t u o y a d t a e r g A ! r e v i r e h on t
GEDLING HOMES
News&Views
Holding us to account your chance to shape the work of Gedling Homes - Page 4
Inside this edition... Blooming Garden Awards - Page 4 Community Involvement Day - Page 12
See our new website www.gedlinghomes.co.uk ISSUE 15 | AUTUMN / WINTER 2012
Fa mily fun all su mmer long Gedling Homes was out and about in the school holidays providing a range of amazing opportunities for local children and families to enjoy some summer fun. We sponsored a boat trip for 20 children to spend the day meandering along the canals in Nottingham aboard the City Council’s narrow boats, Megan and Tinkers Leen, reaching the river section at Beeston. The children learnt about waterway safety, how to open and close lock gates and how the water levels change. They all took a turn steering the boats and enjoyed a well-deserved picnic lunch by a lock side. Beverley Mee, of the Gedling Homes Customer Experience Team, said:“It was a very different group of children coming home.They had all worked as a team and made new friends. Mobiles had been put aside and replaced with enthusiasm for boats and the heritage of the waterways.”
Get your ‘Just Rewards’ Tenants with a clear rent account are eligible for entry into the next Just Rewards prize draw with great gifts up for grabs.The draw is also open to tenants who have reached an acceptable repayment plan and are maintaining that arrangement. Prizes are £200 worth of high street vouchers, gardening work up to the value of £200 or the use of the handyman service for half a day. For all your rent advice, please call the Gedling Homes Revenues Team on 0115 905 1515.
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Great result for the garden gang As part of their community commitment, Bullock Construction, a partner of Gedling Homes, has carried out a garden makeover at Westdale Junior School in Gedling.The work was completed during the school holidays and saw the creation of a new herb garden, handrails installed and astro-turf fitted around the garden area. A big well done to all involved in this excellent project.
One child commented:“I feel very lucky to have been given the chance to go on the boats as I have always felt scared of them but this changed how I feel and I would love to go on one again.” Elsewhere, we teamed up with Gedling Play Forum for the ‘Get Out and Play’ Papplewick Play Day to promote our healthy living initiative. More than 900 people attended the event and many queued up for a go on the cycle-making smoothie machine, enjoying the fabulous fruit and juice drinks. We also partnered with Gedling Borough Council’s Leisure Services to stage a fortnight of sporting fun for children across the borough.They had a go at many different activities including football, quick cricket, hockey, tag rugby and rounders. Alongside this, we ran circus skills workshops for children to try out tricks involving juggling, flower sticks and spinning plates.There wasn’t a big top but we had a BIG amount of fun.
A sporting chance for children Gedling Homes helped provide a summer of sporting opportunities for children to take part in during the school holidays.The well-attended events, open to youngsters across the borough, took place in Netherfield and Newstead. Mark Vasey,Tenancy Services Manager, said:“By sponsoring these events, Gedling Homes is demonstrating a commitment to providing opportunities for young people across the borough to get involved in. Not only has this lead to younger people learning new skills and hobbies, but should have helped prevent younger people hanging around during the holidays without having things to do.” Gedling Homes staff are meeting with their counterparts at the Council to assess the events and to consider staging more activities in future holiday periods.
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Tenants test our communications A team of Tenant Inspectors have completed a scrutiny review into how Gedling Homes communicates and found 92% of our staff to be ‘helpful’ in their communications. The team checked whether staff were aware of the Customer Service Standards regarding communication and scrutinised our complaints process as a proportion of complaints are categorised as ‘poor communication’. In addition, they reviewed policies around communication, looked at website information, tested what happens with written communication, carried out mystery shopping and ran surveys. They found that while in many areas we communicate very well, there is room for improvement, for example, not all staff are aware of the Customer Service Standard and there is not a service standard on returning phone calls. If you would like to be involved in future scrutiny reports, please contact the Gedling Homes Customer Experience Team on 0115 905 1515.
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ISSUE 15 | AUTUMN / WINTER 2012
Holding us to account Do you want to keep a close eye on the performance of Gedling Homes? Are you interested in receiving free training in order to develop high-level, analytical skills? If so, why not apply to become a member of the Gedling Homes Scrutiny Panel? The panel performs a highly valued service all year round in helping us investigate, gain feedback and improve our services.You will look at our policies and performance and contribute to important meetings, ensuring that effective tenant involvement is at the heart of our business. If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a scrutiny panel member, please contact the Gedling Homes Customer Experience Team on 0115 905 1515.
Cash for community COMPETITION WINNERS! projects Gedling Homes has a pot of money available to local groups and organisations to obtain vital funds to help them carry out their great work. Up to £5,000 is available for projects in our Community Chest and it’s simple to apply.
Wordsearch winner from the Community Involvement Day
News and Views regularly updates readers on who has benefitted from the Community Chest but did you know that you can also apply to the fund for capital / external works projects? We have been able to donate £2500 to Gedling Sport Plus Club to help them deliver their important service to disabled children whose special needs often prevent them from accessing appropriate sports activities in the local community.
Community Involvement Day 1st Prize hamper winner
Linda Palmer Last Issues Suduko Winner
As well as providing sports sessions for children with disabilities, the club encourages students studying sports leadership to work with young people with special needs and to learn about quality and diversity issues. The Community Chest funding has also helped set up the new Carlton Forum club for 16 to 25-year-olds, adding badminton to a range of sports offered.Who knows – our support may be helping develop future Paralympians and Olympians of the future?
Mr Molina Last Issues Wordsearch Winner
Patrick Swainston Community Involvement Day winner
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Bloomin’ lovely! Green-fingered tenants and budding young gardeners from Gedling schools once again demonstrated their horticultural prowess in the annual Gedling Homes Blooming Gardens competition, sponsored by Bullock Construction. Winner of the school competition was Pinewood School in Arnold which impressed the judges with its eco-friendly gardens and use of recycled items to provide growing areas and encourage wildlife habitats. The standard of school entries was so high that judges decided to give every school a trophy and garden centre vouchers. Tenant entries were equally impressive and difficult to judge. In first place was a family garden that managed to combine areas for children to play, alongside using every available space left to grow their own vegetables and fruit.The children were taught how to plant and harvest the crop and then shown how to prepare and cook the ingredients. Well done to all entrants this year in what has been a very wet and difficult growing season but none of this dampened anyone’s enthusiasm for the competition.
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ISSUE 15 | AUTUMN / WINTER 2012
Winners
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Our survey said ‘YES’! Your News & Views newsletter is overseen by an editorial team which includes many tenants. We decided it would be a good idea to survey other residents to see what they thought of the newsletter and we were delighted to learn of its general popularity. A total of 117 tenants completed questionnaires and provided comments such as:“It’s full of useful information that we would not otherwise be aware of.” Respondents said the most popular stories were on how we are performing, tenant involvement and investments/repairs.The vast majority of people wanted to continue to receive the newsletter in a printed format and we have given it a fresh new look. We were also told about subjects that you wanted covering in future editions and we will be looking to report on these stories in due course. All those who completed the survey were for k o o l entered into a New d Views prize draw ws an e News N o t k with the o , new lo like its fresh a n e v i winner g u Serves 6 We’ve and hope yo e’re always s picking up W . w e e Equipment: Casserole Dish and Vie n appearanc u think of th £25 in r o mode d in what y et us know Cooking Times: 2 Hours shopping te el Oven Temperature: 300f 160c Gas 2 interes ter, so pleas ether you t h vouchers. e l w s – w t ts ne hough mprovemen t r u o y Ingredients; t’s an i think i or not! 6 Chicken Breasts – halved and boned 12 Strips of Bacon 1 Carton Sour Cream 2 Cans Condensed Chicken ( or Mushroom), or one can of each soup Swiss cheese or whatever is preferred
Chicken Delight
** Do not water down the soup
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Have Fun with Mash • Crush and chop two cloves of garlic – cook with your usual favourite potatoes – when soft mash with butter and fresh ground black pepper. • Mash a quarter of a swede with three quarters of potato and add a small dash of Horseradish sauce to taste • Heaven and Earth Cook potatoes and a large Bramley apple together. Do not add salt to the mix. Mash and serve with any Pork dish, English or German spiced sausages go particularly well with this accompaniment.
Learning the ingredients for success Super chef tenants have been cooking up tasty treats in the kitchen thanks to a free training course provided by Gedling Homes. Nine tenants completed the Healthy Cooking course and are now looking to take part in more sessions on the theme of producing ‘seasonal fayre’.
Why not send us some of your favourite recipes etc.
We offer a range of free courses on everything from basic IT to arts and crafts and in the future we’re also looking to run creative play sessions with Gedling Play Forum and a gardening course.The training courses are a fantastic way of learning new skills, taking up new hobbies and meeting new people.
Method
To find out more and sign up for a course, please contact the Gedling Homes Customer Experience Team on 0115 905 1515.
Wrap the chicken pieces in bacon and place in the casserole dish. Mix together the sour cream and the condensed soup and cover the chicken with the mixture. Place in the oven (uncovered) for approximately two hours. Just before serving put grated cheese on the top. Serving Suggestions Serve with sauté potatoes, roast or jacket and vegetables of your choice.
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TPAS – ‘Telling People About our Success’ The way in which Gedling Homes involves tenants in our work was held up as best practice at the annual national Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) conference this summer. We were invited to the event to tell delegates about how tenants helped develop, monitor and evaluate our ‘Local Offers’ (a set of service standards that we seek to achieve).
Tenant Inspectors review our work Tenant Inspectors have produced the new Gedling Homes annual customer report, detailing how we have performed over the last 12 months. The report provides useful information about whether we met our ‘Local Offers’ (standards of service which you can expect). It also sets out where we've performed well, were we need to improve, and what we aim to achieve in the next 12 months. If you would like a copy of the annual customer report, please contact the Gedling Homes Customer Experience Team on 0115 905 1515.
Our workshop presentation proved to be very popular, attended by 50 people who praised it for being interesting and informative. It was co-hosted by Steve Ward, Customer Experience Manager, and Helen Reyes Minana, one of our Tenant Inspectors. Our thanks go to all the tenants who have been involved in this great piece of work.
Type
Annual R Valid from eport 2011/12 On the R ight Track Class
No.
0115 9051
515
GREAT Homes GREAT Neighbourhoods GREAT People
Changes to the telephone service for customers of Gedling Homes
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ISSUE 15 | AUTUMN / WINTER 2012
Help us to help you From time to time, some tenants can experience problems with rent payments – we would encourage you to help us to ould help you by getting in touch before your rent problems become too severe. If you are worrying about being able to pay rent, please don’t panic but do contact us straightaway. become
o contact
You can get in touch via: •
Calling us on 0115 905 1515 and asking for our Revenues team
•
Emailing us at enquiries@gedlinghomes.co.uk
•
Looking on our website at www.gedlinghomes.co.uk/pay-your-rent
•
Visiting our Customer Contact Centre in the Civic Centre, Arnot Hill Park, Arnold, open from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday toThursday, and 9.00 am to 4.30 pm on Friday
Please remember though that failure to pay rent on time is a serious breach of your tenancy agreement. Gedling Homes may take legal action to recover money owed and this may result in you losing your home, as happened to 14 tenants last year. If we take court action, you will also be liable for the costs we incur and have a county court judgement against , your name. It may also prevent you from being rehoused by Gedling Borough Council. on Friday
tenancy y result you will name. It
From 8th October, callers to the Gedling Homes general enquiries number 0115 9051515 will notice some changes to our telephone service. Callers to this number will be presented with an automated system asking them to select from a short, concise list of options which will direct them immediately to the correct adviser either within our customer service centre or where appropriate, elsewhere. Over the last twelve months we have been putting in place the foundations to allow this to happen by creating a single customer service centre called Connect. Staff in Connect can deal with a range of customer enquiries and service requests. Our aim in undertaking this work is to reflect what our customers have asked us for and to ensure that we continue to build on the excellent customer service we currently provide. Customers reporting a repair should continue to use our dedicated 24/7 repairs service on 0300 030 0400
Great results from you
We’re pleased to tell you that once again your feedback has told us we’re delivering a great service for you.
Each year, we ask a research company to carry out a telephone survey to ask you what you think of our services. This year we’ve been given an overall rating of
92% customer satisfaction
A BIG thank you to all of you who took the time to answer the telephone survey- your feedback is really important to us as it tells us what we’re doing well and what we need to improve on.
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Affordable Warmth HOME HEAT HELPLINE
Which energy suppliers are participating in the scheme?
If you are struggling to pay your fuel bill or worried how you are going to stay warm, the • Atlantic • British Gas • EDF Energy • E.ON Home Heat Helpline can help. • Equipower • Equigas • Manweb • M&S They can give you quick, clear information on Energy • npower • Sainsburys Energy grants, benefits and payment schemes that you • Scottish Gas • Scottish Hydro • Scottish may be entitled to as well as basic steps you can Power • Southern Electric • Scottish & take to save money on heating bills by making Southern • Swalec • Utility Warehouse your home more energy efficient. Advisors may put your call through to a specialist team at your energy supplier or another advice or grant giving agency for further help. If you’re receiving benefits such as Disability Living Allowance, Pension Credit, Council Tax Benefit, Child Tax Credit or Income-Based Jobseekers Allowance, you may be eligible for additional grants to insulate your house and improve your home’s energy efficiency. Energy suppliers have money put aside to help those in financial difficulties pay their bills. If you are disabled, over 60, have a young family, or are bringing up children on your own, there are special grants and services available to make sure you don’t suffer over the winter.
Are you eligible for a Warm Home Discount rebate during 2012/13? Some people will qualify automatically for a rebate and will receive a letter from the Department of Work and Pensions telling them this. You do not need to call now to get your discount, but if you have a general query call the Warm Home Discount Scheme Helpline on 0845 603 9439.
What other help may I be entitled to? Fuel Direct
If you’ve got unpaid gas or electricity bills and you are getting Income Support, Pension Credit, Income-Based Job Seekers Allowance or WARM HOME DISCOUNT SCHEME Income Based Employment & Support The Warm Home Discount Scheme is a 4 year Allowance, you can ask your benefits office to programme which was introduced in April 2011 pay your supplier directly out of your benefit, this is called Fuel Direct. It will cover your by the government and energy suppliers to current gas or electricity use plus a certain provide rebates on electricity bills for amount of your unpaid bill each week. If you households that need it most. It offers eligible want to use Fuel Direct, make sure you take a people a one-off rebate on their electricity bill. meter reading and tell your benefit office as this For Winter 2012/13 this will be £130.This rebate is inclusive of VAT so it will show on your will make sure you will be paying the right amount. bill as £123.81 before VAT is applied. 12
ISSUE 15 | AUTUMN / WINTER 2012
on a low income or you've got extra costs because of your personal situation, there may well be some benefits you could claim. If you receive State Pension or if you are Contact the Financial Inclusion Team at getting certain other benefits you may be Gedling Homes for a welfare benefit entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment to help with the costs of keeping warm in winter. This calculation based on your current circumstances. is an annual tax free lump sum with most payments being made before Christmas each year. If you have previously received a Winter Get in touch with your gas or electricity supplier Fuel Payment and there has been no change to your circumstances, you don’t need to Contact your fuel supplier to explain your re-apply and you should automatically get your payment this year. If you have not had a situation and offer to pay an amount you can afford. All fuel suppliers (electricity and gas) Winter Fuel Payment before you can download a form from the direct.gov website. follow a code of practice that means they If you’re unable to download the form online, won't cut off your supply if you agree a payment plan with them and then keep to it. you can get a claim form sent to you by They should take into account your ability to calling the Winter Fuel Payment Helpline on pay. A payment plan could include: 0845 915 1515. Winter Fuel Payment
Cold Weather Payment Cold Weather Payments are different to Winter Fuel Payments and are to help people with increased heating costs caused by periods of very cold weather. You must get certain income-related benefits and you don’t need to apply as it will be paid automatically when a period of very cold weather when the temperature is either: • recorded as an average of zero degrees Celsius or below over 7 consecutive days • forecast to be an average of zero degrees Celsius or below over 7 consecutive days Other Benefits If you're struggling to pay your utility bills but you're not claiming benefits, it's worth checking to see if you qualify for any. If you're
• paying by weekly or monthly instalments • using a pre-payment meter
Are there any other ways I can get help? Trust Funds Some fuel suppliers have set up Trust Funds that may be able to help you pay your fuel bills if you are in financial difficulties, ask your fuel supplier if they run a scheme. Getting the best energy deal You may be able to save money by switching to a different tariff or to a different gas and electricity supplier; there are lots of websites that can offer comparable deals by switching.
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Joy at the ‘Jubilympics’ This summer’s Gedling Homes fabulous Community Involvement Day attracted more than 350 tenants who joined in the fun and learnt more about local services. The event celebrated the ‘Jubilympics’ summer of the Queen’s Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympics, providing fun activities for all the family to join in, alongside useful information stands. Partner agencies which attended the day included Nottingham Credit Union, Gedling Play Forum, Gedling Community & Voluntary Service and the Nottingham Health Service. Everyone enjoyed the barbeque and the sun shone down on a GREAT day.
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Money Management Survey As you may know, there are a lot of big changes to welfare benefits coming from April 2013.We want to make sure we have the right services in place to help you and other residents in these difficult times.Your views are most important of all. We’ve asked a trusted research company called ‘Explain’, to carry out a telephone survey for us.The survey will take place during November and around 1,000 tenants will be telephoned. They will ask you questions about: • • • • • •
How you manage your money Where you go for help with money If you have internet access If you have home contents insurance Loans If you have a bank account
Please note: this will be a simple yes or no, we will not ask for account details. Please be assured, all information you provide will be treated in the strictest confidence and will only be used by Gedling Homes to help us improve your services. The survey will only take about 10 minutes and your comments will really help us to improve our money services for all customers. As a thank you, all tenants who take part will be put into a prize draw to win £150 shopping vouchers – just in time for Christmas! If you have any queries, please contact the Financial Inclusion Team on 0115 905 1515.
In the last year (from April 2011 to March 2012) a total of 152 cases of anti-social behaviour involving our tenants were reported to us. Of this total, we managed to successfully resolve 146 cases – half of them relating to noise nuisance from tenants. The problem is not evenly spread across the borough. Unfortunately some parts of Arnold, Carlton, Netherfield and Mapperley have suffered more than others. As a result we have identified these specific areas as being in need of additional estate inspections.We have sent out more warning letters and taken out more legal actions against tenants who have been behaving irresponsibly more than in previous years. Some useful tips to remember are: • •
• •
•
Get to know your neighbours Think about your neighbours when you are doing something noisy. If possible, let them know beforehand and make sure that you do anything noisy at a reasonable time of day Be co-operative if a neighbour asks you to reduce noise If you are disturbed by someone else’s behaviour, politely and calmly discuss it with them to come to an agreed solution Keep your pets under control
To report anti-social behaviour, please call the Gedling Homes Tenancy Services Team on 0115 905 1515 or 0808 145 6555 (24 hours answerphone).
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Regenerating court gardens A bulb planting session took place at Nabarro Court on Friday 21st September with children and staff from Sir John Sherbrooke School Calverton joining residents at the Court. Everyone who took part enjoyed the afternoon despite the persistent rain and there will be more joint events in the future.
Tackling neighbourhood nuisances
Gedling Homes is playing a significant role along with other partner organisations in fighting anti-social behaviour in Netherfield’s Dunstan Street area. Further to consultation taking place in Netherfield, the local community agreed to support the installation of a CCTV camera. At the same time the camera was installed, work
Working with tenants to tackle problems We had a spike of anti-social behaviour activity in the Westmoore Close area of Mapperley during summer and worked closely with the majority of tenants who were complying with their tenancy conditions to improve matters.We have now put the following actions in place: • •
• •
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Twice weekly area inspections, paying particular attention to fly tipping, graffiti, and evidence of anti-social behaviour. Liaison with partners at Gedling Borough Council and the police for additional patrols by neighbourhood wardens and police community support officers Updates for all residents with our actions and proposals Extensive grounds maintenance works to cut back any areas that were being used as ‘hideouts’
funded by Gedling Homes was carried out to upgrade the appearance of the street.This included re-building a damaged wall, altering parts of the street to ‘design out crime’ and creating a secured gating area. Mark Vasey,Tenancy Services Manager, said: “This provides an example of how with our partners we are able to work together to fight anti-social behaviour in our communities.” Should any resident wish to report problems, please call the Gedling Homes Tenancy Services Team on 0115 905 1515.
• •
Introduced a Local Lettings Policy for a fixed short-term period Consultation with residents as to whether they wanted a bench removed that was being used by people drinking alcohol Jackie Gill,Tenancy Enforcement Officer, said:“I hope that by taking swift action to improve this area, we have shown to residents that we are not prepared to accept behaviour of this type.”
Anyone with concerns about anti-social behaviour should contact the Gedling Homes Tenancy Services Team on 0115 905 1515.
Inspire others to go for gold The Olympics and Paralympics have inspired a generation – now do you fancy becoming a sports leader in your community? Gedling Homes is sponsoring a number of spaces for tenants or children of tenants to become sports leaders.The programme is run by Gedling Borough Council and will cost you nothing! Mark Vasey,Tenancy Services Manager, said:“This is a great opportunity for anyone aged over 14 to become a sports leader, gain a recognised qualification and put something back into their community.” The programme teaches leadership skills through a range of games and activities.To book your place, please call Beverley Mee in the Gedling Homes Customer Experience Team on 0115 905 1515. Fire-starter tenant
evicted
A Gedling Homes tenant has been evicted from a sheltered housing scheme in Carlton for deliberately starting fires within the complex. Mark Vasey,Tenancy Services Manager, said:“We were able to identify the tenant through use of CCTV.We were left with no other option but to pursue an eviction in this instance due to the danger this tenant was placing other residents in.”
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Refurbishments create welcoming new family homes The Mayor of Gedling handed over the keys to a new resident of Bagnall Avenue in Arnold following a series of building renovations.
complete internal refurbishment and decoration, window and door replacements, external wall insulation and full roof covering replacement.
The area has benefitted from full refurbishments to three Precast Reinforced Concrete buildings which had previously been empty for a number of years. Our specially invited guest, Councillor Peter Barnes, said he was delighted to see the properties back in use.The work has involved
Keeping up appearances Gedling Homes has teamed up with partner organisations to carry out a number of building works to improve the appearance of the borough. In the current financial year, these include schemes to demolish garage sites and provide new car parking and planted areas on the Phoenix Estate, footpath and retaining wall works on Hawthorne Crescent, Arnold, and resurfacing work at Burnt Stump. Elsewhere, we have been involved in surfacing and fencing work on Stanhope Crescent and helped issue grants across Gedling to help shop owners improve their shop fronts.
Before - Hawthorne Crescent
During -- Hawthorne Crescent
Before Burnt Stump
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After Burnt Stump
ISSUE 15 | AUTUMN / WINTER 2012
After - Hawthorne Crescent
Street Talk
Ray Ellis,Tenant Board member for Gedling Homes, interviews Martin Curtis, Community Regeneration Officer
How long have you been with Gedling Homes and what does a Community Regeneration officer do? Three months.This is a new post with Gedling Homes, and it involves working with outside agencies and partners to deliver projects and initiatives that will improve the quality of life for residents of Gedling Borough. For example, tenants at one of our sheltered schemes in Calverton (Nabarro Court) decided they would like to re-model part of their communal grounds which had become tired and overgrown. In consultation with all the residents we came up with a plan to re-design the area.This would include new shrubs and a herb garden. Some of the tenants went along to a garden centre to choose the plants and also we have invited local school children to a planting session at the court. It’s good to see inter-generational working to achieve a better environment. What team have you been working in since you joined Gedling Homes? Tenancy Services, although this post does cross over most of the teams here. I probably work most closely with the Customer Experience Team which includes the tenant involvement function.
How does your role help the people of Gedling? Hopefully whatever projects we engage in will improve the environment and provide a better quality of life for residents. As an organisation we endeavour to improve the overall appearance of the borough and help to facilitate projects designed to provide residents with opportunities for developing their skills. At the moment we are investigating the possibility of opening a shop where welfare rights advice could be discussed.This would also provide options for people to volunteer and learn new skills, and maybe this would lead on to finding employment. What do you find most interesting or rewarding about your role? I like the role because it keeps developing. It helps people to gain skills and enables signposting to other ventures and opportunities. I see people gain confidence and obtain qualifications and make progress towards what they want to achieve. I like to see projects through from start to finish and see the end result of people’s input.They can see the benefits of the changes they have helped to bring about and the overall impact this has on the community.
Outside of work what are your interests? Football and music (I’m in a group called The Corndodgers).We play bluegrass and folk music.We have been playing for about four years, starting in a community choir for ten years before the chance arose to join this band. If anyone is interested in in looking at what we do our site is www.corndodgers.co.uk What’s your idea of a good night out? Going out with friends for a meal at Kayal or Laguna, then a few drinks and on to see some live music at the Maze, Rescue Rooms or Rock City. What three words would you use to describe yourself? Caring, positive and friendly. What is your favourite holiday destination? I love Cornwall and Greece because they both seem to have the same relaxed pace of life. What is your favourite film? Kes - because it’s very funny but engrossing and incredibly moving at the same time.
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WORDSEARCH
You can win £25 in vouchers in our Seasonal wordsearch. GOOSEFAIR AUTUMN BONFIRE SPARKLER TOFFEEAPPLE
WINTER CHRISTMAS BAUBLES SNOW RUDOLPH
Send completed entries to us and a winner will be picked from the correct entries received by Friday 30th November 2012. Return to: Wordsearch Competition, Gedling Homes, Gedling House,Wood Lane, Gedling, Nottingham NG4 4AD
Q D O N R Q D T R I A F MU X F V T O F I C MW N G J Z U WP J U I D C S N S I I T RW Y E X P R R S R L H H V MC L Q
Name:
O D E R F C B F F O A I Y S E
R C S F E S X N N R S N X A V
H L O P E G O S K T M E M B O
Z Y O M A B Q L M U N L A K M
R V G L P S E A T E K U Q L R
T U C T P R S U D V B Y S L A
E R D G L N A B A L H K T D Z
F B J O A T C B L R Q P OW X I E L UW F H P M L H V H M S D I EW J B C A D E U J P I Y X J R Y K J W C E S P W I MH
Telephone:
Address:
SUDOKU You can win £25 in vouchers in our Sudoku.
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Address:
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Send completed entries to us and a winner will be picked from the correct entries received by Friday 30th November 2012. Return to: Sudoku Competition, Gedling Homes, Gedling House,Wood Lane, Gedling, Nottingham NG4 4AD
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How are we performing? We want to let you know how Gedling Homes is performing - the areas in which we are doing well and the areas where we need to improve. The chart is colour coded as follows: Green - We are achieving our target Amber - We are within 5% of our target Red - We are not achieving our target You asked us to measure
We aim to We How we are achieve achieved performing
Responsive repairs works undertaken Right First Time
93%
96.6%
All responsive repairs completed on time
97%
96%
Rent collection rate – rolling 12 month
99.8%
100.5%
Re-let time - general needs and sheltered properties (excluding low demand)
25 days 17.36 days
Re-let time - general needs and sheltered properties (including low demand)
25 days 29.69 days
Customer satisfaction with responsive repairs
97%
96.1%
Customers satisfied with investment works
97%
98.7%
Customers satisfied with gas servicing
97%
100%
Customers reporting a complaint who were satisfied with how we dealt with it
80%
63.6%
Customers reporting anti-social behaviour complaint who were satisfied with how we dealt with it
80%
91.7%
Customers satisfied with the condition of property when the property was let
85%
93.75%
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Sheltered scheme ‘walk and talk’ sessions
We hold ‘walk and talk’ sessions at all of our sheltered schemes. You can use these sessions to talk to your Neighbourhood Management Officer about any issues. While walking around your scheme, you can show us anything that you may wish to bring to our attention, for example, overgrown trees that are blocking out light from your home. Please come along and meet your Neighbourhood Management Officer and share your thoughts on your home.
Neighbourhood Management Officer Surgeries
Our Neighbourhood Management Officers hold monthly surgeries on your estates. You can pop along and meet us and raise any concerns at any of the following venues:
Estate Inspections
Our Neighbourhood Management Officers would like you to join them on their estate inspections. These inspections are used to look for issues such as overgrown gardens, graffiti or other issues of concern in your area that you may wish to bring to our attention. Tenants are invited to accompany us on these inspections as it is your opinion that counts. If you need any further information about the inspections, or to discuss the area being walked please contact the relevant Neighbourhood Management Officer for your area on 0115 905 1515.
Tenant Involvement
Our Customer Experience team hold a number of meetings to gather the views of our tenants in many key areas. All tenants are welcome to attend. If you would like more information about how you can get involved please contact a member of the Customer Experience team on 0115 9051515.
OCTOBER Wed 3rd Thurs 4th Thurs 4th Tues 9th Wed 10th Wed 10th Wed 10th Fri 12th Tues 16th Wed 17th Wed 17th Thurs 18th Thurs 18th Thurs 25th Tues 30th Wed 31st Wed 31st
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11-12pm - Rushcliffe Ave - Karen Wright 9 30- 11 30am - Newstead Miners Welfare, Newstead Village - Naomi Davy 11- 12pm - St Georges Centre Netherfield - Richard Quinn 10-12pm - Bentwell Avenue Arnold - Malcolm Bullard 10-11am - Bailey Court - Richard Quinn 10-12pm - Investment Customer Experience Forum, - Gedling House 10 30-11 30am - Rutland Road Gedling - Meet outside the Phoenix Public House - Karen Wright 10-12pm - Rents Annual Policy Review, – St Andrews House 2-4pm - Seagrave Court - Malcolm Bullard 10-11am - Britannia Court - Richard Quinn 11-1pm - The Ark,Wollaton Avenue Gedling - Karen Wright 10-11am - Orchard Court - Richard Quinn 1-2pm - Cavendish Road - Karen Wright 10-11am - Walton Court - Richard Quinn 10-12pm - Service Improvement Panel - St Andrews House 10-12pm - Ernehale Court - Malcolm Bullard 2:30-4pm - Repairs Customer Experience Forum - Gedling House
ISSUE 15 | AUTUMN / WINTER 2012
NOVEMBER Thurs 1st Thurs 1st Tues 6th Tues 6th Wed 7th Wed 7th Wed 14th Wed 14th Wed 14th Wed 14th Wed 14th Wed 14th Wed 21st Wed 21st Thurs 22nd Mon 26th Thurs 29th
9 30 - 11 30am - Newstead Miners Welfare, Newstead Village - Naomi Davy 11 - 12pm - St Georges Centre Netherfield - Richard Quinn 10 -11am - Carlton House - Karen Wright 1:30-3:30pm - Sheltered Housing Forum - Bailey Court 10 -11am - Bailey Court - Richard Quinn 10- 11 30am - Westmoore Court - Naomi Davy 10 -11am - Britannia Court - Richard Quinn 10 -12pm - Tavill Field - Malcolm Bullard 10-12pm - Equality & Diversity Forum - Gedling House 10 30- 11 30am - St Andrews House - Naomi Davy 11-1pm - The Ark,Wollaton Avenue Gedling - Karen Wright 1 30- 2 30pm - Moreland Court - Karen Wright 10-12pm - Editorial Panel - St Andrews House 11-12pm - Bramble Court - Karen Wright TBC - Foxhill Court - Richard Quinn 2 -3pm - Walton Crescent Carlton. Meet on the corner of Walton Crescent and Walton Court - Richard Quinn 10-12pm - Coronation Walk - Malcolm Bullard
DECEMBER Wed 5th Thurs 6th Thurs 6th Tues 11th Wed 12th Wed 12th Thurs 13th Tues 18th Wed 19th
10-12pm - Editorial Panel - St Andrews House 9 30- 11 30am - Newstead Miners Welfare, Newstead Village - Naomi Davy 11- 12pm - St Georges Centre Netherfield - Richard Quinn 5:30-8pm - Business Planning Event, - Gedling House 10- 11am - Bailey Court - Richard Quinn 11-1pm - The Ark,Wollaton Avenue Gedling - Karen Wright 10 30- 11 30am - Lendrum Court - Naomi Davy 1:30-3:30pm - Tenant Involvement Christmas Party - St Andrews House 10-11am - Britannia Court - Richard Quinn
KEY AMBER RED BLUE GREEN
SHELTERED SCHEME WALK & TALK SESSIONS NEIGHBOURHOOD MANAGEMENT OFFICER SURGERIES ESTATE INSPECTIONS TENANT INVOLVEMENT
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This information is available in large print, audio and Braille. This information is from Gedling Homes. If you can tell us which language you speak, we will arrange for an interpreter. Or you can ask a friend or relative to phone us 0115 905 1515.
Chinese
Gujurati
Kurdish
Urdu
Polish
By sending us an e-mail: General enquiries enquiries@gedlinghomes.co.uk Tenant Involvement tenantinvolvement@gedlinghomes.co.uk
Contact Us
By writing to us at: Gedling Homes, Gedling House,Wood Lane, Gedling, Nottingham. NG4 4AD In person: Please visit our Customer Contact Centre on the ground floor at: The Civic Centre, Arnot Hill Park, Arnold, Nottingham. NG5 6LU The opening times are 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Thursday and 9.00am to 4.30pm on Friday By phone: 24/7 Repairs line Rent Payments
0300 0300 400 0161 331 2224
Anti Social Behaviour(24hours) 0808 145 6555 Lifeline Enquiries 0115 905 1515 For all other enquiries please ring 0115 905 1515 and ask for the team you want to speak to.
ISSUE 15 | AUTUMN / WINTER 2012