Keeping in Touch

Autumn 2012

The Newsletter for SYHA Residents

Cover story:

Jump for joy...

It’s our 40th birthday!

People’s and Gardening Awards: the results are in! Page 2 CaSH - a Summer of celebrations Pages 10 & 11 Your spare room may cost you money - Page 12

SYHA News

Cover story:

Jump for joy.

It’s our 40th birthday!

We’re getting a face lift for our 40th In 1966 a quarter of the British population tuned into BBC1 to watch a television drama about a young family’s descent into homelessness.

Cathy Come Home raised public awareness of homelessness and had a huge impact on many people, one of whom was SYHA’s founder John Belcher.

It might be our 40th year but we’re showing no signs of slowing down.

The results are in...

…the winners of the 2012 SYHA people awards & gardening competition.

We know there are ‘unsung heroes’ who make a real difference by giving up their time and energy to benefit their neighbourhood, community and scheme.

The entries were narrowed down to a short list which was then visited by our panel of judges for them to make their final decisions.

With the points counted up and decisions made, Thursday 2nd August saw an awards evening to celebrate the winners of the SYHA people awards and to announce the winners of the gardening competition.

It seemed fitting that the event took place at the Curator’s House in the Botanical Gardens, Sheffield, and people travelled from far and wide to be there making the evening really special. While the weather may have

That’s why we launched the SYHA people awards. You responded by letting us know who they are, the difference they make and what this means to you.

And as for green fingers, well you didn’t disappoint the judges with nearly twice as many entries as last year and the overall standard was extremely high.

ngn i n rdpeetitio a G

been unpredictable this summer luckily the rain held off, giving people a chance to explore the gardens and enjoy some evening sun.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to make nominations in the people awards and the people who entered the gardening competition.

A little thought and a bit of effort can achieve fantastic results – helping to create great places to live. Well done to everyone!

In May, five trained and toned athletic members of staff including our very own Chief Executive, Tony Stacey, were pushed to their limits on a very hot day by running the Sheffield Half Marathon. It wasn’t just for fun either as the plucky team were running to raise money for people living in our homeless accommodation.

Tony Stacey, said ‘the fundraising from the marathon is a brilliant chance to make a direct difference to vulnerable people living in Sheffield.’

The SYHA half marathon team finished 14th out of a possible 51 teams entered which was a great achievement and raised nearly £4000!

As part of our 40th birthday celebrations we’re getting involved in various local fundraising and volunteering activities.

Look out for more information about what we’ve been up to in our winter edition of Keeping in Touch.

Best Overall Garden

3rd prize: Mrs Brownhill, Dronfield

Best Communal Garden

Best Neighbour Ms Roberts

Our work has changed significantly since we began 40 years ago and it’s time to change our image to reflect this.

If you have any questions or comments, contact Georgina Barrett – Marketing Officer at g.barrett@syha.co.uk or give our Customer Services Team a call on 0114 2900 200

Best Grow Your Own

Mrs Fox

2nd prize: The Meadows Extra Care, Sheffield

Most improved garden

1st prize: Mr & Mrs Reaney, Dronfield

Neighbour Champion

2nd prize: Mrs Mangham, Maltby

Mr Williamson & Mrs Roberts Addicott

Joint 2nd Prize: Mr Hussey, Royston 3rd prize: Miss Pearce, Sheffield

Best Hanging Basket/Window Box

Scheme Champion

1st prize: Mr & Mrs Cheeseborough, Sheffield 2nd prize: Ms Fenn, Sheffield 3rd prize: Mr McAllen & Miss Boucher, Maltby Joint 3rd Prize: Mr Hales, Hasland

3rd prize: Ms Roberts, Chesterfield

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Here’s a taste of things to come:

40 years on, and just like the fashion of yester-year, we’ve changed. We don’t just provide family housing any more and 60% of our work is with people who live in care and supported housing.

1st prize: Mrs Caughey, Ousegate

3rd prize: Westmeads Extra Care, Royston

Our October special edition of Keeping in Touch will be the first mailing that will showcase our new look and we really hope you like it.

Six years after Cathy Come Home was first screened, it was 1972. The charts were dominated by the longhaired lover from Liverpool, Jimmy Osmond; our roads were jammed with VW Beetles; Columbo and Rainbow were the programmes to watch, and the fashion world was a blaze of orange swirls and platform boots.

1972 was also the year that John Belcher began setting up ‘Sheffield Family Housing Association’ which has grown into the SYHA you know today.

1st prize: Mr & Mrs Thompson, Kimberworth 1st prize: Mr & Mrs Dickson, Sheffield 2nd prize: Ms Hartley, Selby 2nd prize: Mrs Mangham, Maltby

m Co

We’re still called ‘SYHA’ but are changing our logo to better reflect the wide range of work we do and the diversity of people we work with.

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SYHA News

Find your perfect partner

Dean our new apprentice gardener and Bradley our new apprentice joiner

Got your attention didn’t we!

You may remember we only advertised these apprenticeships in our newsletter, so both Dean and Bradley have a connection to SYHA. They are already getting stuck in to working with our teams and are learning new skills.

In September they will start a college course. We had 48 applicants so well

done to Dean and Bradley and we would like to welcome them to SYHA and wish them success in their future careers.

We also advertised for an apprentice in our Computer Services Team in the summer edition of Keeping in Touch.

We are pleased to let you know that we have now recruited and our new apprentice will be starting very soon.

We hope to be able to offer more apprenticeships in the future and based on the success of this year, we will be looking to recruit again through Keeping in Touch.

Are you covered? …toaster, black & white portable TV, Goblin teasmaid, his & hers matching bathrobes, fondue set, cuddly toy, carriage clock, foot spa, Carmen heated rollers…* Okay I’ve not wandered off into an episode of the popular seventies game show The Generation Game, but could you name all the items in your home?

It’s not easy is it? Even if you think about each room individually it is easy to forget how much stuff we actually have, let alone how expensive it would be if we had to replace everything.

SYHA does not insure your personal possessions or furniture, so it is something

you need to think about.

There are a number of lowcost affordable insurance schemes, and at SYHA we have linked up with an insurance company to offer a specially negotiated deal with affordable rates. There are a range of different types of cover and ways you can pay.

If you would like more information about the scheme get in touch with us using the contact details on 15.

*for some of our younger readers, yes, these were actual prizes on a prime time TV show, long before the days of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire!

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These days many people have access to the Internet, whether it’s on their mobile phone, laptop or home computer – the world is going digital and so are we.

We’ve listened to you to find out how you want to use our SYHA website and we are starting to make changes. We hope to make life easier for you and help you to quickly contact the people you need to speak to.

You’re hired.

Our new apprentices start Dean and Bradley are our two new apprentices who have now started working at SYHA and are based in the team who manage our estates and repairs.

Let’s Get Digital The new website will be up and running by the end of the year and we’ll keep you updated on our progress. You can also keep up to date with what we are doing by following us on twitter at SYorksHA

Any questions or comments about the website contact Helen Sims – Enterprise Manager at h.sims@syha.co.uk or give our Customer Services Team a call on 0114 2900 200.

We take our commitment to gas safety very seriously and make sure that all the gas appliances in your home are checked and serviced every year. These checks take about an hour depending on how many gas appliances are in your home.

We will write to you first to let you know when this check will take place.

New homes

Since our last newsletter we’ve started work on two new developments.

We aren’t talking about trading in your other half or finding that special someone though; what we are talking about is finding someone to exchange homes with.

Most SYHA customers with an assured or secure tenancy agreement are eligible to exchange. As long as they are not in breach of their tenancy agreement and are looking to swap in to a home that is suitable for their household. There is more information about mutual exchanging in your Tenant’s Handbook.

Gas Safety

The second phase of Wensley Court, Fir Vale, Sheffield, started on 25th June. Here we are building 8 homes for affordable rent, a mixture of 3 and 4 bedroom family homes.

On the 30th July work started at Baden Street, Worsbrough, Barnsley, building 7 family homes for affordable rent. These will also be a mixture of 3 and 4 bedroom houses.

We are hoping to complete both of these developments by April 2013.

If you know you’re not going to be in please let us know and we can re-arrange the appointment for a day when you will be. We know that no-one wants to wait at home all day so why not ask for a morning or afternoon appointment?

Because gas safety is so important we must carry out these checks every year.

Occasionally, despite our best efforts, some people don’t allow us access to carry out these checks. It is rare but in these cases we have to take court action.

If you have any worries about the safety of your heating, whether it is gas, solid fuel or electric, give us a call on 0800 1380 380.

If you smell gas, Call Transco immediately on 0800 111 999.

After Transco have visited call 0800 1380 380 and ask for an engineer to call.

SYHA customer Steven from Walkley, Sheffield, used the free online mutual exchange web service HomeSwapper to help him find a swap. He told us a bit about his experience.

‘The HomeSwapper website was very easy to use and photos of my property were easy to upload. I had been registered on HomeSwapper for 3 months; I searched for properties for 2 months but then stopped.

One month later I received a call from somebody interested in my property; they came to view and wanted to swap straight away.

‘HomeSwapper was much easier to use than other ways of finding an exchange like looking in local papers. I think I would have had to wait much longer to find my ideal home if I hadn’t used HomeSwapper.’

If like Steven you want to exchange homes go to www.homeswapper.co.uk and follow the instructions on how to register. If you need any help give our Customer Services Team a call on 0114 2900 200.

Not a web surfer?

Don’t worry if you cannot use the Internet, we can help you search for a swap partner through HomeSwapper. Give our Customer Services Team a call on 0114 2900 200.

Just moved in?

To find out who supplies gas to your new home call, 0870 608 1524

Our antisocial behaviour team receives the Housemark Award Thankfully most of our tenants are good neighbours.

But sometimes things go wrong and at SYHA we understand how upsetting and distressing it can be to experience anti social behaviour.

Happily, most people will not have to experience anti social behaviour but for those who do we make every effort to tackle the problems as quickly as we can.

To find out how well we are doing we ask you to rate us. What you’ve told us is that we’re

SYHA Customer Improvement Panel work with SYHA to produce this newsletter

getting better, with more people saying they were satisfied with how we dealt with their problem.

We know in the first 3 months of this year 89% of customers indicated they were satisfied with how their complaint was handled and 95% were happy with the support and information they received during their complaint.

To make sure we are providing a good service we recently asked an external organisation called Housemark to assess how we deal with anti social behaviour. They highlighted a

EASY READ 5

number of strengths and also a small number of things for us to work on which we are busy doing right now. We are pleased to say SYHA has achieved the Housemark accreditation, which is seen as a real measure of how well a landlord responds to anti social behaviour.

As a further improvement to our service we now have our own CCTV surveillance equipment which we will be able to use to monitor areas where we are having difficulty obtaining evidence from witnesses, or to add to the evidence that we have.

CUSTOMER IMPROVEMENT PANEL

We are committed to dealing with the challenges of rising energy costs and fuel poverty.

As fuel bills continue to rise, we know how difficult it can be to keep your home warm all year round and we’re working hard to meet those challenges head-on. Here are some of the things we’re doing:

Helping you to understand how you use energy

SYHA wins top National Award-again!

In our summer edition of the newsletter we had just heard that we had won the regional final of Social Landlord of the Year.

Housing Associations, ALMOs, contractors and consultants from all over the country met in Manchester for the Housing Excellence Awards on the 9th March.

We fought off stiff competition from five other top regional organisations to

Later this year we will be working with Groundwork Sheffield to deliver energy efficiency advice to around 500 of our tenants. We’ll be helping you to understand your energy bills, supporting you to switch to the best energy tariff and hopefully help you save money on your energy bills. This is an important piece of work for SYHA, because it will also help us to understand how we can do more in the future. We are also looking for people to get involved in delivering this support and advice and it gives us a chance to offer training and work opportunities to you. We’re very excited about this initiative and hope you will be too.

scoop the prestigious award for the second year in a row.

We won the award by showing our continuous improvement and proving that we really are ‘more than housing’.

Tony Stacey, SYHA chief executive, said: ‘I’m so proud of everyone at SYHA. Their hard work has been recognised yet again.’

Staff and Kath Chambers, tenant, receiving award

SYHA Involving you Helping others through volunteering with SYHA Have you got skills or experience that you would like to pass on to others?

Or perhaps you are thinking about a new career or a return to work and would like to develop or refresh your skills - while helping us provide extra services to our care and support service users or to tenants and their families.

Volunteers are unpaid people who offer their time and skills on regular basis – maybe as little as an hour a week, or maybe much more. There is a wide range of ways in which volunteers can help others. Just some examples include:

l Helping young people with some of the

practical things involved in setting up home for the first time, and giving them skills for the future

You might have been approached recently by companies offering you free loft & cavity wall insulation. As a Landlord, SYHA have to give permission for this work to be carried out. We also want to make sure you are getting good quality work from these companies and aren’t being asked to pay for work where you don’t need to.

If you would like more advice or to get involved with LiveGreen, contact Craig Jackson on 0114 2900273.

Fuel Poverty Come in from the cold Fuel poverty means not being able to afford to heat your home properly.

Reducing fuel poverty is something we can’t do on our own. So, together with the National Housing Federation, in October we are hosting a fuel poverty conference called Come in from the Cold, where we’ll be able to share ideas and inspiration with other housing 6

providers, councils, energy companies and the government on how best to tackle the problems we all face.

We’ll bring you an update in the next edition of Keeping in Touch.

We know many of you have been celebrating this summer and with the Jubilee and the Olympics there have been many reasons to get together, even if the weather hasn’t been one of them!

l Helping people ‘get online’ and get the

most out of computers We have opportunities in and around South Yorkshire so there will be possibilities not far from you. If this might be for you, give us a call or keep your eye out for our October Keeping in Touch Special dropping through your door.

In it you will find more information about volunteering and details about an Involving You Drop-In event at the Workstation, Sheffield. Make sure you put the event date in your diary Tuesday 23rd of October, 6pm – 8pm.

Perhaps you have an idea for an event that you would like to organise in your community which would help you get together with your neighbours and benefit l Helping plan and run activities for older SYHA residents. If you people or for young people have an idea, why l Helping people look after their gardens not think about applying for a SYHA neighbourhood grant to help with the costs?

The summer months always make carrying of getting your views You may want to Look out for more details out our estate walkabouts a much more about your local area improve a communal in our October pleasant task for our Neighbourhood other than asking you space or garden, or Keeping in Touch Officers, even if this summer has been a to join us on one of our to organise a day out bit of a wash out. This year many of the walkabouts.

Special. or an event. Some of nominations in our garden competition That’s why later this year the recent grants we have came from our Neighbourhood Officers who we will be looking for people to awarded are to support a day trip were really impressed with the hard work become Neighbourhood Champions for to Scarborough and a Junior Warden people had put in to their gardens. your local area. This will help you and your scheme in Maltby. neighbours to tell us about the things that We remain committed to continuing our If you would like to apply for a grant get matter to you in your area and give you the estate walkabouts as we see these as chance to share your ideas about what we in touch using the contact details on an important part of our work. We also could do to make improvements. page 15. understand that there may be better ways

Don’t forget our Involving You event

Estate Walkabouts

Free insulation offers

Neighbourhood grants

SYHA News SYHALeaseholders’ Leaseholders’ News Service charge accounts We know service charges aren’t the most gripping of subjects, but we also know that our Leaseholders are usually really keen to know what they will be paying in the coming year. So for this edition we have devoted the Leaseholder News to updating you on where we are at with preparing the service charge accounts for the schemes where we provide a service to you and you pay a variable service charge.If there are more than four properties in your scheme then the accounts must be independently audited. This is to make sure that they are correct and that the money spent was reasonable. The auditor visited in August and we are now preparing your accounts for mailing.

You will receive a copy of your service charge account before the end of September.

The service charge accounts you receive are for your whole scheme. If there has been an underspend on your scheme, it does not automatically mean that you will get a refund, as we first need to look at where the money has been saved.

Once the accounts have been finalised we will work out what this means to you. Any credits or debits will be added onto your rent account.

We understand that this information can be confusing and that you may have questions you would like to ask, so we will be arranging meetings and drop-in sessions to give you a chance to meet with us.

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We will write to you by Friday 28th September and let you know when these meetings will be, and we look forward to seeing you there and answering any questions you may have.

It’s good to talk We are always interested in hearing your thoughts about the service you receive from SYHA and how we can improve it.

You can let us have your praises, grumbles or comments by completing the form on the back of the newsletter, emailing praiseandgrumble@syha.co.uk, texting SYHA to 63333 or calling 0114 2900 200.

SYHA Keeping you & your home safe Have you heard of Legionella?

Isn’t she the daughter of Fifi Trixibelle Geldof?

Erm, no, and I think it’s unlikely to catch on as a popular name for children Oh, why’s that?

Well Legionella are bacteria that are found in rivers, lakes and reservoirs but can also be found in water systems, including storage tanks, pipe work, taps and showers Yuk, they don’t sound very nice They’re not, and if you are exposed to Legionella you could become very ill Now you’re starting to panic me...

Well, the risk in your home is very low and certain groups of people are more at risk than others, such as people over 45 and people who have been ill I don’t look it, but believe it or not I am over 45, should I be worried?

Honestly, the risk in your home is low because your water is usually used daily and stored in small quantities at temperatures above 45°C. Basically this means that the bacteria do not usually have the time to grow to significant levels Phew… nothing to worry about then Just remember the risk can increase if you go on holiday for a week or more, and if someone moves out of a property and it is empty for a long time

SYHA Care & Supported Housing So now you’re saying I can’t go on holiday for longer than a week?

Growing Spaces

That isn’t what I’m saying.

Of course you can go on holiday for longer than a week but there are some simple precautions that you can take to make sure that you aren’t exposed.

For example, make sure that you turn on taps, including any in your garden each week and let them run for at least two minutes. Also make sure you give your showerhead a really good clean every three months There’s quite a lot to think about, I’m not sure I’ll remember everything?

Panic not, SYHA have produced a really handy fact sheet that tells you all about Legionella, what it is, who is at risk and lists the things all of us can do to stay well. Why not get in touch with them, their contact details are on page 15

Care & Supported Housing’s Gardening project There are big benefits to growing your own, not only the health benefits from eating fresh fruit and vegetables but also the therapeutic benefits that gardening can bring.

That is why we are looking to create ‘growing spaces’ at some of our Care & Supported Housing projects. We hope to encourage as many of our clients as possible to get

Would you like to be involved in “getting the growing going”?

involved and start growing food and also flowers.

We have already started at two of our projects in Rotherham and Sheffield by growing simple salad vegetables and herbs.

We now want to start work on window boxes and hanging baskets to brighten up the projects and hope to develop vegetable patches in the spaces we have available.

We know from this year’s gardening competition that we have plenty of green fingered customers and are calling on you to share some of your gardening knowledge or experience or ‘top tips’ with our clients and staff. Perhaps you’re not a gardener and have some useable gardening equipment, seeds or plants you would like to donate or some simple recipes for cooking tasty meals?

If you would like to get involved please contact Laura Crane on 0114 2908 359, email d.mills@syha.co.uk or give our Customer Services Team a call on 0114 2900 200.

Learning Together

Left to right, Sandy Marshall, SCIL, Kat & Darren SUFA, Speak Up For Advocacy, Val Bowen, SCIL

SYHA staff recently linked up with Sheffield City Council’s Housing Independence Service and the Sheffield Centre for Independent Living (SCIL) to provide training for each other’s staff teams.

You can also find out more information about Legionella disease on the Health and Safety Executive website www.hse.gov.uk or at the NHS Direct website, www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk or by giving them a call on 0845 4647.

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If you have not heard of SCIL they provide free, confidential information to anyone in Sheffield who needs information about a disability related issue. They are a not for profit organisation run and controlled by disabled people.

SYHA’s Care and Supported Housing Team are recognised as providing high quality support tailored to our customers needs, so the

council wanted us to provide training to SCIL staff on our approach.

SCIL are experts at providing advice on where disabled people can get help to live more independently. They provided training to SYHA staff on the barriers that disabled people face trying to access services as well as how to advise people to get the best help for them.

Anyone in Sheffield can access SCIL services.

If you think that you or someone you know may benefit from their services you can give them a call on 0114 2536 750 or visit their website www.sheffieldcil.org.uk 9

SYHA Care & Supported Housing 3rd June t hasn’t cord but tha ’ve re n o r e m um ey the hottest s ed Housing team, as th rt It’s not been o p mmer!

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22nd May

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, mily and friends with clients, fa ed ry en sa er op iv nn am A rh h he ess of Rot brated its 5t or le ay ce M y tb dy al d La M y an and Burns Court in 5th anniversar e Lord Mayor to celebrate its community. Th s a er nd id d, w ou oo e gr w th e er d th nd an g a tree in y of Liz U or tin an em pl m , e ns th io in at the celebr oned bench ially commissi hich had unveiling a spec y died this year. fun activities w dl e th sa to ho in w k ue uc st ag t colle tic BBQ and go yed the fantas Everyone enjo been planned.

23rd May

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invitations for the ev It might have be nt out personal weeks planning l se ra d ve an se h t nc en lu s sp ty of food se the Staff and client Tony and plen work to adverti t by ar d te ul tif ra au co be de e been a laugh with produced som the house had y and to share e da nc e t O th g. y jo on al en ck and call in to find ou inviting people uncillor, Jane, as time to sit ba w co it d k. te lle or ec he w el ic rd ly M eir ha prepare by had our new lved and all th d old. We even everyone invo to ne do l el friends, new an W 1. hat we do at 91 more about w

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11th July

saved tia in Sheffield. Following a s i e u n e v A Birch home for people living with demenA campaign was ure. is a Birch Avenue ened with clos g it was threat in e home, nd th fu in its e liv of review ople who pe of es tiv la re e Birch Avenue launched by th Trust to keep S H N e th d an SYHA hear that the astic news to nt fa is it d an nding so can open to receive its fu ue in nt co ill w home is remain open. ctor said, “this l our Care Dire el ns w th ea m ou S it in as Kev SYHA hievement for ac r the fo nt e ca ic ifi rv gn se si a quality gh hi is th of n anager the continuatio are Services M C s A’ H Y S s, y role in city. Jill Rhode has played a ke e, m ho e th r praise responsible fo d has received an ct ra nt co is mmitment negotiating th NHS for her co e th in ith w f af e.” from senior st ccessful outcom su is th ng hi ac and skill in re work in saving for all their hard ne yo er ev to Well done 11 Birch Avenue.

The wider picture

Safeguarding The University of Sheffield at SYHA

MON£YMATT£RS We know that there are lots of changes ahead for how benefits are paid and the amount of benefits people receive.

We understand this may be confusing, but it is important that you know how these changes may affect you and your family.

The new Universal Credit

Housing Benefit size will matter

You may have heard that the government is planning to change how benefits are paid.

In previous editions of our Keeping in Touch we highlighted some of the changes in housing benefit which will be introduced in April 2013. The big change for people who are of working age and receive housing benefit is that for the first time the amount of housing benefit you receive will be related to the size of your

home. If you live in a home that the government considers to be too large for your needs you may lose some of your benefits. We know that this change will affect some of our tenants, and we will continue to keep you up to date with the changes as they are introduced.

Council Tax Benefit is changing Council tax benefit is due to end in March 2013 and will be replaced by a local Council Tax Support scheme.

Help will still be available towards the costs of your Council Tax, but rather than the government deciding who should receive this support it will be decided by your local council.

should not be affected by this change.

If you are of working age and receive council tax benefit, you may see a reduction in the money you receive, and some people who currently don’t have to pay anything towards their council tax bill may find that from April 2013 they have to start making a contribution.

As each local council will decide how their Council Tax support scheme will work, we What will this mean for are not able to give you any more details, people who currently receive but if you are receiving council tax benefit council tax benefit? you should be receiving some more If you are a pensioner the government has information soon on what these changes said you should be protected and you will mean to you.

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At the moment people can receive lots of different benefits as separate payments.

The government thinks this could be made simpler by people receiving the majority of their benefits as a single payment. This will be known as universal credit.

The government is still working on the universal credit but it looks like there will be a couple of important changes.

The first change is the new universal credit will include a housing element, now known as housing benefit, and will be paid to the person claiming and not the landlord. This will be a big change and for people who currently claim housing benefit we may need to ask you for more details than we have in the past. It will mean your housing costs are paid to you and then you will have to pay your rent.

Also universal credit will be paid monthly rather than weekly or fortnightly. We know that this is a major change and we are keen to help you prepare for this change.

The current plans are that universal credit will be introduced gradually, but will start in October 2013 for people who are making new claims.

Pensioners will not be affected by universal credit.

needs your help

SYHA want to make sure our tenants and clients are kept safe and well.

They are looking for people to get involved in two studies they are carrying out.

We have responsibilities as a provider of housing and support to safeguard people who are vulnerable.

Safeguarding is a term used to describe how we can all look after each other, especially those who may be less able to look after themselves because of their age, disability, or illness.

We take our responsibilities seriously and that’s why we have a Safeguarding team. We will be introducing the team to you in the winter edition of Keeping in Touch.

If you have any questions about Safeguarding or our SYHA Safeguarding team please contact your Housing Officer or Key Worker.

They are running the second study with Age UK Sheffield to find out whether telephone friendship can improve wellbeing in later life. They are looking for people aged 75 and over who live in Sheffield who might like to be involved.

The first is for people who are age 65 or Is that you? over and live in the Gleadless Valley or Hemsworth areas of Sheffield. Is that you? The study invites some participants to talk about their interests or everyday life The study is called ‘Lifestyle Matters’ and during 12 weekly conversations over they what to find out what helps people to the telephone. Some participants will maintain a healthy, happy and fulfilling later be invited to take part by completing life. They want people to get involved in a questionnaires only. range of activities which will take place at The telephone friendship groups are run weekly meetings. by trained Age UK Sheffield volunteers.

If you would like to find out more you can If you would like to know more or to get contact Katy on 0114 222 6383 or Lauren involved please contact the team on on 0114 222 8275, or visit the website 0114 222 8274, or visit the website www.shef.ac.uk/pliny www.sheffield.ac.uk/lifestylematters

Use your smartphone to pay your rent If you have a smart mobile phone, did you know you can use it to pay your rent?

If you have an Apple or Android smartphone there is an allpay app you can now download from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

You simply create a 4-digit pin number to access the app, so you don’t need to go through a lengthy log in process every time you want to use it. In a secure environment you can also store all of your payment reference numbers and payment amounts so you don’t have to enter them every time. The app is free and you can use it to make rent payments wherever you are at the touch of a button.

Tim’s Tips Tim, our gardener from the NEAT Team and also one of the judges in this years gardening competition, is back to share more of his gardening knowhow.

As the autumn is upon us he tackles the thorny issue of how to prune your roses.

Tim says, prune by using the three D’s method as this works with most varieties of roses.

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Dead - take the dead wood (stem) out altogether by removing at the base Dying - cut any dying stem down to the next healthy outward facing bud Disease - prune any diseased stem back to a healthy outward facing bud Pruning should be done at the end of the autumn going into November. Cutting back roses will help to make sure you get a healthy cluster of roses next year.

SYHA Contact & Competitions

WIN £

Competition Winners

25 HIGH STREET VOUCHERS

Congratulations to the lucky winners of the sumer newsletter competitions drawn by our Customer Improvement Panel.

The £50 winner, for giving us their praise or grumble, was Mr Chapola from Sheffield.

Kathleen Wright from Rotherham won £25 for finding all of the Olympic facts in the

word search, and well done to Emma from Chesterfield, aged 11, for winning £10 for guessing all the Olympics sports and completing a fantastic picture.

Remember - you’ve got to be in it to win it…

Adult competition

Our time travelling quiz & word search takes you back to where we began in 1972. Can you find the answers in the word search?

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Name:

Postcode:

Help us celebrate Name:

It’s our birthday, so get out your felt tips, crayons, or paints and have a go at colouring in the cake.

There’s a prize for the best one, so get creative and have fun!

Address: Postcode: Telephone No: 14

Telephone No:

How to contact SYHA Telephone 0114 2900 200 enquiries@syha.co.uk

Age: Colour in and send to: South Yorkshire Housing Association Ltd, FREEPOST, SF1336, Sheffield, S1 1AY. The closing date for entries is the 8th Ocyober 2012.

SYHA, 43 – 47 Wellington Street, Sheffield S1 4HF. Text keyword SYHA to 63333 If you text during office hours we aim to call you back by 5pm the same working day.

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26th August the summer Olympics open in _ _ _ _ _ _ West Germany. Team GB go on to win 4 gold, 5 silver and 9 bronze medals.

In September Mollie Sudgen and John Inman first stepped onto the Grace Brothers shop floor in ___/___/_____/______ On the 6th September David Bowie, or was it _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ performs at Top Rank in Sheffield.

16th October the first episode of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ , a rural soap opera set in Yorkshire, airs on ITV. 26th October sees the Royal Assent of the Local Government Act 1972.

It’s goodbye West Riding and hello _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ November 1972 Atari launches it tennis video game _ _ _ _ For the chance to win £25 find all the words in the word search, add your name and address and return the completed word search to South Yorkshire Housing Association Ltd, FREEPOST SF1336, Sheffield, S1 1AY. The closing date for entries is the 8th October 2012.

If you want to enter the adults’ competition and fill in the praise or grumble form overleaf, all you need to do is detach the whole page, send it to us and we will make sure your competition entry and praise or grumble are both entered in the prize draw.

Address:

Kid’s Competition

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March 1972: _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ opens at the box office, telling the story of the Corleone family. The film goes on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Repairs Freephone 0800 1380 380 Out of office hours emergencies 0800 1380 580 Repairs@syha.co.uk Text keyword Repair to 63333

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If you text during office hours we aim to call you back by 5pm the same working day.

You can also find more information about SYHA and our services on our website www.syha.co.uk

Praise or Grumble

WIN ÂŁ

50 HIGH STREET VOUCHERS

Your comments are very important to us.

Please use this form to let us know your praises, grumbles, comments, suggestions or to nominate a staff member or team that you feel has given not just a good service but a great service.

We will respond to every form that is returned and enter you in to a prize draw to win High Street Vouchers worth ÂŁ50.

We will draw the next prize on the 15th of October 2012.

I would like to: Praise

Grumble

Comment

Nominate a staff member or team for a Good to Great Award These awards acknowledge staff members and teams that go the extra mile

Details:

Suggestions:

Name Date Address

Postcode

Contact Number Cut out the form and return it freepost to: Performance & Planning Team, South Yorkshire Housing Association Ltd, FREEPOST SF1336, Sheffield, S1 1AY

If you are having difficulty reading this document, please contact us.

If you would like to make a Praise or Grumble please call us on 0114 2702 685 or email praiseorgrumble@syha.co.uk

Help us to help the environment Please recycle this newsletter when you have read it