick of paint, staff ordered new furniture and lamps for the residents lounge to give it a whole new look.

Residents and staff are over the moon with the results.

One resident said: “I actually like going and sitting in the residents lounge now, it’s much cosier.”

Another happy Pomona Gardens dweller added: “The building looks so much fresher and cleaner. It makes me proud to live here!”

Feeling good after RAMP-ing up motivation levels The Docherty Project hosted a Recovery Abstinence Motivational Programme (RAMP) in January and February, which was delivered by Acorn.

The eight-week course provided a safe environment in which people with active addictions could explore them and the impacts that they have on themselves and others.

Residents were also given the opportunity to learn about the life changes they need to make to recover from substance abuse, together with finding out more about their addictions and sharing their experiences with each other.

The programme concluded with showing the residents clear goals, focus and structure that would help them make the first steps to recovery.

others, and really made me explore how my actions had impacted on my family,” said one.

“I feel brilliant about completing the course. My motivation feels so high right now,” said another.

The course facilitator, Steve, understood how they felt: “I’m living proof that the programme can work. I did my first RAMP two-and-a-half years ago in prison and I’m now signing the attendees’ certificates. If I can do it, so can they,” he said.

For more information on how to access this course in future, please call Victoria Busby on 0161 249 2220 or go to www.acornrecovery.org.uk

Residents left the programme with a greater insight into their actions and their consequences: “It made me look into myself and the damage my drinking has caused to

Next Step learn how to be green in the community Staff at Next Step on Palatine Road recently completed their ‘carbon literacy’ training – and they’re now helping to pass the lessons they learned on to the residents they work with.

Throughout March, Aimee from the environmental team visited the residents and staff to give training sessions based on waste and recycling, water and hygiene, energy and consumption and sustainability and growing.

“We can do our bit to help save the planet if we avoid driving and walk instead, or if we switch off and unplug electrical appliances when we’re not using them or we only boil enough water in a kettle for what we need,” said another resident, Andrew.

As you can see in this picture from the sustainability and growing session, residents have taken the advice they’ve been given and run with it – well done everyone!

More and more residents attended the 30-minute sessions as word spread – and their keenness to be greener showed as they ended each session by asking what was on next week’s agenda!

Following the training, a recycling system has been introduced to Palatine Road, as has more work that can be done outdoors, including taking care of bees, birds and other wildlife. Staff have also taught residents how to save money on energy and water too.

“I used to recycle cans and bottles years ago and these sessions have helped me start doing it again because it will help the environment,” said Paul, one of the scheme’s residents.

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my money

Our Financial Inclusion team work hard to help residents save money.

Last year, they helped put £1m back into your pockets!

Housing Benefit – new backdating rules The government has made changes to the backdating rules for claiming Housing Benefit.

From April 2016 the period for backdating Housing Benefit claims will reduce from 6 months to just 1 month.

Housing Benefit will continue to be backdated for three months for claimants of Pension Credit age (or if your partner is Pension Credit age).

If someone fails to request the backdate when they make their new claim for Housing Benefit, and this isn’t spotted for a month or more, even if they had good cause for why they did not claim earlier, they will not be able to get their claim for Housing Benefit backdated at all.

This change will only be applied to people of working age.

Are you prepared for Universal Credit?

Universal Credit lumps all major benefits together into one monthly payment.

Over the next few years more people will move off the old benefit system and onto Universal Credit (UC), so here are our top tips for making sure you are prepared!

Save! – If you come out of work and have to claim UC you will not get any money for around 7 weeks! That’s a long time to go without anything to live off.

Open a ‘clean’ bank account – Are you always in overdraft or do you get charged for going overdrawn? If so, it would be a good idea to open a new bank account so your money doesn’t get swallowed up.

Learn how to budget – Your rent money will be included in your UC payment, so you will get a large lump sum each month and will need to budget accordingly.

Get connected – All UC claims will be made online and in the future all information from the Jobcentre will be online, so you will need an email address and access to the Internet.

Christine Jones, who lives in Rochdale and works part time at a football museum, was struggling to pay the bills and so she got help from Great Places’ Financial Inclusion Team.

“They helped me to apply for Universal Credit and gave me advice about other in-work benefits that I can apply for. I’d like to say a big thanks to Great Places for their help.”

Pictured: Christine Jones with our financial support coordinator Rebecca Cremin.

Fee-free bank accounts Have you ever been hit with bank charges? Have you been refused a bank account in the past?

Nine high street banks are now offering an account to people that have struggled with banking in the past. These new accounts allow you to have money paid in, withdraw cash, pay bills by Direct Debit and buy stuff on-line, all without the fear of being charged.

If you already have a bank account but would like to move to a fee free one you can contact your bank and ask to switch.

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The banks offering these new accounts are: Barclays – Barclays Basic Current Account, The Co-operative Bank – Cashminder, HSBC – Basic Bank Account, Lloyds Banking Group (Bank of Scotland, Halifax and Lloyds) – Basic Account, National Australia Bank Group (including Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank) – Readycash Account, Nationwide – FlexBasic, RBS Group (NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank) – Foundation Account and Basic Account (England and Wales), Santander – Basic Current Account, TSB – Cash Account.

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insight

Improving how we communicate with you Our customer scrutiny group ‘insight’ has recently looked at the way Great Places communicates with customers through our customer newsletter (My Great Place), the website, the customer annual report and social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

As part of the review, insight wanted to understand if customers find Great Places’ communication easy to access and helpful. They consulted with over 200 customers, interviewed 10 Great Places’ officers, looked at our communications strategy and researched what other companies do.

insight will soon present its report to the Great Places Board and is confident that its recommendations will further improve how Great Places communicates with its customers in the future.

You can find insight’s report on the Great Places website under the heading ‘where you live’.

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If you are interested in reviewing Great Places’ services (either part time or full time) and you’d like to contribute or learn new skills please contact Maria Morris on 0161 447 5076 or email maria.morris@greatplaces.org.uk.

Help our communities to flourish!

Great Places Residents’ Fund and Shared Spaces Fund provide a pot of money to help support individual customers to achieve a specific goal and to help both new and longstanding community projects to grow.

By taking part in the Great Places Funding Panel you’ll play an important role in deciding which customer and community applications are approved to receive funding from Great Places.

Funding Panel members are provided with training so that they can review and score applications from the comfort of their own home – either online or by post.

If you would like to find out more about getting involved please contact Maria Morris on 0161 447 5076 or email maria.morris@greatplaces.org.uk.

Working with you to improve our repairs service Customers help us to check the standard of our repairs work by providing feedback on their experience with the service (such as logging a repair, being allocated an appointment and the way that the work is carried out in their home).

Great Places regularly selects a sample of customers who have reported a repair to see if they would like to ‘mystery

shop’ our repairs service but you can also volunteer to take part.

If you are having a repair completed and would like to provide feedback on your experience you can complete a feedback form, which can be found on our website under the heading ‘where you live’, or contact Maria Morris on 0161 447 5076 or email maria.morris@greatplaces.org.uk.uk

How well do we handle customer calls?

We want your views! As the saying goes ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression’ and this is the reason our team of volunteers audit the way Great Places handles calls with its customers.

If you are someone who likes to make a difference then joining our team of 13 auditors may well be for you (plus, you can do it from the comfort of your own home!).

Auditors listen to calls made to our two customer contact centers (Customer Access Team and our Repairs Team) to check that the way we handle customer calls is up to standard.

For further information please contact Maria Morris on 0161 447 5076 or email maria.morris@greatplaces.org.uk.

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NEWS BOARD Your homes in safe hands 100% of our homes across the north west and Yorkshire have been checked over the last twelve months to ensure that they’re gas safe.

Thank you for your continued cooperation in providing us with access to your home to complete these important checks each year.

Career support is just a click away

Top CV Tips!

No matter your age, experience or location, if you’re keen to find a job or training opportunity then Great Places can help!

No more than two pages long. Insert paragraph breaks/spaces between each section to make it easy to read.

Over the last year we’ve helped: • 110 people into a job • 135 people into training • 90 people into voluntary opportunities And we can help you too! My Work Search is one of the great online tools we use to help support you with finding the perfect career opportunity www.mwstechnology.com.

It provides free career training and advice – from interview tips and how to complete a career application to finding the perfect job for you and how to build your confidence.

If you’d like help with signing up to My Work Search or general support with kick-starting your career please contact our CAT Team (see page 2 for contact details).

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How long should my CV be?

How should I present my CV? Print it on plain A4 white paper or if you are submitting an electronic document then a Word Document or PDF. What writing style should I use?

Keep the writing clear and to the point so that it is easy to read and understand.

Do I need different CVs for different jobs?

You don’t need to start your CV from scratch every time you apply for a new job but you may need to make some changes to ensure that your CV clearly demonstrates the skills and experience that are specifically relevant to the particular job you’re applying for.

Can I stretch the truth on my CV? There’s a difference between selling yourself and inventing things!

For more career advice and tips visit nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk.

Put a spring in your step with these events It’s all about music and relaxation in our star events this spring/ summer.

Oldham

Know a cheat on your street?

What is tenancy fraud?

When somebody living in a Great Places home rents it to another person(s) without permission or obtains a home through providing false information, then they are guilty of tenancy fraud.

Tenancy fraud is a criminal offence, which an individual can be prosecuted for.

It’s impact on the social housing community With thousands of people on the housing register, it’s very important that we make sure our homes are allocated in a fair manner.

What: Whit Friday band contest When: 20 May Where: Saddleworth villages Cost: Free More information: www.whitfriday.brassbands. saddleworth.org Blackpool

Salford

What: Winton Festival (as part of Armed Forces Day) When: 25 June Where: Winton Park Cost: Free entry More information: 0161 793 3432 Greater Manchester

What: Meditation in the park When: 22 May Where: Stanley Park, West Park Drive, Blackpool Cost: Free More information: 01253 352 721

What: Manchester Day Street Parade When: 19 June Where: Manchester city centre Cost: Free More information: 0871 222 8223

Blackburn

Sheffield

What: Darwen Live (a two-day free music festival) When: 29 and 30 May Where: Darwen Market Square Cost: Free entry More information: 01254 688 040

What: Open Up Sheffield (local artist and crafts fair) When: 30 April to 2 May Where: Locations across Sheffield Cost: Free More information: www.openupsheffield.co.uk

All the money lost to fraud is money that could be spent on building more homes, improving neighbourhoods, and providing important support services to our customers.

What you can do to help You can help by reporting any cases of suspected fraud to the Great Places CAT team (see page 2 for contact details) or email tenancyfraud@greatplaces.org.uk.

All the information you give to us will be treated in the strictest of confidence.

You do not have to give your name or reveal any details about yourself if you wish to remain anonymous.

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Great Places’ Community Stars Awards Our Community Stars Awards were held at the beginning of April. They celebrated all that’s good about Great Places people and neighbourhoods.

“It was a great day out because me and the other residents could see that we were trusted to enjoy ourselves.

Here’s how our supported housing residents and schemes were nominated for and won their awards thanks to their great work.

“I’m thrilled with my award and would like to thank all my friends at Pomona Gardens who help me in my role,” she beams.

Supported Housing Resident award winner: Andrea Johnson-Farquharson Andrea, pictured right, receiving her award from Martine Whitehead of Great Places Andrea was nominated for her award by her service manager at Pomona Gardens, Claire Alcock.

Claire put Andrea forward for the Supported Housing Resident award because of the progress she’d made since moving into the scheme.

“When Andrea first moved in, her self-esteem and confidence were very low. She’d been given none of the support with benefits that she needed,” says Claire.

Supported Housing Resident award highly commended: Ann Flitcroft

Ann, pictured right, receiving her award from Martine Whitehead of Great Places Ann was nominated for the Supported Housing Resident award by her scheme manager at John Atkinson Court, Gareth Gibson.

“Ann has been the main driver in fundraising for events for residents at John Atkinson Court, Birch Leaf Grove and Myrtle Leaf Grove,” explains Gareth.

“She’s worked with her fellow residents Pat and Irene, who’ve offered her help and support along the way and as a group they’ve helped to raise money for a Christmas dinner and two parties.

“Andrea is turning her life around now. She accesses services, on-site support and attends educational courses. She has a good relationship with staff and she keeps her flat in excellent condition. Andrea is just a perfect resident really!” she adds.

“These events wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for Ann and her friends.

Andrea herself is proud of what she’s achieving: “I’m the resident rep at Pomona Gardens now, which is a great responsibility.

“Irene and Pat sell the bonus ball numbers each week and I’ve been busy making cards for birthdays, Christmas and Easter which I sell on Eccles market,” Ann says.

“I get on with the everyone else here and offer them advice. I want to be a good role model for the other residents.

“We recently went on a trip to Blackpool from the scheme and I made sure everyone knew about the trip, encouraged them to go and told them all about our 14 behaviour’ www.greatplaces.org.uk ‘good rules.

Ann is pleased with the decisions that are made with the money she and her friends have raised.

“All of the money we raise goes towards our events. So far we’ve raised nearly £350 which we’re going to use to help bring people together over Christmas and new year which I’m really pleased with!” she adds.

Supported Housing scheme winner: Leeds Floating Support

Supported Housing scheme highly commended: In Partnership project

Service user Christine Green with the award given to Leeds Floating Support, flanked by Jan Perman, Anna Arabskyj and George Byers of Great Places

Kimberley Kenyon from In Partnership, Jan Perman from Great Places, Pip Greer from In Partnership and Debbie Whewell and Cheryl Ellement from Great Places

The number of nominations that the Leeds Floating Support project had for the Supported Housing Scheme award was nothing short of phenomenal.

In Partnership’s ‘Cheap As Chips’ scheme was named as the highly commended award-winner in the Supported Housing Scheme category.

Just looking at the nominations also highlights how important the scheme is to our residents.

The scheme, which works with vulnerable women aged 16 and over in Blackburn, gives residents a handy shop at which they can buy some of life’s essentials.

One resident said: “I have never been good at filling in forms or talking on the phone, so the service has been a big help to me.

“They talk to people on the phone for me when I would usually struggle and they take me to appointments. I meet up with them once a week and since I’ve started coming here I feel a lot better in myself,” they said.

Another said: “The support I have received has enabled me to move forward confidently in my life. I am very happy and currently expecting a baby!”

Scheme manager, Khalid Din, is understandably proud of what he and his team have achieved.

“We are all very proud of winning the award. I suppose the reason we were chosen was recognition of the hard work we all do that is being acknowledged,” he said.

“The Leeds service has supported hundreds of the most vulnerable people in Leeds. The passion and commitment shown by each member of the team led to us being nominated for the award by the people who really matter – the residents.

“Nothing else can match a resident’s well-chosen and sincere words of praise to give the team a boost and increase job satisfaction. They’re absolutely free and worth a fortune in terms of morale,” Khalid says proudly.

Debbie Whewell, the scheme’s service manager, takes up the story of the shop inspired by David Dickinson’s catchphrase: “Our residents have problems with drugs and alcohol and because of that, they can sometime be vulnerable.

“We’ve provided them with a handy shop that sells the things they need not only at a price that’s right for them, but in a safe environment.

“They’d previously have to go to a shop or all-night garage which might be dangerous for them.

“Our shop is run by our residents who are happy with it and who live in the same place, so everyone knows each other.

“It gives our residents self-confidence and other skills like cash-handling, and they then feel like they’re part of our professional organisation,” she says.

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Competition time Complete the word search, spot the difference and survey questions, cut them out and post them to us, along with your full name and address, to be entered into a prize draw to win a £20 shopping voucher. Six Name: Date: winners will be selected. Make sure you include your survey questions with your entry.

Word Search!

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Find and circle each of the words from the list below. Words may appear

Send your entries by post to: FREEPOST, RLSC-HLLJ-EZRZ,horizontally Springboard, Maria Morris, or vertically, but forwards only.

Great Places Housing Group, Southern Gate, 729 Princess Road, Manchester M20 2LT

All entries must be in by Friday 15 May 2016. Remember, you don’t need a stamp!

Wordsearch GRASS GREEN HEDGES SPRING

T

I

F

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A W A R D S O B O C

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A R S H

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F O E

A G P N E M O P Y O U N C O M M U N

Words to find are: AWARDS COMMUNITY DAFFODIL FINGERS

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U R M O T STARS WEED WINNER CUT

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K A S R U M E

J

A D E E N G P N R

D A

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F O D

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W B D

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V W Y S

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H E D G E S W

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N N E R

R E N S P R

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B P N S Q

Spot the difference: Alan Deen – Manchester, Andrew Marsh – Bolton, Alan Haigh – Rochdale.

Y O T G

P Y U

Congratulations to last issue’s winners: Wordsearch: Lisa Kent – Blackpool Jade Dorricott – Manchester, Patricia Wray – Manchester.

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SPOT THE DIFFERENCE There are five differences – can you spot them? Circle the five differences on photo two.

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awards winner

daffodil

hedges fingers spring community cut stars

grass

green

Copyright ©2016 WorksheetWorks.com

Please answer the following question and send it along with your competition entry in order to be entered into the prize draw.

1. Have you read about the Community Stars Awards which is on pages 14–15 of this magazine?

2. Do you know an individual or group who you think should be recognised in one of the categories?

3. Would you like someone from Great Places to contact you to take your nomination?

YES / NO YES / NO YES / NO

Name:...................................................................................................................................................................................

Address:...............................................................................................................................................................................

Telephone/Mobile: ...............................................................Email:....................................................................................

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weed