Residents News - Issue 56

Residents News

Dates for your diary

Our Contact Centre will be closed over the upcoming bank holidays. If you have an emergency repair, please call our 24/7 Repairs Line on 0800 542 8904.

Contact Centre late opening hours:

On the third Wednesday of every month our phone lines will open after 10am.

The next Wednesday for later opening hours will be 17th May.

Resident Events

We have plenty of exciting activities to get involved with as the weather brightens up. You can find updates on our social media with details and dates closer to the time, so make sure you’re following us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

We will be running resident drop-ins in May and June

Bearbrook Planting Event

Summer Fun will run across various days on:

If you are interested in attending any of these sessions, please contact hello@fairhive.co.uk or text/call 07970 171954. Don’t forget these are open to all residents!

Dear Resident

I hope you are well and perhaps able to spend more time together outdoors with family, as we move into the warmer months and the days become longer and brighter.

The last few months have seen on-going economic challenges with the cost of living continuing to cause major concerns for so many in our community. We’ll be sending all residents an interactive ‘Cost of Living Toolkit’ very soon and I hope you find this booklet useful. Our Welfare and Independent Living Teams are here to help if you or anyone in your household is in need of extra support.

As your landlord, we’ve been very busy organising our planned works programmes for the coming year. To make sure that we can deliver as much work as possible to invest in your homes, we also apply for any grant funding that is available. This year we have been successful in an application to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for support from their Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. As a result, we’ll receive £2.8 million worth of grants which we will match, resulting in a total investment of £5.6 million over two years. The money will be used to carry out works on your homes to improve energy efficiency, focusing on those that are currently below the EPC – C rating.

We have also recently had some good news regarding our approach to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. In March, we were accredited with the highest level of certificate from the Department for Work and Pensions as a Disability Confident Leader. Disability Confident is a Government led scheme that is designed to help employers recruit and retain disabled people, thereby making the most of the talents that they bring to the workplace. We are especially proud of our accreditation because there are only two other businesses within Buckinghamshire that have achieved this award.

As we approach the warmer months, I’m pleased to announce that we will be running more Summer Fun activities this year, so keep an eye out for these on IMPACT and on our social media channels. I hope you’ll join us at one of these events or alternatively at another of our fantastic resident drop-ins.

Take care of yourself and loved ones, and I wish you a fun filled and sunny few months ahead.

Matthew Applegate Chief Executive

Boost Your Potential!

We recently teamed up with ‘Building Futures’ to run a free short-course providing a comprehensive understanding for residents that wanted to apply for a career in business administration. This initiative targeted young people, but also those that were looking at returning to work after a childcare break, thinking of a career change, or those who were long-term unemployed. As well as anyone else looking to retrain and upskill themselves. The opportunity was open to anyone in the household who were aged 19 and over. Alongside this course, we provided the option to earn a Level 2 Business Admin online qualification with a reputable provider. Participants received free access to Outplacement First (the online careers coaching platform we work with) for six months and information about our Springboard Grants.

During the course, participants discovered the importance of transferable skills and why employers are looking for these; explored their strengths at work; recognised the importance of a business administration role and the responsibilities; looked at workplace policies and procedures; and took part in activities specifically tailored to an example role. A few of our Fairhive colleagues also spoke

about their roles to give insight in to what it is like to work in the housing sector. Course leader, Mesoni stated, “By doing this course across six sessions we created a space where participants could learn from each other, be open to share their thoughts, experiences and build new skills. We were able to build a safe and positive atmosphere for participants. This enabled them to build their confidence and practise their communication skills. It helped immensely when the Fairhive employees from relevant departments spoke about their roles and responsibilities as this really put ideas we had learned into perspective.”

Many who took part have taken an active interest in applying for future business admin apprenticeship roles with us, to take their learning further and develop a career in Housing. Additionally, they have requested to sign-up to the optional online Level 2 Business Admin course as a next step!

One resident gave us some really positive feedback of their experience:

“I have really enjoyed this course, and I have felt that it was a great opportunity, not only to learn a new skill set but to meet amazing people in my team. Mesoni the trainer was lovely, very attentive, and supportive. The lessons were well paced and allowed learners to discuss scenarios etc. We also received visits from relevant departments, telling us about their roles and opportunities after the course had ended.”

What will you find at the Community Hub?

We run a weekly Community Hub in Aylesbury that is open to anyone. Come along and chat to our team or some of our helpful agencies that join us to provide free support and advice.

What do we offer?

The Community Hubs are a free, drop-in service for anyone in the community, whether they are a Fairhive resident or not. It is a chance to speak to a variety of agencies about welfare, training and employment support opportunities, and also meet new people.

Find us at the Vineyard, Gatehouse Close, Aylesbury, HP19 8DN every Tuesday morning from 9.45am until 12pm.

Helping Hands

Financial Support from Buckinghamshire Council for Household items and debts.

Buckinghamshire Family Information Service

Providing advice about child care and family information.

Who’s on board?

We invite a series of agencies to join us every week. While not all agencies can attend every session, we can provide contact details if you’re keen to get in touch with a particular team.

Mind (NHS)

Support and advice for Mental Health issues.

Advizer

Providing academic training courses and funding to get back into employment, CV writing and career advice.

Bucks adult learning

Who run training courses for confidence building and digital inclusion.

2023 FINALIST

Getting recognised for our approach to Culture and Wellbeing

This year we were shortlisted for the Housing Digital Innovation Awards for the most innovative approach to culture and wellbeing.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion is a strong focus for our organisation. We believe our people make the difference; it is important that our employees can be their true selves at work. Our inclusive culture extends to how we interact with residents; ensuring our services meet their diverse needs.

Our Chief Executive, Matthew, commented:

“Championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is one of the most important priorities for Fairhive and I am so proud of our successes to date. We are totally committed to ensuring everyone is treated fairly and equitably.”

Through our Customer Service Commitments, our employees are committed to treating all residents respectfully and ensuring their views are included in our service delivery. Employees are also committed to improving residents’

wellbeing

through reducing social isolation, providing mental health training, signposting residents to community support, and tackling social housing stigma.

As a Together with Tenants adopter, we have pledged to make all our resident communication ‘clear, timely and accessible’. If you don’t think we are getting this right then please let us know! You can get in touch with our Contact Centre to give your feedback about any area of our service and we will pass your views on to the relevant team to make suitable changes. We can provide translated versions of our communications, audio recordings of written literature (like our Residents News!), and various special print requirements. If you could benefit from receiving communications from us in a way that is better suited to your needs, please let us know. Update your details today on My HomeHub, email us (contact@fairhive.co.uk) or call our Contact Centre (01296 732600) so the team can record your request.

We continue to measure and learn from our complaints and compliments

Customer satisfaction is important to us and we know we don’t always get it right. That is why we are committed to listening to feedback and drawing down on the data from our customer surveys and complaints as well as compliments that highlight what we are doing well. Keep an eye out for our regular complaints and compliments column in upcoming issues of Residents News. We will include the feedback from customer satisfaction surveys and how we use it.

You can also log complaints via My HomeHub

Customer Satisfaction for Complaints: 64% of tenants surveyed told us they were satisfied with the handling of their complaint –we still have work to do to make sure you are confident and comfortable to talk to us about your complaint and that you feel we will listen to you and resolve your concerns.

Please let us know when we don’t get things right or if any contact with us is not as you expect.

April - December 2022 compared to previous financial year:

Between April and December 2022, there were approximately 24,000 face-to-face resident interactions across repairs, tenancy visits, occupancy checks, and caretaker visits including contractors.

You said: Poor Service Quality

We’re doing:

• Hiring new employees within the Contact Centre so the waiting times in the queue can be improved.

• Reviewing our Out of Hours service provider with a plan to improve the service that has been provided recently.

• Carrying out more post works inspections to ensure quality standards are met.

You said:

Ongoing repairs are concerning, eg. long wait for repairs, repeat calls and visits for the same issue

We’re doing:

• We are using contractors to support our in house team of operatives to get up to date with outstanding repairs.

• There are some repair jobs that we aren’t able to complete at the first visit, because we need to order specific materials. We will make sure you are fully aware of when this is the case.

• We are currently reviewing the stock materials that our operatives hold on their vans to reduce the number of follow up appointments needed.

You said: Our communication with you is poor

We’re doing:

• Supplying our operatives, who carry out repairs on the outside of properties or blocks, with calling cards to deliver to residents so they are aware of when works will be carried out.

• Sharing dates of follow-up work so you will know when these will take place.

To raise a complaint or leave feedback please visit our website (www.fairhive.co.uk/making-a-complaint) or give us a call.

Events in your Neighborhood

Easter Fun

In April, we ran two activity days for young residents to get involved with over the school holidays. We had great fun at our Skate and Scoot sessions and Dance classes!

Our Community Engagement Team are always planning more events so if you want to find out more you can register on IMPACT (www.fairhive.co.uk/register) or email us at hello@fairhive.co.uk. In our aim to be more inclusive, we would like to offer an activity for our younger SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) residents.

If this is something that you would like to take part in please let us know and send in your suggestions to hello@fairhive.co.uk

Estate Walkabouts

Our Neighborhood Managers have been running more Estate Walkabouts across a number of our estates and neighborhoods. Alex ran an excellent walkabout just before Easter Weekend and included a fun element with an egg hunt and a garden competition to celebrate the signs of spring. Keep an eye out on our social media for updates about walkabouts near you or let us know if you want one in your area! Email the Contact Centre with your suggestions - contact@fairhive.co.uk

Make it happen

Become a Resident Volunteer

Our volunteers receive the following benefits:

• Access to our ‘Fairhive Rewards’ discount scheme

• Loaned IT equipment

• Free personal development training

• Expenses for travel, broadband and childcare

• Being the first to know about new opportunities

To find out more, sign up to IMPACT or get in touch by emailing hello@fairhive.co.uk

Summer Fun is coming in August

Don’t miss out when bookings open. Keep an eye on IMPACT and our social media pages for more information in the Summer.

Spring security

Spring has finally sprung and you may be starting to tidy your garden in preparation for the warmer months. Unfortunately, statistics show that there is often a spike in shed burglaries in the spring as many people dust off their lawn mowers.

As the weather warms up, opportunist thieves will start to look out for open windows, insecure sheds, gardening tools not stored away and bikes left out with no locks. Here are a few simple tips to keep your shed and tools safe:

Clearly security mark all tools with your house number/ name and postcode.

When you are finished with your tools lock them away in your shed.

Use a good quality padlock or mortice lock on the door of your shed.

Lock bicycles to a fixed structure if leaving them outside.

If your shed has a window - cover it up or obscure the view so people can’t look inside.

Do not leave house doors and windows open whilst in the garden as an opportunist thief might take advantage whilst you are busy outside.

We continue to work alongside Thames Valley Police and Buckinghamshire Council for our estate walkabouts and to help share useful information about keeping our community safe. For further information or to contact the Council’s Community Safety Team, visit: www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/community-and-safety

You can follow them on Twitter @Bucks_Safety and Facebook BuckinghamshireCommunitySafety for more community safety updates and crime prevention advice.

Your Right to Buy

The ‘Right to Buy’ scheme helps eligible housing association tenants in England to buy their home with an increased discount of up to £96,010 if you applied on or after 6th April 2023.

To purchase your home through the ‘Right to Buy’ (RTB) or ‘Right to Acquire’ (RTA) schemes you will need to meet certain criteria, such as having been a Fairhive tenant continuously since the stock transfer from Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC) in 2006. Not all of our properties are eligible for the ‘Right to Acquire’ Scheme, so please check with us before you get started, contact details below.

Buying your home could be an investment for the future as well as giving you more freedom to make the changes you want to your home. We also recommend that anyone considering RTB or RTA seeks impartial financial and legal advice before buying their home.

For more information and to check your availability, you can email the Home Ownership Team at homeowners@fairhive.co.uk or call our Contact Centre on 01296 732600

Keep an eye out for exciting changes happening on our website this Summer

In December, we published a survey and hosted a focus group for residents to tell us their thoughts about the content we share on our website and how we could make it easier to find what you need when using it. The website development project is an extension of the work we did during our rebrand when we became Fairhive. We want to ensure we are listening to and meeting our residents’ needs.

We have been busy over the past few months gathering all this feedback to see what the overall response was and what changes needed to be made. A number of residents explained that the website can be confusing, difficult to navigate and the search feature isn’t always accurate or helpful. Most residents wanted to be able to find their rent statements, Neighbourhood Manager information, or repair updates quickly and easily, but instead they have to click through multiple pages with no clear direction.

As a result of this feedback, we will be improving how we signpost and catalogue the information on our website, making sure we have quick links for the regularly used sections on our homepage, as well as looking at how we can make the search bar more user friendly. Most importantly, the new look of the website will help residents to access our portals, My HomeHub and IMPACT, so you can quickly locate the best way to engage with us or access your tenancy details.

The overarching opinion from our consultation workshops and surveys was that the website needs to be simplified. We will keep the needs of our residents and website users as the key focus as we start to make changes to the look and feel, as well as the functionality, of our website over the upcoming months. Our main aim for the project now is to create a simple but

Meet the team

What does a typical working day look like for you?

Helen O’Callaghan

is an Independent Living Scheme Co-ordinator who has worked for Fairhive (formerly VAHT and before that AVDC) and within housing for 34 years.

I manage three Independent Living Schemes and I am on site one day a week. My days vary as I cover building health and safety, carry-out customer care visits, manage rent arrears, anti-social behaviour complaints, scheme events and much, much more. No day is the same and my days go by so quickly!

What do you enjoy the most about your role?

I am part of a really great team and I enjoy being able to help residents in a more diverse way whilst making a difference.

A little bit about me...

I can be quiet and I used to be very shy. I love science fiction films, dancing and a glass of gin! When I’m not working I am usually decorating or in the garden/out with my dog. I like to think of myself as chatty, sociable and caring, and my motto in life is “a smile is easy”. If there was a film about my life I would choose Sally Phillips to play me as she’s sassy, dippy, funny but has a strong character (just like me)!

Alex Ridley

is one of our Neighbourhood Managers and he manages Winslow and Rossiter house. He’s been a member of the team for 18 months.

What does a typical working day look like for you?

Whilst it sounds cliché, every day in my role is different! However, I do tend to start the day with a big coffee and checking emails, crafting a to-do list and speaking to residents about problems they are experiencing. These include anything from repairs and improving the communal area to residents who need more support with hoarding behaviours and minor anti-social behaviour concerns. Teamwork is essential in my role so I’m often on the phone to my colleagues across the organisation in order to provide a good service to our residents. I enjoy getting out in the community so I’m often found in one of the blocks on my patch or working out of Rossiter House office.

What do you enjoy the most about your role?

My job involves a great mixture of meeting residents and working with other professionals. There are always new things to learn and fresh problems to tackle. I really enjoy the variety that being a Neighbourhood Manager provides.

A little bit about me…

I love music and think that there is always a good soundtrack to life. Whether it’s for cooking with family, working-out, or celebrating with friends, it can always be made better with music. For me, music has the ability to trigger great memories, helping me concentrate on work or even turn a bad day around.

What do you do in your spare time?

When I’m not working I can be found drawing, painting, cutting, sticking or walking in the woods. I love reading but my stamina for it is low, I hardly ever finish a book but love horror and fantasy novels!

Neighborhood managers on the move

We're making some changes to our neighborhood areas so your Neighborhood Manager (NHM) may be changing this year. We'll tell you about any changes in your area in upcoming issues of Residents News and you can also visit our website to find out who your NHM is and who you can contact if you have any questions. Scan the QR code to go straight to our web-page where we will be keeping all the information up to date!

We value your feedback

We work with IFF Research who phone Fairhive residents on our behalf to carry out resident satisfaction surveys. This research helps us to prioritise your feedback and experiences so we can improve our services.

This year, the IFF telephone number changed and the new number they will be calling from is 0203 148 7635.

We appreciate it can be concerning to get a call from a number you don’t know, so you can rest assured that this is a recognised number and IFF Research are a reputable company we have worked with for years. It’s entirely up to you whether you take part in the survey, and if you have any questions please contact us.

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

We were pleased to see so many Spot The Difference entries in our Winter Edition. The winner of Spot the Difference was Carolyn King. Congratulations on your craft bundle!

Fancy getting involved? Can you spot the five differences between these images of our stand at this year’s Bucks Skills Show? Return it with your name and address to Spot the Difference, c/o The Communications Team, Fairfax House, 69 Buckingham Street, Aylesbury, Bucks, HP20 2NJ. The closing date for the entry draw Friday 2nd June. 2023 and the winner will receive another fantastic craft bundle and have their name published in the next edition of Residents News!

WIN! MICRO PROJECT GRANTS WALKABOUTS

Time for our Springtime puzzle! Can you find the list of words hidden in the grid? Return it with your name and address to Puzzle Time, c/o The Communications Team, Fairfax House, 69 Buckingham Street, Aylesbury, Bucks, HP20 2NJ. The closing date for the entry draw is Friday 2nd June and the winner will receive £50 in shopping vouchers and have their name published in the next edition of Residents News!

SCOOT INNOVATION POTENTIAL VOLUNTEER

We are pleased to announce the winner of our Residents’ News Winter Issue Puzzle was Olive West. Congratulations on the £100 shopping voucher.

For more details please call

A Successful Year for the Thriving Communities Fund

Every year, we have the opportunity to give back to our residents and the wider community through our Thriving Communities Fund (TCF) and this year we successfully awarded £250,000 of financial support!

We have three types of grant available, they are:

Springboard Grants of up to £300 to support our residents with opportunities for wellbeing, education, training or employment.

Micro Grants for community or voluntary groups of up to £3,000 for small projects such as the purchase of equipment or venue hire.

Project Grants for community or voluntary groups of up to £10,000 for larger initiatives such as the purchase of more substantial equipment or on-going running costs.

How Many Grants Were Awarded?

In this financial year (April 2022 to March 2023), we awarded 130 TCF Grants, 94 Springboard Grants (totalling £26,460) and 26 community grants worth £200,547.

When can you apply?

Springboard and Micro Grants are assessed every two months and Project Grants are assessed three times a year. Applications are welcomed from our residents, voluntary and community organisations. Full details of eligibility as well as application forms can be found on our website www.fairhive.co.uk/thrive

Fairhive is able to produce this document in other languages and formats. If you need these services, or those of an interpreter, please contact us.