How to get involved and have your say
Getting involved and having your say South Shropshire Housing Association is committed to involving and listening to you. There are many ways in which you can get involved in improving the services you get from South Shropshire Housing Association. As tenants and residents you are in the best position to tell us about how the Association can improve its services to you, your home and your neighbourhood. Involvement can only be successful if you have the opportunity to get involved in the way that suits you best. The Association recognises and understands that different levels of involvement will suit different people and have therefore developed a wide range of ways you can get involved. We will make sure that Involvement is accessible to everyone and will make sure that no one is treated less favourably than anyone else because of race, religion, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, class or age.
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Every resident who gets involved does make a real difference Colin Harrison from Worthen said “From my involvement The Tenants Enhancement Charter was introduced allowing residents to make their own home improvements and only pay half the cost”. Joan Grant from Bishops Castle said “We have made a real difference in Oak Meadow, Bishops Castle. My involvement helped get some waste ground converted into a play area giving the children an area to play games in safety and has stopped football being played in the road.”
Why should you get involved? • To have your say on the decisions that affect you and where you live. • To help your community to develop its own neighbourhood and keep them as places where you want to live and are proud of. • So that you can understand and influence the way that South Shropshire Housing Association provides its services.
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• To have a stronger voice when you join with others to tell the Association your views and opinions. • To make a positive difference.
South Shropshire Housing Association want you to get involved so that we can: • Improve services with your support. • Find out your priorities for services. • Make better decisions by responding to your priorities. • Identify different needs for different areas. • Develop our relationship with you. • Work with you to improve our communities and neighbourhoods. South Shropshire Housing Association has a Resident Involvement Officer who takes the lead on making sure that all our residents have the opportunity to get involved.
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Ways you can get involved The diagram below shows the different ways we have at the moment for you to get involved, have your say, and make a difference. Board of Management
Tenant Board Members Void Inspections
Focus Groups
New Tenancy Surveys
Tenants Association of South Shropshire
Housing Support Group
Repairs Inspections
Consultative Panel
Customer Care/ Complaints
Local Community Groups
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Consultative Panel Open to all tenants of South Shropshire Housing Association. Just let us know your contact details and we’ll contact you to find out how you want to get involved, and what interests you. We would also like you to tell us what you think of our letters, leaflets and policies once they are written.
Postal Questionnaires You could receive a survey or questionnaire from South Shropshire Housing Association. It should only take a few minutes of your time to complete and will help us to continually monitor and improve the services South Shropshire Housing Association provides.
Telephone Surveys Tenants can carry out telephone survey interviews on various services we provide, which will be monitoring the performance of South Shropshire Housing Association, and the results will be used to improve our services to you.
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Armchair Representative Give us your views from the comfort of your own home via email, text, letter or phone.
Focus Groups These groups works in partnership with South Shropshire Housing Association staff on a range of things, for example new policies, specifications for the planned improvement programmes, new home designs, selection of contractors and reviewing their work.
Empty Home Inspectors This involves members of TASS visiting an empty home before the new tenant moves in to check it is up to the right standard.
Communications Group This group works alongside staff to produce the quarterly newsletter developing information leaflets, the tenants handbook and the South Shropshire Housing Association website.
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Opportunities for Involvement We know that not everyone wants to come to meetings, so we have tried to make sure that there are lots of different ways for you to get involved, Some people choose to get involved in lots of different ways, others in one or two, depending on time commitments – it’s up to you!
Other ways to get involved Tenant Association of South Shropshire (TASS) – This is a tenant led group with representatives from all areas covered by South Shropshire Housing Association. They meet together on a monthly basis and there are also regular meetings of the group with the Managing Director of South Shropshire Housing Association. Two Resident Board Members sit on the committee providing a direct link to the Board of Management. Local Tenants and Residents Groups – If you want to start a local Tenants or residents group in your area, we will provide help and advice to get you started. We can also introduce you to existing groups, so you can have help from other tenants too.
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Our Service Standards We will: • Keep tenants informed on matters affecting their homes and their neighbourhoods. • Provide a range of ways for you to get involved. • Actively support existing tenant groups and encourage the development of new ones. • Involve resident representatives in developing all new policies and procedures. • We will provide training opportunities for tenants to make getting involved easier. • Involve residents in the production of newsletters and other literature. • Continue to develop new innovative ways to involve you in the delivery of our services. • Involve resident representatives in checking that the work we do meets the standards set.
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• Involve resident representatives at every level of decision making within South Shropshire Housing Association. • Make sure that TASS and other residents groups have access to put articles in the newsletter. • Include a regular update of resident involvement activities South Shropshire Housing Association have undertaken in every newsletter. • Write to you every year showing how we have performed against our Resident Involvement Service Standards.
What we ask of you: • To tell us when you are unhappy with a service that we have delivered. • To get involved, at a level that suits you, in helping us review and shape our services. For more information or help with getting involved please get in touch with us, or you can contact TASS directly.
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Who to contact: Resident Involvement Officer South Shropshire Housing Association The Gateway The Auction Yard Craven Arms Shropshire SY7 9BW Phone: 01588 676200 TASS TASS Resource Centre The Gateway The Auction Yard Craven Arms Shropshire SY7 9BW Phone: 01588 676385
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We recognise the damage that disadvantage and discrimination can cause. We are committed to equal opportunities and will take positive steps to ensure that you will not be treated less favourably than anyone else in your dealings with us because of race, religion, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, class or age. Access for all... If you require this document in another format, for example Braille, large type, audio tape or another language please contact us.
South Shropshire Housing Association The Gateway, The Auction Yard, Craven Arms, Shropshire SY7 9BW Tel: 01588 676200 Email: info@sshropsha.co.uk www.shropshirehousing.org.uk
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