Tel: 01588 676200
Email: info@ss-ha.org.uk
For all the local news about your community
Web: www.shropshirehousing.org.uk
Issue 65 – Autumn 2010
e more on pag
In this issue... Shine Summer Project & Meet the Team Grow Cook Share The Rockspring Community Garden was completed 1 in | The Key Autumn 2010 May...
Craven Arms Art Walk In September Craven Arms hosted the 3rd annual ArtWalk...
65th Anniversary Celebrations Jean and Stanford Hill from Millmead...
4
HOW TO CONTACT US
If you require this document in Audio, Braille, Large Print or if English is not your first language then please contact us. Si vous avez besoin de ce document en audio, braille, gros caractères, ou si l’anglais n’est pas votre langue première veuillez nous contacter. French Jeśli wymagasz tego dokumentu w audio, Braille’a, duże wydruku, lub jeśli angielski jest nie pierwszy język prosimy kontakt. Polish Если вам требуется этот документ в аудио, Брайля, крупных печатных, или если английский является не ваш первый язык напишите нам. Russian Os oes angen y dogfen hon mewn ffurf wahannol, er enghraifft Braille, llythrennau mawr, tâp audio neu iaith wahanol, gadewch i ni wybod os gwelwch yn dda. Welsh Se ha bisogno di questo documento in audio, Braille, grande stampa, o se inglese è la prima lingua contattaci. Italian You can contact us in a number of ways: PHONE 01588 676200 or REPAIRS FREEPHONE 0800 592418 EMAIL info@ss-ha.org.uk IN WRITING by sending your letter to us at South Shropshire Housing Association, The Gateway, The Auction Yard, Craven Arms, Shropshire SY7 9BW. IN PERSON by coming along to the reception desk at Craven Arms. OFFICE OPENING HOURS Our normal office opening hours are: 9.00am-5.00pm Monday - Friday
Telephone calls to Shropshire Housing Group
TIM RALPHS lives near Craven Arms and joined the Board as an independent member in May 2005. Tim is a Property Consultant specialising in land assembly, architectural and planning matters. He was previously the Ti m SSHA Ralphs Principal of a firm of B o ar d M e m b er Architects based in the West Midlands.
As part of South Shropshire Youth Forum’s REACH Project, Students from Church Stretton Secondary School have been working with tenants at Windsor Place Sheltered Housing Scheme. They have worked together to create a mosiac for the new Ashbrook site. They chose to design a four piece mosaic depicting the change of seasons in Church Stretton. After months of hard work one piece is complete with the others well underway and all should be ready for display at the new sheltered scheme in April 2011. Tenants were very impressed with the completed mosaic and are looking forward to seeing the complete set.
As part of our ongoing commitment to providing a high level of customer service across the Group, we have identified that the busiest period for our Customer Services Team is between the hours of 9:00 am and 10:30 am. We would like to request that tenants who have non-urgent repairs or enquiries phone in after 10:30 a.m if possible. This will help ensure that we are able to provide a higher standard of service to all our tenants.
2 | The Key Autumn 2010
Alker, Geoff Rear left to right - Jo Jos h Baines, Mylchreest, Bill Walker, Joan Mann, Enid Foster a Woodger, Front left to right - Lyll Kerry Granville, Rosemary Nevin
MHCT is a registered charity and has funds available for community projects. If you have an idea for a project that would improve your community, Helen Vaughan, Regeneration and Community Development Officer may be able to help you to raise the necessary funding. Contact Helen on 01588 676 235 or Email: helen.vaughan@ss-ha.org.uk
Shine Summer Project During the school holidays, families from the Ludlow East area took part in a programme of summer activities run by Liz Edwards, Outreach Worker for the Shine Project. The group took part in activities, including nature walks, pond dipping, cooking and sporting activities. They learnt a lot about their local area. The Shine Community Skills Project aims to provide opportunities for local people to try new activities and learn new skills. In the past year over 60 adults have taken part in workshops and courses and many have gone on to gain qualifications in I.T, Food Safety and Communication Skills.
The Rockspring Community Garden was completed in May when local residents and volunteers shifted 14 tons of topsoil. The garden is now producing a wonderful range of vegetables. Rockspring Community Garden will be officially opened by the local Councillor Tracey Huffer on Thursday 7th October. All residents are welcome. For further details on The Grow Cook Share Project contact Valerie Meehan on 07896 866299 or Sarah Robinson on 07929 154596 or email Valerie.meehan@ss-ha.org.uk
More courses are planned for Autumn 2010 – for more information please contact Helen on 01588 676 235 or email: helen.vaughan@ss-ha.org.uk
In September Craven Arms hosted the 3rd annual ArtWalk with a watery theme and natural sculptures in the Onny Meadow. Most of the Craven Arms retailers took part, displaying art from dozens of local artists. From July onwards workshops were held for all ages, and everyone had a chance to take part in competitions, from sculpture making to duck racing. With the support of MHCT, Craven Arms Community Arts has funding for an important new art project ‘Into the Hills’. For more information contact Catherine Pybus on 01588 680484.
The Key Autumn 2010 | 3
Ludlow Foyer Celebrates 10 years
Here is a photo of Mr Evan’s floral display. If you would like to show off your garden in The Key, then email your photos to TheKey@ss-ha.org.uk
Ludlow Foyer celebrated its 10th year with a celebratory event held on Friday 10th September. Jane Slowey, Chief Executive of the Foyer Federation spoke about how the Foyer has helped so many local residents over the last 10 years and how she looks forward to hearing of continued success stories in the future. Guests were shown around the old Marstons Mill building, where the Foyer is situated, and were treated to displays of talent that included magic skills and nail art by current residents.
Jean and Stanford Hill from Millmead, Craven Arms recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary with a party for friends and family. Jean and Stanford met when Jean was a school secretary, they would cycle from Reading to Oxford to see each other and got married during the 2nd World War when Stanford was in the Navy and Jean was a nurse. They had their honeymoon in Malvern, and are planning to return there soon. Jean and Stanford celebrated with a cake which was decorated with the flowers from previous anniversary cakes.
4 | The Key Autumn 2010
Group News
Recently we asked all tenants to attend a communications feedback workshop to find out what tenants would like to see in their newsletters. We had a big response to our request for volunteers and would like to thank all those that replied. We held two workshops in August, one in Wem and one in Craven Arms. Both provided us with a lot of useful feedback on what tenants want from their newsletter. Overall everyone liked the new format of the newsletter and its contents. Some of the suggestions/ feedback that came from the workshops included:
Welcome to ition of the Autumn ed
group news! ter your newslet This section of to dedicated is completely to are common articles that d MMHA. both SSHA an
An even balance of information and local interest stories. Competitions that can be done from the armchair for adults. A letters/community events page. Simple competitions that enable the kids to get involved. More prominent information on the cover, describing what’s inside the newsletter. More stories/features aimed at younger members of the family. One of the suggestions we will be implementing in this issue is the ‘letters/community events page’.
Group News 2010 | 5
Meet the Customer Services Team & Repairs Schedulers Customer Services Team Shropshire Housing Group’s new customer services team is based in Wem, and will answer all calls into both Meres and Mosses and South Shropshire Housing Associations. This will give a consistent service delivery across the whole group. They have a target to answer 80% of all calls without having to pass the caller onto someone else. Two new members will be joining shortly.
a v i es Emma D
Alan Rehbock Team Leade r
Samanth
J un e J o ne s
am a M o t tr
Repairs Schedulers From October Shropshire Housing Group will have a new team of repairs schedulers. They are a dedicated team who are trained solely to take your repair request. The schedulers will take details of your repair and let you know how long it is likely to take. Laura M Team Leaorderirs
Ali so n
Ho Jasmine
6 | Group News 2010
Parso n
s
Linda S taves
Vi cki
Mullins
Your Letters
Barbara Jordan received a £20 shopping voucher for having her letter published. We want to hear from tenants who have something to say that other tenants will be interested in. It could be a burning issue that affects your community or an event you want to publicise. We will have a winning letter in each edition and the writer will win £20 in vouchers.
“I thought I’d drop a line to say how much I enjo yed the estate walkabout bac k in May. On o ur travels we ca me across a lo t of scrap. This wa s promptly rem oved. I really enjoyed the two hour walk. It’s a shame m ore people cou ldn’t attend. Hopefu lly I will be ab le to attend the nex t one.” Yours Sincere ly Barbara Jorda n, Market Drayto n
So put pen to paper and send your letters to Vicki Coleman, Shropshire Housing Group, The Gateway, The Auction Yard, Craven Arms SY7 9BW.
Resident Involvement Increasing
Towns And Rural Communities Association
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by
Me
i ous res and Mosses H
iat ion
Text us on 07527 208 607
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The tenants’ groups, Tenants Association of South Shropshire (TASS), and Towns and Rural Communities Association (TARCA) now meet members of Shropshire Housing Group’s executive team on a monthly basis. Paul Sutton, Executive Director, Assets and Development, and Ann Sutcliffe, Executive Director, Neighbourhoods meet TASS and TARCA at a joint meeting once a month, either on their own or together. These meetings give tenants the chance to give their views directly to management, and give directors the chance to listen to what tenants have to say. Paul and Ann present the group with a regular report on SHG’s performance on topics such as repair
response times, rent arrears and adaptations. They also report on repairs satisfaction and SHG’s record on complaints. If you would like to become involved, please contact Sarah Platt, resident involvement manager on 01588 676200 or email sarah.platt@shropshirehousing.org.uk You can also text your name, address and telephone number to our Resident Involvement textline and someone will be in touch.
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Shropshire Housing Group (SHG) is taking steps to build on and enhance our accountability to our tenants.
ng
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Group News 2010 | 7
How satisfied are you? A big thank you to all of you who spent time completing the previous STATUS survey. We have made some significant changes in those areas our residents said were important: • repairs • the quality of your home • dealing with anti-social behaviour Your views are really important to Shropshire Housing Group; they have a vital role in shaping the services we provide. We would like to continue to improve our services, but we can only do this with your help. So Shropshire Housing Group have asked the National Housing Federation’s Feedback Services Limited, an independent market research company, to carry out some further satisfaction research on our behalf. Feedback Services Ltd will be carrying out a full postal survey of all MMHA and SSHA tenants. This research will ask how you feel about all aspects of the service we provide. If you would like to discuss the survey with a member of Shropshire Housing Group staff then please call customer services.
Collecting Former Tenant Arrears SHG now uses a specialist debt recovery company called DMS to collect its former tenant arrears. If a tenant (debtor) leaves their property with money owing on their rent or service charge account, we will pass their details to DMS. DMS will make contact with the debtor in order to make a payment agreement. If the debtor fails to make or stick to this agreement, they will then be taken to court. All charges and court costs will be added to the debt. If a case goes to court, the debtor’s credit rating will be affected for at least 6 years. If payment still isn’t made, then bailiff action can be taken. Any debt owed to a social landlord will affect the debtor’s application for future housing. If you are having problems paying your rent please contact your tenancy management officer.
8 | Group News 2010
SSHA installed front and rear doors to a property. Unfortunately the rear door was not finished completely because it had been incorrectly measured. The installers informed the tenant that a representative from the door manufacturer would return to re-measure the door. The representative never returned to the property and the tenant then contacted SSHA a further two times to report that no one had been out.
In our reply, SSHA explained that the installers had already removed the existing door. There was no alternative available at the time so they had to re-fit the rear door to keep the property secure. SSHA reported the issue to the door manufacturer and requested that the tenant be contacted in order for the door be re-measured. The request was not taken forward and SSHA failed to chase the door manufacturers and keep the tenant informed. SSHA have now apologised and a new door has been installed.
If you have difficulty with mobility, we are able to assist by carrying out minor adaptations to your home to make your life easier. We can install grab and stair rails, provide lever taps, install half steps and widen doorways. For those with hearing difficulties, we can fit doorbells and smoke alarms with flashing lights as well as install remote push button door entry systems.
For more information please contact Customer Services.
This ongoing programme of solid fuel servicing has highlighted many issues with our homes which we have been working hard to resolve.
Homegrown Project Update Opportunities on your doorstep
Skills Event: Opportunities on Your Doorstep: Wednesday 20th October 2010 Craven Arms Community Centre: 9.30 am to 3.00 pm.
Who should come?
Anyone between 16 and 25 who wants to find work locally
What will be on offer?
Visit stands from a range of local businesses representing the following sectors: Hospitality, Creative Industries, Environmental Technologies, Tourism, Construction & Traditional Building and Rural
Land Management. Find out more about local skills needs and work opportunities, try out a practical activity or watch a demonstration. Representatives from Ludlow College, County Training, Shropshire
Youth will be on hand to give information on local training and employment opportunities. For more info contact Helen Vaughan on email: Helen.vaughan@ss-ha.org.uk tel:01588 676200
The Key Summer 2010 | 9
The map below shows your new Community Housing Officer (CHO) and Tenancy Management Officer (TMO). CHOs are based in the community and TMOs are based in our offices in Craven Arms.
Shrewsbury Non Parished Area
Minsterley
Worthen with Shelve Leebotwood Chirbury with Brompton
Ratlinghope All Stretton
J ennifer
Edw ard s
(CH O)
Hope Bowdler Acton Scott
More
Church Stretton
Norbury Bishop’s Castle
Lydham
Rushbury EatonUnderHeywood
Wentnor/ Myndtow
Harriet Wittle (T MO)
Munslow
Colebatch/Mainstone
Abdon/Heath Lydbury North/Edgton
Clee St. Margaret
Wistanstow
Stoke St. Milborough/ Hopton Cangeford
Diddlebury
Newcastle on Clun
Hopesay/ Sibdon Carwood Clun
Clunbury
Culmington
Craven Arms
Wheathill
Stanton Lacy Clungunford
Onibury
Bucknell
Hopton Wafers
Bitterley
Bromfield Ludlow Hopton Castle/Bedstone
Richard’s Castle (Shropshire)/Ashford Bowdler
Ludford
Cleobury Mortimer
Coreley Caynham Greete/ Whitton
Nash/ Hope Bagot
Burford
Neen Sollars/ Milson
Sue Perry (CH Ludlow Patch O) 1
Boraston
Ashford Carbonel
Ludlow Patch 1
Ludlow Patch 2*
Chandlers Close Churchill Close Devey House Georgian House Gravel Hill Gravel Hill Court The Greyhound Louisa Powells Almshouses Lower Fee Lower Galdeford Marstons Terrace Milton Road Mortimer Place Old Street Packer Court Portcullis Lane Poyner Close Riddings Meadow
Ash Close Clee Gardens Clee View Corve Street Dodmore Lane Downton View Dun Cow Road Ferney Avenue Housman Close Housman Crescent Henley Road Hamlet Close Hamlet Road Hucklemarsh Road Kershaw Close Lacy Road Park View Quebb Cottages Riddings Road
Rock Terrace Sandpits Avenue Sandpits Close Sandford Road Sidney Road St Johns Road St Kellams Steventon Crescent Steventon New Road Springfield Close St Stephens Close Teme Avenue Temeside Upper Fee Upper Galdeford Walkmill Weeping Cross Lane
10 | The Key Autumn 2010
Riddings Park Rocks Green Crescent Sandpits Road Sycamore Close Weyman Road Wheeler Close Wheeler Road Whitbread Road Whitefriars
* This patch
e Harrison
Katherin Patch 1 (TMO) Ludlow
HO urge (C Ad am BPat ch 2 Ludlow
also covers our tenants in Herefordshire Mar k T Ludlow imer ick (TM O) Pat ch 2
)
Funding support
TASS future meeting dates
TASS is grateful to the following contractors for offering funding of £100 each, to support our work:
TASS meetings take place on the second Thursday of each month from 6.30pm – 8.30pm. Everyone is welcome. Oct 14th The Gateway, Craven Arms Nov 11th and Dec 9th ¥venues to be confirmed – please call TASS for details¦.
Harpers & Sons Ltd Rigby Thorpe
The Taylor Monthly Draw TASS would like your views on running a monthly draw. Any profit from the draw would go to local groups or community activities. Open to all SSHA tenants, there will be 3 monthly prizes for a cash entry fee. TASS is looking into getting a licence for this, and would like your views on it. Please contact TASS on the ways shown below.
CONTACT TASS TASS Office, The Gateway, The Auction Yard, Craven Arms, SY7 9BW Tel: 01588 676285 email: tass@ss-ha.org.uk search TASS on facebook.
New TASS Office§ Tenants’ Resource Centre TASS members are now moving into their new office in the Tenants’ Resource Centre at The Gateway, Craven Arms. The Resource Centre is a great new space to help TASS in their work, and it is also open to all SSHA tenants to come and use the facilities and the IT e¨uipment. A launch day is being planned for the autumn and more details about this will be published soon. The TASS office is open from Monday – Thursday 10am – 1pm.
Julie Fowler, Sheltered Housing Officer at Whitefriars, in Ludlow organised a holiday for 25 local people, including her own tenants, to Llandudno. They stayed for a week at the Marlborough Hotel and went on trips to Conwy, Bettws Y Coed and Canaervon.
The Key Autumn 2010 | 11
Garden Competition Results
Competition Winners The winner of last times spot the ball competition was Ms C McGarity of Ludlow who won a £30 shopping voucher.
The winner of the flower garden category was Mr Bufton from Clun. The winners of the communal garden category were the residents of Ludlow Foyer.
The winner of the kids find the football mascots competition was Rebecca from Cleobury Mortimer who won a £30 voucher.
CHILDRENS COMPETITION
Adults Competition
(UNDER 15s only)
Win a digital camera!!
How many pumpkins can you find hidden throughout The Key? ....................................................................
1
2
3
4
Write your answer above for a chance to win a £30 toy or electrical voucher.
5
Child’s name: ................................................................... 6
Name 7
8
Address
9 11
12
10
13
Postcode 14
Telephone number
15
Please send all entries to the competitions to: 16
Vicki Coleman, Communications Officer, The Gateway, The Auction Yard, Craven Arms, Shropshire SY7 9BW, by Friday 29th October.
17
ACROSS 2 Daily publication 6 Tartan skirt 7 Clinging plant 9 Fallen down building
11 Glossy publication 15 Three legged stand 16 Jamaican spirit 17 Unhappiness
DOWN 1 Publication 2 Mesh 3 Tired 4 Chess piece
5 Black bird 8 Small earthquake 10 Ordinary 12 Photo book
13 Fools 14 Centre of apple 15 Group of sportsmen
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56772:210910
Shropshire Housing Group consists of the following organisations