Winter 2014
Sarah Lodge 21st Birthday! We celebrate with our scheme for young mums in Manchester
Your annual report Find out how we performed in 2014
Kick-off for Coppice Rangers! How Great Places Residents’ Fund is changing lives
Christmas recipe We give you a tasty recipe for mince pies
WhigIN h street
ÂŁ25 in rs! vouche
Springboard
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FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @MYGREATPLACE
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Write to Springboard at: Communications Great Places Southern Gate 729 Princess Road Manchester, M20 2LT
WELCOME TO
Winter 2014
Email:
communications@greatplaces.org.uk Facebook us at facebook.com/GreatPlacesHousing Tweet us @MyGreatPlace
Access for all
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.
Winter 2014
Sarah Lodge 21st Birthday! We celebrate with our scheme for young mums in Manchester
Your annual report Find out how we performed in 2014
Cover stars: Residents, staff and local councillors at Sarah Lodge 21st birthday party
Kick-off for Coppice Rangers! How Great Places’ Residents’ Fund is changing lives
Christmas recipe We give you a tasty recipe for mince pies
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Welcome to this special winter issue of Springboard. This issue is bitter sweet because we say a sad farewell to two Blackpool schemes: William Lyons House and Blackpool Foyer. It’s been a devastating time for both residents and staff. We did all we could to win the contracts but unfortunately it was not to be. At the other end of the spectrum we celebrate the 21st birthday of one of our schemes for young mums in Bolton. We’ve also got a couple of features to get you in the festive spirit, including an A to Z of how to have an environmentally friendly Christmas! We showcase one of the recipients of the Great Places Residents’ Fund, Coppice Rangers FC in Oldham, to see how they spent their money. You’ll also find the annual report on pages 12 to 13 – it’s a must-read for anyone who wants to find out how we did serving you in 2014. From everyone at Great Places, have a lovely Christmas and New Year.
Sally Watts Assistant Director (Supported Housing)
What’s inside? Regulars 6-7 News: from Great Places 9 Your words
8 Your news: what you’ve been up to! 20 Competitions:
26 in:team: how you can get involved
Features 10 Customers Services Voice and ‘insight’ update: Residents’ groups improving services 11 Money matters: helping you manage your cash at this expensive time of year 18 The A to Z for a green Christmas: we help you be environmentally this festive season 19 Christmas recipe: we give you a tasty recipe for mince pies
Sarah Lodge comes of age!
FSC AND WORLD LAND TRUST LOGOS
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Thanks for the memories Blackpool
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You could win £25 in high street vouchers in our two competitions, Your annual report
12-13
you’ll find them on the back page.
Kick-off for Coppice Rangers FC
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Sarah Lodge comes of age! Great Places’ Sarah Lodge, a scheme offering support and a home to teenage parents, recently celebrated a coming of age birthday with help from the Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Bolton. Staff, residents, local councillors and partner agencies attended a party and enjoyed henna painting, games and stalls, arts and crafts, and outdoor activities for the children. Information was also given out to the community about the services Sarah Lodge can offer. It was a double celebration for the scheme which gives young women the life skills needed to move onto independent living, having recently been awarded a new contract from the local authority to continue delivering its much-needed support service in the area. In 21 years the scheme has supported approximately 620 women helping them with budgeting, dealing with debt, building self-confidence, making friendships and rebuilding family relationships, support to access health services,
accessing education and employment, and generally encouraging them to move on and live better lives. Zoe O’Leary, operations manager, says: “With all the cuts being made to services at the moment, it’s fantastic to hear about a scheme that is going from strength to strength. We’re very proud of the services we offer to young women in the area. “All our staff are dedicated to making this a home from home for those going through one of the most challenging periods of their life – bringing up children. We offer accommodation of a really high standard and we like to think we’re here to help both mother and child live a happier and contented life with the support they need.”
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News Matt’s message It’s been a busy time at Great Places with lots going on as usual. We’ve produced our residents’ annual report for you to read, which is a round-up of what has been happening over the last year. We also say a sad farewell to two of our supported housing schemes: William Lyons House and Blackpool Foyer. Unfortunately we were unable to secure the contracts. I’d like to place on record my thanks to staff who have worked hard for so many years at these schemes. They have made the process much easier to deal with for residents. I’m a massive football fan so I enjoyed reading about Coppice Rangers FC youth team based in Oldham who have benefited
from our Residents’ Fund. This is why we set up the fund, to help groups like Coppice so if you think we can help you please apply. Finally as we are approaching the end of the year all that is left for me to do is wish you all the best for the festive season and a happy new year.
HOMES FOR BRITAIN The Homes for Britain campaign, run by the National Housing Federation, is about making a big splash across the whole country, grabbing the attention of politicians and public alike. Party Conferences – September – October
#Housingday – 12 November
We took the message directly to politicians at the three main parties’ conferences with more than 50 events involving 80 organisations.
Thousands supported and joined in with #housingday on social media.
Ho, Ho, Homes for Britain – December
Amplifying the Message – January – February
Festive campaign activity to tell politicians about the true impact of the country’s shortage of homes on real people.
Spreading the word wider through billboards, posters and attention-grabbing activities that can’t be ignored.
Homes for Britain Rally – 17 March
The Home Straight – April
Thousands of people coming together in the heart of Westminster for the biggest housing rally in a generation to urge the parties to back our call.
Your last opportunity to take the campaign message back to your local politicians once more before the election.
My Great Place magazine picks up prestigious award! Springboard’s sister magazine, My Great Place, has been given a Silver Award for Best External Publication at the PRide Awards in Manchester, 6 www.greatplaces.org.uk a prestigious awards celebrating work done by
PR and Communications teams across the North West. Thanks to all the residents who get involved and tell us their stories. That’s what makes these magazines a success!
News How to make a complaint
Recent performance
You can make a complaint by email, telephone, post or in person. One of our frontline staff will initially try to resolve your issue. We call this ‘Nipping in the Bud’ and staff have five working days to identify the best possible course of action to put things right.
As shown below, NIPs have proved to be an efficient way of resolving complaints to your satisfaction quickly and without the need for lots of correspondence.
If you’re not satisfied with how we propose to put things right you can request that one of our service managers looks at it in more detail. We’ll then investigate your issue, discuss why you’re unhappy with our initial offer to put things right and provide you with a final, formal offer. We call this process ‘Right First Time’.
Number of NIP Number of NIP Complaints Complaints
47
49
119
Examples of learning from recent complaints • Regular updates on communal noticeboards to inform residents of progress when work is being carried out • When dealing with enquiries about investment work, staff should consult the current year’s investment programme to check if the work is included • We will train our staff to act professionally at all times and communicate in a clear and effective manner with our residents Staff should ensure they speak to the complainant before the perpetrator to ascertain the full details in ASB cases • Staff to ensure that all contacts are recorded on our database • Ensure all application paperwork is correct before any offer is made • Any policy changes need to be communicated efficiently to residents using My Great Place, Facebook, regional meetings, etc • Great Places staff should take ownership of complaints • Ensure proper communication takes place with residents
304 Number of RFT Number of RFT Complaints Complaints
38 24
31
July August September October
July August September October
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Compliments Compliments
36 29
36 36
July August September October
Change of contractors One of our contractors, Lovell, will no longer be providing the repairs and servicing to the areas they once covered. This includes areas such as the fire detection systems and alarms, emergency lighting, door entry systems and electronic gates. Other areas including legionella testing and PAT (portable appliance testing) will involve contractors visiting individual homes.
CHRISTMAS OPENING HOURS During the festive season you can contact us by calling 0300 123 1966, text 07797 870734 or email cat@greatplaces.org.uk We’re open on: Christmas Eve 27 December 28 December New Year’s Eve
8am – 4pm 9am – 4pm 9am – 4pm 9am – 1pm
We’re closed on: Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. All Great Places offices will be closed between Christmas and New Year! The 24/7 automated rent payment line will be available.
All contractors have been through strict checks and provide value for money to you, our residents. The way you report repairs will not change and you’ll be notified by the relevant contractor as and when they require access to your property. Further details on the individual contractors and contact details will be issued shortly.
An apology... We sincerely apologise that the self-service function on our website was down for a long time. This was because of new, internal systems being upgraded which caused problems with our website set-up. It’s now fully up and running and you can pay your rent, check your balance and report a repair. Just visit www.greatplaces.org.uk and sign up if you haven’t already. If you are still experiencing issues, Springboard 77 please call 0300 123 1966
Your news
Santander staff turn decorators for the day! Olivia Lodge, our scheme for young mums, welcomed staff from building society Santander recently when they came armed with paint to spruce up the lounge, crèche and the
courtyard. Thanks to everyone involved for making the scheme look brighter for the residents to enjoy. Staff and residents helped out and a fun but productive day was had by all.
Pomona Residents’ Skyride Three residents, along with staff, enjoyed the sunshine during the Go Skyride event during the summer. This was a great opportunity for the residents to show their cycling skills along with other cyclists of diverse abilities, riding safely together on traffic-free routes. It was a fun-filled cycling experience for all the participants. Now that it’s getting darker and the sunshine is gradually bidding goodbye, it’s time to get into cycling at night.
My Story My name is Victoria and my daughter is called Annayah. We have resided at Olivia Lodge since 1 April 2013. I have been a resident for a year and a half and in that time made some fantastic friends who I will certainly be staying in touch with. Unfortunately my time at the project is up and I’m due to move out. The staff here are lovely. I have built a very strong relationship with most of them. If I have any troubles that’s who I have gone to. Staff support you with a lot from budgeting to emotional support. Didn’t think I would be saying this but I will miss this place – we are one big family. I have interacted in a lot of the project
sessions available from cooking to gardening and sexual health. It’s a good place to be and it prepares you for when you step into the real Victoria and world. If I hadn’t come here I think I would have struggled. My key worker has taught me a lot and kicked my butt into shape, giving me motivation to pay my bills. So thanks to all the staff at Olivia Lodge. You will see me again. Victoria
Annayah
New hope for Natasha Natasha Piper has only been at In Partnership, a scheme for young women in Blackburn, since March but already she’s carving out a career for herself. I came to live at In Partnership on the 3rd March 2014. Living there has given me the support I needed. It has supported me in getting my life back on track. At the moment I’m volunteering in the Blackburn office with Great Places and I’ve also taken up the residents’ rep role here at In Partnership. I’m enjoying both roles and gaining experience in administration and housing as well as improving and developing different skills that will help me in the future in gaining full-time employment. I’m enjoying working as part of a team and going out and about meeting different clients. I also attended induction with Princes Trust and shortly after that went on a residential. The activities were amazing: I took part in Ghyll Walking, Kayaking, Eye Ropes and others. We did a lot in the three days but it was worth the effort, I had an amazing time and it definitely gave me more confidence in a group situation and on one to one’s. I would really recommend it to any 16-25 year old, I had an amazing experience. Looking back 12 months ago and looking at me now I can see how my life has turned around – this is because of living at In Partnership. My future is looking more positive and sunnier.
Your words
How you’re helping to improve services We catch up with the two main resident-led Great Places groups to find out what they’ve been doing to make our services better for you.
‘insight’ is a group of resident volunteers who act as a critical friend to Great Places. They scrutinise one area of service at a time to find out if Great Places do what they say they will do, by: • • • •
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looking closely at the promises made to residents by Great Places finding evidence to support if these promises are delivered, by talking to residents speaking to staff to find out about their experiences of delivering these promises making recommendations for improvements to Board and the service manager.
‘insight’ recently completed their first scrutiny review of the ‘Complaints Resolution’ service, which was presented to Great Places’ Board in early December. Look out for the improvements in the next issue and on our website. ‘insight’ would like to hear from any residents who want to find out more about the work they do and/or anyone who maybe interested in joining the group. You can call Tracy Gregory on 0161 925 7918 or tracy.gregory@greatplaces.org.uk
Great Placesr Custome Services Voice
Customer Services Voice (CSV) is the main advisory group to Directors with responsibility for monitoring Great Places’ performance, shaping policy and reviewing improvements to the services we offer you.
Recent discussions points on the agenda have included: • repairs – the group review and challenge the ongoing improvements being made to the service • our investment programme – how we’ll be improving your homes next year • Great Places’ performance – how we’re doing in a variety of areas including ASB and Complaints • aids and adaptations – how well we’re helping to adapt your homes • Customer Involvement Agreement/Action plan – agreed content of resident involvement agreement and action plan for 2014.
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CSV would like to hear from any residents who want to find out more about the work they do or anyone interested in joining the group. You can call Pauline Heron on 0161 925 7938 or email pauline.heron@greatplaces.org.uk
money matters
Our Financial Inclusion team work hard to help residents save money. Last year, they helped put £1m back into your pockets! Below are some great stories about people they’ve helped.
Help is at hand! Read some of the successful outcomes for our residents after we helped. Sheffield – Lady lives alone and suffers from depression. Completed Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) and helped clear £170 water arrears. Also helping her tackle store card and mobile phone debt. She is now paying £10 a fortnight to clear her arrears. Salford – Family with three children in crisis with a large loan swallowing up household income. We worked closely with Manchester Credit Union
Credit unions to reduce it to an affordable amount – saving £1k in interest costs! Got a low cost loan for furniture and sorted out £44 per week in Housing Benefit payments. Fylde – Family with three children. Helped them get £600 DHP payment, Water Trust Fund of £800 savings, helped with budgeting advice – now have no rent arrears! Also worked in partnership with the NHS No Smoking Campaign to help couple stop smoking saving an estimated £4k per year!
Don’t delay, please pay We know money is tight over the Christmas period, but please don’t forget you need to pay your rent. All rent payments should be made weekly in advance as per your tenancy agreement or monthly if paying monthly by direct debit (if you want to set one up please call 0300 123 1966) Other ways to pay: 1. Pay online by registering on our website or by logging onto the Allpay website. 2. Pay using the Allpay app which you can search for in the app store if you have an android phone Pay via text message. 3. Pay using the 24-hour Allpay automated telephone service; call 0844 557 8321 4. You can also pay with an allpay rent card at any Post Office or Paypoint outlet. For more information, visit the ‘Your rent’ section of our website under ‘Residents’.
It was International Credit Union Day in October. We celebrated by hosting an event to raise awareness of credit unions and why they’re a great alternative to banks, building societies and doorstep lenders. We have links with all the credit unions, including Manchester Credit Union. Even if you don’t live in the area as one of our residents you can use them. Contact fit@greatplaces.org.uk for more information.
Universal credit If you are getting Universal Credit please contact your neighbourhood co-ordinator so we can help you to budget. For further information up to date information you can look at the website www.gov.uk/universalcredit or our website www.greatplaces.org.uk
If payments aren’t made regularly and missed we have no alternative but to follow our arrears procedure and recover the money. In some cases we need to go to court and your home could be at risk. This is the last thing we want to do so if in doubt ring us immediately and we’ll try to help.
DON’T LET SHARKS TAKE A BITE THIS CHRISTMAS! We know some of you will be strapped for cash this Christmas but please don’t give in to the temptation of a loan shark. If you know of loan sharks operating in your area, please let us know by emailing fit@greatplaces.org.uk We can help.
Billscutter We can help you save money by getting you the best tariff for your gas and electric. So far this year we’ve helped residents save £8,000! We can give advice on best prices and methods of payments and help you to switch suppliers.
It was another difficult year for supported housing. Despite the ongoing uncertainty caused by reductions in funding we continued to maintain contracts and jobs. Our Broom Lane project in Levenshulme for young autistic adults also won best Residential Project at the prestigious RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) North West awards.
Your annual
report 2014
We have almost 1,700 supported housing places for a variety of vulnerable people including the homeless, young mums, young people, alcohol dependents, those with mental health issues, and older people (our awardwinning Extra Care schemes provide five star facilities for the over 55s).
Tenders We have been successful in retaining three of our services: Christine Court, Trafford Accommodation Pathway (Meadow Lodge, Pomona Gardens and 15 additional dispersed properties) and Sarah Lodge, our young parents’ supported housing scheme in Bolton.
Personalisation pilot Great Places is always striving to make our services more adaptable and personalised for you so we undertook a ‘Personalisation Pilot’. Alongside structured support sessions we also provide drop-in support surgeries for ad-hoc support, flexible support times such as evenings, nights and weekends, in addition to a range of other social activities. This work complements our previous work around coaching approaches, which are outcome-focused.
96%
of supported housing residents who asked for help were assisted to maximise their incomes
665
84%
of residents were able to move on from supported housing
of supported housing residents engaged in training or education
95%
88%
of supported housing residents are satisfied that their rent represents value for money
89%
of supported housing residents are satisfied with their neighbourhood as a place to live
of supported housing residents are managing their physical health better
86%
93%
of supported housing residents managed to reduce their overall debt
of supported housing residents were satisfied with the overall service they received
25 days
85%
of supported housing residents are managing their substance misuse issues
is the average re-let time in supported housing
Case studies Economic well-being RN lived at Christine Court for four months and legal proceedings were in place for her child to be removed. RN had never lived independently from her mother, she had never been in control of her own finances or been responsible for claiming benefits. RN needed a lot of support with budgeting and general day to day tasks such as cleaning and grocery shopping.
Enjoy and achieve DP has been living at In Partnership for around twelve months. Her confidence was low when she first came to the scheme and found it difficult to attend any group activities. We encouraged her to take small steps to attend a variety of in-house activities with a goal of increasing her confidence. By attending our in-house Job Club, DP is now attending Training 2000 completing an 11-week traineeship for Business Studies, she has recently had five interviews and has been successful in gaining a placement locally. DP was provided with interview techniques which helped her feel more confident with an interview.
Be healthy We support residents to register with GP practices, dentists, attend hospital appointments and other activities such as healthy eating, cookery sessions, walking clubs. We work with a number of health professionals, and agencies to address health issues and substance misuse (shown in the case study below). JM lived at our Manchester Resettlement and previously had lived in numerous hostels. It was during this time that he became unwell and discovered that he was HIV positive. When John first moved into the scheme his physical health was poor and he wasn’t accessing any services. We supported him to access HIV services at North Manchester General Hospital and he began to see his consultant on a regular basis. His health and wellbeing improved and we also encouraged him to attend services at George House Trust who support clients living with HIV. He was able to meet others with HIV and along with 1-2-1 counselling he was able to come to terms with his illness and address his fear of mixing in groups. He also accessed a number of courses run by Job Centre Plus. In March of this year John was successful in getting a permanent tenancy from a RSL. He is very happy and settled in his flat and remains physically and emotionally well.
Stay safe RO lived at Olivia Lodge and prior to this had been in the care system since being a young child. RO has never had any stability in her life and her only family contact was her sister. RO experienced domestic violence which led to social services involvement and her child was put on a Child Protection Plan. RO attended a domestic violence awareness course and learnt tips on staying safe followed by 1-2-1 sessions. She is no longer in an abusive relationship and is aware of the dangers of an abusive relationship and the concerns around her and her baby’s safety.
Thanks for the memories, Blackpool! We have sadly been unsuccessful in our attempt to re-tender for supporting housing services in Blackpool. This has come as a devastating blow to residents and staff at Blackpool Foyer, our scheme for young people, and Williams Lyons House, our scheme supporting the homeless. Operations manager Rebecca Rimmer reflects on decades of dedication there. BLACKPOOL FOYER Originally a Methodist church between 1975 and 1997, MP Gordon Marsden laid the foundation stone at Blackpool Foyer on the 20th February 1998 and the scheme was officially opened in February 1999, as the First Step Centre. The first resident moved into Flat 31 on the 15th March 1999. The scheme has supported nearly 700 young people in the 15 years since. Pat O’Carroll is the longest serving member of staff, having worked at the scheme since 2002.
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WILLIAM LYONS HOUSE This is a purpose built scheme and was opened by the then Minister for Social Exclusion, Ms Barbara Roche MP, in 2002. She said: “This is an excellent example of what can be achieved by bringing together homelessness, social exclusion and neighbourhood regeneration.” It is built on the site where William Lyons founded his first garage and started the Swallow Side Car Company – which eventually grew into one of the greatest names in the world, Jaguar Sports Cars. The first resident moved into flat 10 on the 10th of June 2002. The scheme has supported over 200 residents since then. Paul Knight is the longest serving member of staff, having worked at the scheme since it opened.
www.greatplaces.org.uk
MARVELLOUS MEMORIES Rebecca says: “Throughout the 15 years that both schemes have been supporting vulnerable people, there have been a number of activities and initiatives including annual scheme away days, Halloween and Christmas celebrations, creative workshops, cooking sessions, Outward Bound/ residential trips, charity fundraising events, health initiatives and many, many more. “Residents have been supported to achieve their own personal goals and aspirations and many have gone on to move into long-term independent accommodation, completing programmes of training or education and obtaining employment in a range of sectors. “Blackpool Foyer and William Lyons House have provided excellent support and helped many people achieve fantastic outcomes and independence. The support services provided at these schemes have always been held in extremely high regard by agencies working with vulnerable people and, most importantly by the residents who lived there.
“The Foyer and William Lyons House are able to demonstrate the delivery of fantastic employment, training and independent living skills and have contributed significant social value. “We feel the need for high-quality support services for vulnerable people remains high and the loss of these services will impact on the life opportunities of many people in Blackpool.” Chief executive Matthew Harrison said: “We would like to thank all those staff who have contributed to the success of the schemes over the past 12-15 years, and in particular to the current staff teams who have done an excellent job in supporting residents throughout the scheme closures and have worked tirelessly to resettle them into secure accommodation.”
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For more information on the in:team please contact: cat@greatplaces.org.uk or call 0300 123 1966
Got any spare time? Are you someone who likes to make a difference or are you looking to gain new skills and work experience? If so, we would love to hear from you. Below are some of the activities you can do from home, which help Great Places deliver quality customer services. Call Audits – help us to deliver quality telephone customer service by listening to a selection of calls each month and telling us what you think.
Mystery Shopping – helps us to deliver customer service, which meets expectations. The information collected from doing this helps us to understand how our services are received by residents in the real world.
What do I have to do? • You will be sent a selection of five calls by email or on a CD • Listen to each call, answering a number of simple questions about the call • Send your feedback to the in:team
What do I have to do? • You will receive five scenarios of general enquiries or request for information every three months. • You choose if you would like to visit a Great Places office, make a telephone call, email, text or look on the website • Record your experience with Great Places and answer a number of questions about the service you received • Send your feedback to the in:team
Survey says! Thanks to those residents who completed the Community Safety and Complaint Resolution surveys. Your opinions will help us to understand how others feel about the services.
Senior Voice Great Places is keen to listen to residents and aims to provide a service they are happy with. The Senior Tenants Voice group gives a direct line of communication so that working together we can improve our services. My Great Place caught up with them
It’s always a lively discussion when the Senior Tenants Voice group get their heads together. At the last meeting they voiced their opinions on a variety of subjects.
Your nominations are now in and a panel of judges have been sifting through them all to pick out the winners. Thanks to everyone who nominated. The shortlisted people will attend an award ceremony on the 24th January where the winners will be announced. We’ll be featuring a full list of the winners on our website, Facebook and in the Spring issue of this magazine.
The new Customer Involvement Agreement, which, outlines the how we involve you, our residents, in the services we offer, was on the agenda and members of the group talked about what being involved meant to them. Community Safety is always a hot topic, the group is helping Community Safety manager Reece Barton come up with a new Customer Charter. The group also took a look at the new visitor rules at our elderly services schemes, and they also agreed on the content to be displayed on elderly services noticeboards. Great Places’ new Vision and Values was also on the to-do list and 16 www.greatplaces.org.uk residents talked about what they thought Great Places stood for.
Website review 49 residents who use the self-service section on Great Places’ website completed a survey to help identify future improvements we can make to the site. Thanks to all those involved!
Kick-off for Coppice Rangers FC!
The second year into our Great Places Residents’ Fund and we’ve given out nearly £20,000 to projects that make a difference to your lives or the areas you live. Springboard went to meet an exciting community football team in Oldham which is one of the recipients
Forget Oldham Athletic, Manchester City and Manchester United, there’s a new team in town, Coppice Rangers FC! Set up 18 months ago by lead coach Mohammed Miah, the sessions started rather informally before Mohsub Yousaf, who’d lived in the area for 29 years, got involved in March this year to set up policies and procedures and formalise the structure of the club. “I noticed that although there were plenty of adult teams in the area, no-one seemed to be giving the children any time to learn. We wanted to change that,” he enthuses. Mohsub is helped by his brother Manshah, his friend Ricky and other members of the community. The football club trains at Tudor Street Kick pitch and needed money to hire out this venue as well as funding for kits, equipment (nets, balls, cones), paying for CRB checks and FA training badges for the coaches. They received £1,100, which has made a world of difference according to Mohsub. “I heard about the Residents’ Fund through Facebook, looked at the criteria and thought we were eligible. What we’re doing is helping the kids in the area. As well as football we’re promoting life skills – teaching them how to conduct themselves.
“If you go to any football team they provide them with food, drink – we tell them to bring their own. It gives them the responsibility for doing that. It’s about discipline – being on time for training and match days. The children are thrilled with their new kit – they can’t wait to wear it,” he adds. “I’m in the process of writing a three-year development plan. We want to become self-sustained so we don’t have to keep applying for funding. Then we became a proper academy.” You could be looking at some future Premier League stars. Watch this space!
Great Places
RESIDENTS’ FUND £19,342 £25,000 total fund £5,658 21 total applications 14 approved applications
total committed what’s left
Since we re-launched the fund last year, the quality of applications has improved massively. Thanks to everyone who’s bid for funding. You’ve got until 30th December to apply for what’s left! Springboard
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The A – Z for a green Christmas!
A B C D E F G H I 18
Artificial trees are not necessarily greener – although they last for longer. Real trees help to remove carbon from the atmosphere while they are growing. Christmas brings yet more batterydevouring appliances and toys. So use mains or go for rechargeable appliances where possible, and treat your household to a battery charger. One billion Christmas cards are dumped each year in the UK (Friends of the Earth). Use recycled cards or make your own from last year’s. Use last year’s decorations or decorate your tree with products that are fairly traded and ethically sourced. Or get creative and make your own. Use an eco-friendly cotton shopper bag instead of all that plastic. Don’t have a cotton shopper bag? Contact Great Places’ Environmental team and they’ll put one in the post for you. By the time the food that make up the average British Christmas dinner arrive on our plates, it has travelled a combined distance of 49,000 miles. Buy local or buy less. Green eyed frog– Check it out for a selection of ethical and eco decorations and Christmas stocking fillers. www.greeneyedfrog.co.uk Hark the winter birds sing. It may be cold outside but some birds love to stay in the UK over winter. When you are out for a walk see how many you can spot. Our winter favourites are: Robin, Dunnock and Chaffinch Bring in some holly and ivy from the garden – fallen branches are obviously okay, but take only what you need.
www.greatplaces.org.uk
J K L M N O P Q R
Advice, tips and ideas on staying green and saving money!
After Christmas take those unwanted gifts to a jumble sale and payback Christmas early.
Keep the curtains closed, it keeps heat in and saves energy and money.
Christmas tree lights left on for 10 hours a day over the 12 days of Christmas produce enough CO2 to inflate 12 balloons, so turn them off when they are not needed. Use LEDs instead of traditional bulbs. Over the Christmas period we use an extra 750 million bottles and glass containers, and 500 million drinks cans. Make sure you recycle yours! When decorating the tree, consider using natural or homemade edible treats rather than plastic baubles to save on creating rubbish. Ten million turkeys are eaten every Christmas. If you can, try to make sure yours has been reared in humane conditions by choosing a free-range organic one. Remember that good food makes a great present, especially if you’ve made it yourself – also pictures, knitted hats, bedsocks!
Have a quick search on the internet for more ideas to minimise the impact of Christmas on your wallet and the planet. According to Recyclenow.com, households will throw out five sacks of rubbish per family over the festive period. Much of this could have been recycled.
S T U V W X Y Z
Buy stockings and advent calendars that you can use year after year or for a more personal touch, make your own.
Aim for a few car-free days this Christmas. Travelling on a cheap flight for Christmas seems like an irresistible bargain, but we’re starting to realise that it’s killing the planet. Use the right-sized pan for the vegetables you cook, and only boil the kettle with the amount of water you need.
Is that mountain of Brussel sprouts too much for the family? Compost all your food peelings or get a wormery to help break down the vegetable food waste into rich soil nutrition. It was estimated the UK used enough paper to wrap up the entire island of Guernsey last year. Try wrapping your presents in brown or recycled paper. Buy your fruit and vegetables loose and ditch all that excessive plastic packaging.
It’s your world, your choice.
Have a post-Christmas doze, content that your Christmas carbon footprint is minimal! zzzz!
22 Christmas food
Christmas Recipe
Unbeliveably easy mince pies!
Step 1: To make the pastry, rub 225g cold, diced butter into 350g plain flour, then mix in 100g golden caster sugar and a pinch of salt if required. Combine the pastry into a ball – don’t add liquid – and knead it briefly. The dough will be fairly firm, like shortbread dough. You can use the dough immediately, or chill for later. Step 2: Preheat the oven to 200c/gas 6/fan 180c. Line 18 holes of two 12-hole patty tins, by pressing small walnut-sized balls of pastry into each hole. Spoon 280g mincemeat into the pies. Step 3: Take slightly smaller balls of pastry than before and pat them out between your hands to make round lids, big enough to cover the pies. Cut a star from each circle then top the pies with their lids, pressing the edges gently together to seal. Step 4: Beat 1 small egg and brush the tops of the pies. Bake for 20 minutes until golden. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack. To serve, lightly dust with icing sugar. They will keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.
Ingredients
225 cold butter, g diced
350 plain flour g
100g golden caster sugar
280 mincemeat g
1 small egg
icing sugar, to du st
Makes 18 mince pies Prep time: 30 mins Cooking time: 20 mins Springboard
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Competition time V
Word Search!
Name:
Date:
Find and circle each of the words from the list below. Words may appear forwards or backwards, horizontally, vertically or diagonally in the grid.
Please answer the questions below to enter the competitions
Wordsearch te the Comple h and rc a wordse uld you co 5 2 £ in w ers! h in vouc
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REINDEER PRESENTS TURKEY SNOWMAN
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Congratulations to last issue’s winners: Wordsearch: Clifford Rhodes – Stretford, Alan Dean – Newton Heath and David Pye – Heysham.
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Spot the difference: Ruth Murphy – Stalybridge, Jade Dorricott – Longsight and Dennis Bailey – Newton Heath.
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MINCEPIE CAROLS SLEIGH BAUBLE
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Words to find are: CHRISTMAS TREE HOLLY CRACKER SANTACLAUS
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SPOT THE DIFFERENCE Just circle the FIVE differences on picture number two. You could be one of three lucky people to win £10 worth of vouchers. presents cracker santaclaus reindeer bauble snowman mincepie christmastree turkey holly carols sleigh
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Bright colours
Large print
Lots of writing
Lots of pictures
Detailed design
Dark colours
Small print
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Simple design
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