HOME somewhere to feel at home
NICE TO KNOW
NEED TO KNOW
YOUR HOME
COMPETITION
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NICE TO KNOW Meet the resident: Suriya’s Story Page 12
SUMMER 2019
NICE TO KNOW Meet the residents Page 07
WELCOME Welcome HOME! This is your new look customer magazine. We consulted with over 100 residents and tested seven different designs for your new look magazine which reflects Swan’s new look. This is your magazine so please do let us know what you think of it.
NICE TO KNOW
Stories about Swan customers and events Page 04
YOUR HOME
NEED TO KNOW
Essential information to help keep you safe Page 16
COMPETITION
Win an Apple iPad Air PLUS many more prizes to be won on page 30 Updates about your home from Swan Page 22
Feeling lucky? Enter our competitions here. Page 30
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NICE TO KNOW Resident Recipe, Banana Cake - Yummy! Page 14
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NICE TO KNOW
Summer conversation Swan thinks that it is important that our customers have a voice and, even more important, that they are listened to. This Summer we are visiting some of our estates to speak to you and your family. We will have some entertainment and food and drink available at a central point on your estate but you do not even need to leave your home to be involved in this consultation!
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On the dates below teams from Swan will be knocking on doors to speak to you about your community and what you would like to see happen in it. We will also be asking you about what respect means, looks like and feels to you so that we can create a Swan definition of this. We will also have our repairs partner Axis available to help with any minor repairs.
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For more details please call us on 01277 844242, email info@swan.org.uk or send us a message through Facebook or Twitter!
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NICE TO KNOW
The ‘Big Say’ survey winner The winner of the The Big Say Survey is Miss Adebajo. She was visited by the Resident Involvement Team who presented her with her prize. There were over 400 surveys returned to the team, which included valuable feedback on how residents would like to be contacted and be involved with Swan. We’d like to thank everyone who took the time to complete the survey.
The BIG say Last year we asked for your feedback in a survey called ‘The Big Say’. More than 400 surveys were returned and we’ve looked at all the results. We are now working to put some of your suggestions into action. Here are some of the things you asked:
You asked us to refresh The Communicator. We did – We’ve consulted over 100 residents to redesign your magazine to make it more interesting and easier to read.
You asked us to give you a voice on our repairs service. We did – We are reviewing the ways we gather feedback on our repairs service. We are working to make it easier for you to tell us your suggestions.
You said you wanted to see us offer more for young people. We did – We are delivering a number of youth projects with our partner organisations, and are
improving options that young people can get involved with.
You asked us to tell you how residents help to shape our services. We did – Our new magazine has a section dedicated to telling you what our Resident Consultative Committees, Scrutiny Panel and local Residents’ Associations are up to (see p.28).
You said you wanted to get to know your neighbours. We did – We are developing a series of community neighbourhood initiatives.
You said we should communicate more digitally. We did - We are going to use text messaging to regularly provide feedback to residents. We have established an email consultation panel and want to give all residents the opportunity to have a voice. We have developed the ‘Count Me In’ platform so you can easily give us feedback.
If you want to join our email consultation panel ‘My Say’, please contact Carla Wood at cwood@swan.org.uk or 01277 844242
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Here to help Swan is dedicated to making customers feel at home. Having a roof over your head is just the start; we want to help you to learn new skills so that you can achieve your dreams. Last year 240 Swan customers seized the opportunity to learn new skills and start their journey to a new job and, in some cases, a career change. Swan has appointed an Employment and Training Manager so that we can provide even more opportunities for our customers. He is dedicated to supporting you finding the right training or to help you get a new job.
For more information please speak to Abdullah Hossain Phone: 01277 844 242 Email: ahossain@swan.org.uk Website: www.swan.org.uk
Homebuilder of The Year Swan received the Homebuilder of the Year award at the prestigious UK Housing Awards. This national award recognises Swan’s dedication and innovative approach to building more homes. The multi-award winning homes Swan builds are creating new and vibrant communities throughout East London and Essex. Swan builds homes for a mix of tenures: private sale, shared ownership, affordable and social rented properties. All of the profits Swan generates from building and selling homes is invested directly back into the organisation and your communities.
NICE TO KNOW
Meet the residents: Linda and Gordon’s story Linda said: “We wanted a change in direction and to live somewhere we felt supported. We knew this was the right place for us as soon as we viewed it! Everything is on our doorstep – the chemist, bank and local shops are just steps away.” Last August Linda and Gordon faced an uncertain future. They have been married for over 50 years and lived in Scotland for most of their lives. Gordon was receiving treatment for prostrate cancer so they decided to move to Great Dunmow in Essex to be nearer their daughter. Gordon said: “I’ve got so much better whilst living here. This flat has given me a new lease of life and I can look forward to the future again.” Linda and Gordon were delighted when they found out they’d won one of the competitions in the last edition of The Communicator, especially as they are about to move into a new shared ownership home in the area.
Linda revealed: “We were so surprised to hear we’d won the competition. We used our £280 Argos vouchers to buy a new Shark vacuum cleaner and a Flymo lawnmower for our new garden.” Gordon added: “I’m so much better. We don’t need the support provided by Supported Housing now so we’re moving on. Coming here was the best thing we’ve done, it has helped me to recover and we’re now looking forward to our next chapter. We rarely enter competitions so I was so shocked that we won, it was a lovely surprise.”
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NICE TO KNOW
Swan resident Get Cycling
ts
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32 Swan residents living in London have recently ‘Got Cycling’ with a new bike just by joining a course run by Swan’s Resident Involvement and Community Development team! Swan received £10k funding from the London Borough of Tower Hamlet’s Air Quality Fund to deliver this project. The funding was provided to initiatives and campaigns that can help tackle air pollution in the Borough.
Over the course of six weeks residents from Bow Cross, Exmouth and Blackwall Reach built their own bike and achieved Bikeability Level 1 and 2 accreditations. Richard said: “I think it’s an absolutely brilliant idea and I would like to give compliments to all the trainers involved. They obviously knew exactly what they were talking about and were good at explaining things – I am the kind of person who likes to ask questions and they
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were never too impatient to explain exactly what they were doing in constructing the bikes and showing us how to maintain them. Of course, getting the bike at the end was a bonus, but I think that even without that, the course was well worth doing – I’ve cycled before, but have always been too intimidated to cycle on busy roads. I have really appreciated learning new skills.”
NICE TO KNOW
Meet the resident: Suriya’s story Suriya lives in a three bedroom flat at Blackwall Reach with her husband and four children. Her family were allocated their home nearly 3 ½ years ago and were amongst the first residents to move into the block. They were previously living in emergency accommodation just down the road on Poplar High Street. Her family are very happy in their home and now have a sense of security that they didn’t have in emergency accommodation. She feels that there is enough space for everyone. Her home is a safe place where all her family spend time together. Suriya’s work is community focussed and the idea of community is very important to her. She is often at The Reach, Swan’s Community hub – she regularly attends the Women’s fitness group on a Thursday morning and her children attend various clubs.
“The Reach is like our second home, we are there five times a week!”
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NICE TO KNOW
You said, we did
YOU SAID:
YOU SAID:
YOU SAID:
Communal repairs take too long to be repaired.
It takes too long to obtain replacement parts.
Communal repairs take too long to be repaired.
WE DID: We now have more specialist sub-contractors who we can request to attend and investigate repairs raised.
WE DID: Axis operatives now carry more critical parts on their vans to enable more repairs to be fixed during the first visit.
WE DID: Complex repairs will now be allocated a co-ordinator who will ensure that follow on works are scheduled more timely.
£50 for your thoughts... We are always interested in ideas from residents suggesting how we can make our services better. Residents’ suggestions help us to improve our business. Your idea may also be useful for us to share with other residents and help us to deliver the services you really want. We will award £50 in Argos vouchers for any ideas that we can use.
So, tell us what you think about how we can: • Improve services. • Offer new services. • Save money or reduce waste. All suggestions are considered by our Resident Consultative Committees. Any we implement will be published in HOME.
If you have any suggestions or ideas send them to us today! Email: cwood@swan.org.uk or post them to us at FREEPOST ANG10361, Swan Housing Association, Billericay, CM12 9ZZ (don’t forget to include your name and address)
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Resident recipe Banana Cake We’d like to thank Maria from Harlow who has shared her recipe for Banana cake. You’ll need... 120g butter 150g caster sugar 1 egg 190g self-raising flour 2 very ripe bananas 60ml milk 1tsp vanilla extract Let’s get cooking... 1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees/ Fan 150 degrees/Gas Mark 3 2. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin 3. Melt the butter, sugar and vanilla essence together in a large saucepan 4. Remove from the heat and add the mashed bananas 5. Mix in the flour and milk. Stir until combined 6. Transfer mixture to the loaf tin and bake for 35mins or until a skewer comes out clean
If you have a simple recipe you’d like to share with us please send it to jmarch@swan.org.uk or post it to Jo March, Swan Housing Association, FREEPOST ANG10361, Billericay, CM12 9ZZ
NEED TO KNOW
Anti-social behaviour Swan’s frontline teams are dedicated to successfully tackling ASB so that you feel safe in your homes, neighbourhoods and communities. Many cases are dealt with by your local Neighbourhood Officers but the most serious and complex ones are handled by our dedicated ASB Team. We are committed to resolving all the cases that we receive
which means working with both those households and families who experience ASB and those who cause it. We will always put support in place, such as referrals to mediation, and to drug and alcohol counselling before escalating things further. We recognise that there is often no single solution to resolving ASB and so we adopt a problemsolving approach and work in partnership with other agencies to tackle this.
We will always take the appropriate legal action but we do need evidence to do this and residents help to provide information and to work with us through the legal process. Our best results have been achieved when residents have been prepared to make formal statements which we use to make applications to court.
If you are affected by ASB please report it to the Police by calling 999 (only if it is an emergency situation) or 101. After you have spoken to the Police please call us on 0300 303 2500, 0800 075 6699 (out of hours) or email: ASB@swan.org.uk.
An escaped pet led to an eviction A family in Basildon with a long history of anti-social behaviour were recently evicted after a shocking incident which led to the death of a family pet and three custodial sentences. Swan had previously taken action against them and the complaints stopped until last year’s shocking incident. The family’s dog escaped from the home. It attacked and killed a neighbour’s dog. The neighbours were then assaulted by family members as they tried to save their pet. The Police were involved with regards to
the assault and Swan quickly obtained a without notice ASB injunction with power of arrest following the incident. Our application for an injunction was strengthened because it was supported by three neighbours. The neighbours worked with Swan’s ASB officers and kept us informed about the situation. Their information helped us to gather evidence that proved the injunction was breached numerous times. The Police were able to use this information to act on the power of arrest and Swan started court proceedings,
supporting the neighbours who provided crucial evidence for the case. Three family members were found guilty of breaching their injunction and they received custodial sentences. The neighbours were concerned about reprisals and, with the family’s history of breaching injunctions, Swan started the eviction process. The entire process took nearly 12 months and Swan would not have been able to secure the eviction without the continued support of the neighbours.
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ASB in numbers 2018/19 Received 132 cases – positive action taken to resolve 97% of cases
80% satisfaction with the way case handled
Undertaking to Court X 2
Suspended Possession Orders X 2
The remaining cases were resolved by mediation, staff visits and referrals for support
Outright Possession Orders X 5
Injunctions X 14
Formal cautions and warnings issued X 10
NEED TO KNOW
Beware sharks! Loan sharks and illegal money lenders cause untold misery for many thousands of people and the problem is growing. Many of the victims are parents and, worryingly, 43% of these people have gone without food, fuel, or missed rent and mortgage payments so that they can make repayments. There is help available! The England Illegal Money Lending Team is funded by the National Trading Standards Board and works to raise awareness of the problem, investigate cases of illegal money lending and support victims. They have helped over 27,000 victims, written off over £79million of illegal debt and secured more than 380 prosecutions resulting in nearly 329 years’ of custodial sentences.
FRONTLINE STORY... Swan’s frontline Welfare Benefits Team recently took part in some training to help them identify and support customers who may be targeted by Loan Sharks. “The training I received made me think about a customer I have supported. It was just a hunch but I gave him a call and asked a few questions. When I spoke to the customer it was clear that he had been taken advantage of and we’ve since secured him a Support Worker as he is vulnerable. The training helped me to ask the right questions, identify and provide assistance to a resident we may have otherwise have missed.”
If you or someone you know has been affected by a Loan Shark you can speak to the England Illegal Money Lending team on 0300 555 2222 or report them online at stoploansharks.com
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NEED TO KNOW
Domestic Violence and Abuse With an estimated one in four women and one in six men experiencing domestic abuse at some time in their life Swan takes all reports of domestic abuse seriously. Abuse is not always physical; if your partner, ex-partner or a family member threatens to hurt you, scares, humiliates or controls you this is domestic abuse. To get help call the Police on 999 in an emergency situation and 101 in a nonemergency situation. You can also speak to Swan’s Neighbourhood and Supported Housing Teams on 0300 303 2500 or email them on info@swan.org.uk.
For more information including contact details for national and local organisations that can help please visit our website www.swan.org.uk
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Mobile app provides domestic abuse advice and support Bright Sky is a free mobile app that provides support and information to anyone who may be in an abusive relationship. It can also be used by concerned friends and familiy members who want to help someone they care about. The app has already provided support for thousands of people in the UK and is available in four languages: English, Urdu, Punjabi and Polish. You can find out more, including where you can download it, online at www.hestia.org/brightsky.
For more information visit www. hestia.org/brightsky
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YOUR HOME
How did we do? April 2018 - March 2019
71% Satisfied with repairs service (Target 76%)
You said: “It takes too long to complete follow on work� We did: Axis now have a co-ordinator to overview complex repairs to ensure a timely completion.
80%
82%
Satisfied with overall service (Target 85%)
Satisfied with quality of home (Target 85%)
265
100%
91%
We received 265 Stage 1 complaints in this period
Stage 1 complaints responded to within six working days (Target 98%)
People satisfied with the complaints procedure (Target 76%)
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You said: “It takes too long to get replacement boiler parts”
96.3%
We did: Axis now have a “space on a shelf” where the supplier keeps a stock of the most common parts which can be collected for same day repairs.
Repairs completed at first visit (Target 96.5%)
93.8% People satisfied with their last repair (Target 93%)
100%
13.8
1.83%
Properties with a valid gas safety certificate (Target 100%)
Average number of days taken to re-let an empty home (Target 15)
Current arrears as a % of rent due (general needs) (Target 2.6%)
80%
99.5%
127
People satisfied with how their ASB report was dealt with (Target 80%)
Repair appointments made and kept (Target 98%)
We have had 127 compliments during this period
YOUR HOME
Firestarter in your home? Could you be killed by your fridge? An investigation carried out by ‘Which’ during 2018 identified that faulty household appliances including washing machines, tumble dryers and fridge-freezers, cause more than 60 fires every week. The tragic Grenfell fire was started by a fridge-freezer and this has once again raised critical questions about the safety of millions of household products. Washing machines and tumble dryers are the worst culprits blamed for an average 20 fires per week. You can visit www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/ product-recalls to check if your white goods have been recalled. The website also provides tips on electrical safety.
electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/product-recalls
Electrical Safety We know that it is important that your home is safe for you and your family. Swan carries out regular safety checks on your home to make sure it is a safe place for you to live. The safety checks we carry out include electrical safety checks. We do this because 10% of fires are caused by electrical faults. If you receive an appointment letter for an electrical safety check please do let us in. On these visits we check all the wiring and electrical equipment that Swan is responsible for. For more information call Axis on: 0800 783 2768
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Customer Portal Last September we announced that we are working on a new customer portal that will let you access more of our services online. We have spoken to more than ten housing associations and 23 different solution providers in our quest to select an organisation who can work with us to deliver the portal. In January, we connected to our new housing management system and, since then, we have been working to build the
functions our customers have asked for including: viewing and downloading your statements; making payments easier; logging and viewing your repairs and updating us when you want to tell us or ask us about something. Some of our customers have come along to a series of workshops and one to one sessions to give us some feedback on the early design and function of the portal. This feedback is vital and it
has already highlighted how we need to ensure our new portal is accessible for everyone, including customers with visual impairments.
We promise to keep you informed of the progress we are making as we develop our new portal and we will tell you when it is ready to be launched!
We are continuing to develop our portal and will be inviting more customers to give us feedback on its design and usability. If you would like to be involved in this, please contact involvement@swan.org.uk or call 01277 844242.
YOUR SPACE
Resident Consultative Committee Swan’s Resident Consultative Committees work with and represent their communities. The RCC in Essex currently has members who live in Laindon, Basildon, Harlow and Rayleigh. I’m Carol, and I am Chair of the Essex RCC. I attend multiple meetings, such as the Axis Partnering meetings and Laindon Shopping centre meetings (along with Christine, another RCC member) and we all support Swan’s Resident Involvement team with their work and events.
At RCC meetings Swan staff show us new and updated policies, strategies, community grants and estate improvements. We have the opportunity to review and decide whether to approve or reject changes. We also provide feedback on our local areas and any issues that need to be dealt with directly to Swan’s senior staff. So far this year we have approved Swan’s Domestic Abuse policy, the Customer Care & Complaints policy, the Landlord Gas Safety policy and the Planned
Scrutiny Panel I’m Rod, the Chair of the Scrutiny Panel. I wanted to give you an update on what’s been happening in the panel and some of the work that has been carried out. In March we completed a review of Swan’s website. On the whole we found that it is well utilised and easy to navigate. We surveyed a range of residents and found that most users were able to locate what they were looking for with ease.
There is room for improvement in terms of visual appearance, clearer links to ‘My Swan’ and other external sites. We also think that it would be useful for policies to be added. Our recommendations have been approved by Swan and a full version of our website review is available on the website. Rod Lamb Chair, Scrutiny Panel
Maintenance policy. We have approved one community grant for the Basildon area and have approved four estate improvements across East London and Essex. In March we were involved in the National Housing Federation Together with Tenants consultation and we have also had the chance to help shape the new design for Swan’s customer magazine.
Carol Franklin Chair, RCC
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We have helped to shape the design of Swan’s new customer magazine.
If you have any story you wish to share with the HOME readers please get in touch Email: communications@swan.org.uk with your story, name and address.
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COMPETITION
Swan Rewards 2X £50 Argos vouchers
Our way of saying thank you Here is your chance to win some fabulous prizes as part of the Swan Reward Scheme. Please check that you qualify to enter by visiting www.swan.org. uk and then just choose which of these great prizes you would like to win. The closing date for entries is Friday 26 July 2019.
Where in Scotland is there supposedly a lake monster called Nessie? A. Loch Less B. Loch Mess C. Loch Ness
If you qualify to enter, just fill out the form below with the answers circled and post to: Swan Housing Association, FREEPOST ANG10361, Billericay, CM12 9ZZ with your name and address or email us at improvement@swan.org.uk quoting ‘Swan Reward Scheme competition’ with your answers, name and address. Images are for illustrative purposes only and prizes may vary.
Please circle your answers £50 Argos voucher
£300 of white goods
HP Stream Cloudbook £100 B&Q vouchers
Nintendo games console LG 32 inch HDTV
A
B
C
A
B
C
A
B
C
A
B
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A
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Full name Address
£300 of white goods Where does the British Prime Minister live?
Phone number
A. High street B. Downing Street C. The Avenue
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LG 32 inch Smart HDTV What sweet food do bees make?
A. Chocolate B. Honey C. Jam
HP Stream Cloudbook Which country is home to the kangaroo? A. Australia B. UK C. Spain
ÂŁ100 B&Q vouchers Which football team play at the London Stadium? A. West Ham B. Chelsea C. Peterborough
Nintendo Games console In the Disney film, what animal is Dumbo? A. Elephant B. Dog C. Cat
COMPETITION
Help Swan get home Find the correct route for Swan to get home and you could win a ÂŁ25 Argos voucher. The two runners up will win a ÂŁ10 Argos voucher
1 2 When you have found the correct route, send the number with your name, age and address to jmarch@swan.org.uk or cut out this page and send it to Joanna March, Swan Housing Association, FREEPOST ANG10361, Billericay, CM12 9ZZ with your name, age and address: Entries will be drawn on Friday 26 July 2019. This competition is only open to Swan residents aged 16 or under.
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Essex regional office Pilgrim House Billericay Essex CM12 9XY
NU living Tramway House 3 Tramway Avenue Stratford E15 4PN
Hera Management Services Limited Tramway House 3 Tramway Avenue Stratford E15 4PN
London regional office 9 Webber Path Poplar London E14 0FZ
Tel: 0800 819 9390
Tel: 0345 683 8812
nuliving.co.uk
heramanagementservices.co.uk
@NUlivinghomes
@heramanagement
Our main offices are open Monday - Thursday 9.00am - 5.15pm Friday 9.00am - 5.00pm Tel: 0300 303 2500 swan.org.uk @swanhousing Repairs: 0800 783 2768 or 020 3597 2067 from a mobile (24 hrs a day)
Swan proudly supports LGBT Pride Month
In your language Please call 0300 303 2500 if you would like someone to explain any of these articles to you.
