Opening Doors – Enhancing Lives
www.clwydalyn.co.uk
Residents’ Newsletter – Summer 2015
Digital Inclusion
In this issue: Pg 2 Access your account 24 hours a day Pg 11 Rechargeable repairs Pg 12 Colouring competition Pg 5 Click and save
Pg 6-7 Universal Credit
Telephone: 0800 183 5757 or 01745 536800 Email: enquiries@clwydalyn.co.uk Clwyd Alyn Housing Association is a Charitable Industrial and Provident Society
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WELCOME
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Residents Approved
Members of the editorial panel were sorry to learn of the recent death of taxi driver Steve Oldfield recently. Steve was a regular visitor to Pennaf, dropping off Residents for meetings and will be sorely missed by those Resident Approved Approved Residents volunteers who had got to know him so well. Our condolences go out to his family.
CONTENTS
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ÃÃ Access your account
3
ÃÃ Landscape Champions
4
ÃÃ Click and save at Pentre Mawr
5
ÃÃ Residents getting online 5
Residents Approved
RESIDENTS CONFERENCE 2015 This year’s Residents Conference will take place on the 23rd October 2015 at the Beaufort Park Hotel, New Brighton near Mold.
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The theme will be around Residents Approved
promoting the benefits of being online, also known as Digital Inclusion.
6-7
ÃÃ Community Events
8-9
ÃÃ Service Improvement Committee
10
Resident Approved ÃÃ Rechargable repairs
11
ÃÃ Tesco Colouring Competition
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g wyd an y P wy
wylwyr res
Cymerad
More information on the conference will be provided to all Residents later on in the year.
ÃÃ Universal Credit
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CONTACT DETAILS We always want to hear about your local news. If you have any articles you would like to include in the next newsletter, please send them to Gareth on the contact details below. 01745 536843
gareth.hughes-roberts@clwydalyn.co.uk
Like us: facebook.com/PennafHGroup Follow us: @PennafHGroup
www.clwydalyn.co.uk
72 Ffordd William Morgan, St Asaph Business Park, St Asaph, Denbighshire, LL17 0JD.
0800 183 5757. For cheaper calls from a mobile 0300 183 5757 or 01745 536800
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RESIDENT’S PORTAL
Access your account details 24 hours a day! By now, you should have received a letter from us telling you about the new Residents’ Portal and information on how to register and access your account. New tenants will receive one within a few days of signing their tenancy agreement. It is easy to register and once you have you will be able to access the following: In ‘My account’ you will be able to see:
The personal details we hold on you Who is registered as living at your address Amend your records where they are incorrect View your rent account details regarding rent due and what has been paid
Would you like to be a Digital Champion?
In Contact Details you will be able to see:
Would you be interested in volunteering to become a ‘Digital Champion’ so you can help other people in your community to get online? If so, there is lots of FREE training available that will provide you with the skills and tools you need to become a Digital Champion!
Landline telephone numbers we hold for you Mobile telephones numbers we hold for you Your e-mail address Letters that we have sent to you Letters you have sent to us
You will also be able to add other ways for us to contact you. We will use these contact details to contact you unless you tell us otherwise, or if they are no longer relevant, you will be able to delete them from your record. Under ‘My Property’ you will be see: The name of your Housing Officer Repairs previously reported whether completed or not Letters sent to you related to your property You will also be able to report a non-urgent repair.
Please contact Louise Blackwell or Viv Edwards from Clwyd Alyn: 0800 183 5757 or Sioned Williams from Digital Communities Wales: 01248674308 or 07823342299 to find out more and/or register your interest.
Many thanks in advance and we look forward to hearing from you soon.
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GARDENING
Landscape Champions Residents have taken up the role of Landscape Champions to help monitor the Gardening contract where they live. Residents, Staff and the landscape Contractor have continued to work together to make improvements to this service. As one of our Resident members says, “As a new Landscape Champion, I find it very interesting getting out and seeing the different sites and layouts. The experience will help me as I start to monitor the contract where I live”. New volunteers are needed to help keep an eye on the garden contract where you live. Interested? Contact Gareth HughesRoberts on 0800 183 5757 for more information on how you could be involved.
Staying safe online Make sure you’re on a secure site when shopping, e.g. your address bar should be displayed as: https://
Gardening Competition Here’s a selection of entries from our 2014 Summer Gardening Competition
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BE ONLINE
Click and Save at
Pentre Mawr!
Residents at the Pentre Mawr Sheltered Housing Scheme in Abergele have been building on their digital technology skills to find out more about how to save money online.
Staying safe online Be careful about what you put on the web – it’s on there forever.
A number of Residents at the scheme have been attending an on-site Beginners computer course delivered by Communities 2.0 and, building on their skills, Chris Bailey, Welfare Benefit and Debt Advisor for the Association held a recent workshop raising awareness on how to access money and welfare benefits advice as well as how to use financial comparison websites.
Residents at Merton Place embrace digital learning. Residents at the Merton Place Care Home in Colwyn Bay are embracing the opportunity to learn technology skills as they click their way into the digital age. Sue Williams, Activities Coordinator at Merton Place, said several Residents had mentioned they were keen to learn more computer skills and she got in touch with Communities 2.0 who arranged a Beginners computer course at the Home to run for 2 hours a week, over 4 weeks.
The Communities 2.0 project has now finished. For more information on how you can get support to improve your digital technology skills, please contact Digital Communities Wales on www. digitalcommunities.wales
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UNIVERSAL CREDIT
What is Universal Credit? Universal Credit is a single monthly payment for people of working age who are in or out of work and it merges together some of the benefits and tax credits that you might be getting now. It will be administered solely by the Department for Work and Pensions. Universal Credit will replace: Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance Income-related Employment and Support Allowance Income Support Child Tax Credit
Working Tax Credit Housing Benefit
Universal Credit is paid differently to current benefits: It will be paid monthly into a bank account of your choice If you get help with your rent (Housing Benefit), this will be included in your monthly payment – you’ll then pay your landlord directly If you live with your partner and you are both eligible, you will get one monthly joint payment You will usually get your first payment one month and seven days after you make your claim
Working and claiming Universal Credit
When is Universal Credit coming? Universal Credit is currently being rolled out to many parts of the United Kingdom but in the main it is only available to newly unemployed single people. The roll out in North Wales is as follows: Flintshire – April 2014 Wrexham – March 2015 Conwy – May 2015 Denbighshire – July 2015 Ynys Môn – September 2015 *note at the time of writing there has been no confirmation of the roll out date in Powys. Current plans will see new claims to existing benefits closed during 2016. This will mean that all new benefit claimants across the country will claim Universal Credit instead of the benefits it replaces. However this is subject to possible delay. The hope is that most existing benefit claimants will be moved over to Universal Credit during 2016 and 2017. However again this is subject to possible delay.
There are no limits on how many hours a week you can work if you’re claiming Universal Credit. Instead, the amount you get will gradually reduce as you earn more, so you won’t lose all your benefits at once.
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UNIVERSAL CREDIT
Claiming Universal Credit How to claim Universal Credit?
Universal Credit Helpline
The Department for Work and Pensions would like most claims to be completed online. If you need help getting online your Jobcentre, local council or Clwyd Alyn Housing Association can provide support.
If you need help with your claim, you can contact the Universal Credit Helpline on telephone number; 0345 600 0723 or text phone 0345 600 0743 between 8am - 6pm, Monday to Friday (closed on bank and public holidays).
You can find a list of the information you’ll need to provide on www.gov.uk/apply-universal-credit If you and your partner are making a joint claim, only one of you will need to complete the online claim form, but that person will need to enter details for both of you.
Calls are free if you have free or inclusive minutes as part of your phone contract. Otherwise ask them to call you back, as the call may cost you up to 40 pence per minute if you’re calling from a mobile. It’s particularly important to do this if you’re making your claim by phone, as this can take up to 40 minutes. For more information on Universal Credit visit www.gov.uk/ or contact our in house Welfare Benefits Officers on: 0800 183 5757.
Future news & updates from Clwyd Alyn
If we have your email address and / or mobile number, we will soon be sending you updates on the Residents’ Portal, Residents’ Conference, the Clwyd Alyn newsletter, tips, general news and much more via these methods!
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COMMUNITY EVENTS Our Residents have been really busy over the last few months, with lots of exciting projects and community events, from melting hearts in Gaerwen, to community ‘bake offs’ and litter picks. A big thank you to everyone who got involved. Residents in the Y Gorlan having their own ‘bake off’.
Community litter pick at Lon Celyn with Ke ep Wales Tidy
t Henry a ! s a m o h 5 Mr T turns 10 r w a M Pentre
melt m a e T e Frozen Gaerw n i s t r hea
Hallowe’en trea community t in Brynteg for clean-up t eam.
Gardening Competition How does your garden grow? Are you interested in sharing your garden with our dedicated panel of judges?
You can enter the individual garden section or you can enter your scheme or estate in the scheme category. This year we have also added, a hanging baskets/pots section especially where you don’t have a garden and best vegetable patch/allotment (although please note we are not judging individual produce). There will be a cash prize of £40 for the winner in each category, £20 for second place and £10 for third place.
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s our elshpool win n W f o o k t o io Phillip Rzesz up colouring competit e Phillip! 7-11 age groy Tesco, Mold. W ell don sponsored b Also, we are encouraging people to send their own photographs, preferably digitally, so you can be sure to capture your entry looking at its best. So, all you need to do is send in your digital photo by e-mail to: gareth.hughesroberts@clwydalyn.co.uk as soon as you are able, but with a closing date of the 28th August 2015, letting us know what category you wish to enter.
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ad ike to re l d l u o w y If you ommunit c e h t out s more ab lighted on thi igh , events h or other events d pin boar visit: /news k .u o .c n ydaly www.clw If you are not able to send in your own photograph, don’t worry. You can contact Gareth Hughes-Roberts on: 01745 536843 and we will arrange for your entry to be photographed.
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SERVICE IMPROVEMENT
Join our Service Improvement Committee What is the Service Improvement Committee all about? The Committee is a group of Clwyd Alyn Residents who get together and have a real say in what we do as an organisation and how we are managed. Because it reports directly to our Board it also makes sure the services we provide are suited to our Residents needs! What do members do? The Committee meets 6 times a year and helps make sure Clwyd Alyn is working in the best way it can to improve the lives of our Residents across North Wales Members: Check that our policies and practices are useful to Residents or if they need improving Make comments to our Board on Resident matters and suggest how to address any issues Check that Clwyd Alyn properly meets the needs of funders and government bodies, e.g. Welsh Government Pass on the views of Residents to our Board so that Residents continue to shape the services we provide. What’s in it for you? As well as having a direct say about the services which Clwyd Alyn provides, volunteering with us would be good work experience giving you real skills to transfer into the workplace, as full training is given to all members and it would look great on your CV! If you are interested and would like to find out more, contact: Gareth Hughes-Roberts on 01745 536843 If you decide to apply, then you would be invited for an informal Interview at Clwyd Alyn so you can meet the team and see if the Committee is right for you.
Staying safe online
Even if you are not interested in this particular opportunity, you might like information on how you can get more involved in improving services at Clwyd Alyn. Contact Gareth Hughes-Roberts for more information.
Don’t open any links in emails that look suspicious or unfamiliar.
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REPAIRS POLICY
Clwyd Alyn has a New Rechargeable Repairs Policy We have recently agreed a new policy which sets out when we will recharge Residents for repairs which are not the Association’s responsibility. Rechargeable repairs are those that are caused by damage to fixtures and fittings internally or externally by a Resident, a member of the Resident’s household or any visitor to the Resident’s home that cannot be attributed to normal wear and tear through the duration of the tenancy. The aim of this policy is to promote a responsible attitude by Residents towards their property by ensuring that costs are pursued from those who are negligent or deliberately cause damage and the objectives are: To recover the cost of rechargeable repairs from current and former Residents. To maximise income by recovery of debts owed relating to rechargeable repairs and thus demonstrate value for money within the Repairs Service. To promote a fair service by ensuring that Residents who incur charges are held responsible. To raise Residents’ Awareness of this new policy.
If you would like more information on this new policy, please contact your Housing Officer.
We can help with small jobs such as:
From the 1 April 2015, Wrexham Care and Repair is trading as PenCartref and is able to offer a subsidised handyperson service.
• Fixing curtain rails • Fixing washers on taps • General handyperson work including plumbing and joinery that is not covered within Clwyd Alyn’s existing day to day maintenance budget.
The cost is £15 per hour plus materials. For larger pieces of work such as re-felting shed roofs, painting and decorating i.e. work which would take over an hour, the charge is £21 per hour, plus materials (this service is not subsidised)
These services are available to Residents living in Wrexham, Flintshire and Powys.
We work in partnership with our customers to deliver quality projects, safely, competitively and on time. We have a wide range of expertise and all our staff are skilled and highly qualified professionals.
For more information or to arrange an appointment, call us on: 01978 714180 Tŷ Glas Housing Society Ltd trading as PenCartref.
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Summer Colouring Competition Parents! Once your child has coloured the picture in, send it to us by the 7 August 2015, in the pre-paid envelope provided. Please be sure to fill in your name and address and contact details. Only one entry per child, however if you have more than one child in the family, please use either the Welsh version or photo copy the original. Photocopies of the original images coloured in will be accepted. The prizes will include two £10 vouchers donated by Tesco. There is one prize for children aged up to six years old and one for children aged between seven and eleven. The competition will be judged by Sian Owen, Tesco Community Champion at Llandudno Junction and Louise Blackwell, Clwyd Alyn’s Community Development Officer.
Parent’s Name …………………………………………………..............
Address …………………………………………………..........
Child’s Name …………………………………………………................
...................................................................................
Child’s Age …………………………………………………....................
Contact Number …………………………………………....
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