2014 MN AUT U
The magazine for residents of Watford Community Housing Trust.
3 Stay warm and dry this autumn 6
Surviving
Halloween
Don’t let it be a nightmare! How to enjoy Halloween on a budget
8 5
Win ÂŁ100
Apprentices
get off to a great start
for going digital!
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Welcome
to Gateway Magazine It was great to see so many of you at our Annual General Meeting (AGM) last month. We reflected on what we achieved last year, which included building new homes, opening the community hub at Leavesden Green and letting 385 properties to new tenants. And we also heard from our Heads of Service about plans for the future, which include making our repairs service much more efficient and improving our communications so you get the right information from us at the right time. Voting at our AGM is a great way of using your membership to influence our decisions, as is voting for our Gateway Leadership Team (GLT). I was delighted to welcome two new members to the GLT after a 41% increase in turnout compared to last year – you can see more details below. However, when we asked tenants to apply for a position on our Board earlier in the year, we did not receive enough applications to be able to hold an election. So there is great interest in our GLT, but we are struggling to interest you in being a part of our Board. This suggests we need to look again at the way we do things. We have set up a ‘task and finish group’ to review our approach to governance. This will also consider ways of giving the GLT an even stronger role in working with our Board, so their views really do go into the heart of decision making at the Trust. The group will complete its review by the end of December, so look out for more details from us in the New Year. Tina Barnard, Chief Executive
New faces!
Many congratulations to Karen Bell and Mary Daniel-Fearon, who were voted onto the GLT after the elections this summer. They join Avril Barclay, Mazie Gibson and Cara Smalley who were re-elected. The GLT is a group of residents who work with the Trust to feed in your views and help improve our services. Welcome, too, to our two new Board members who were appointed at our AGM: Peter Jeffree (local authority nominee) and John Lavers (independent). Karen Bell GLT member
Mary Daniel-Fearon GLT member
Peter Jeffree Board member (local authority nominee)
John Lavers Board member (independent)
WatfordCommunityHousingTrust
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watfordgateway
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Keep your home dry this autumn! As the temperature drops you are more likely to get condensation in your home. Here’s how to stop it! Condensation occurs where moisture from the air forms on a cold surface. This can cause black mould on walls, furniture, cloths and curtains. It is a common problem in the UK in colder weather.
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Handy tips f Dry your washing outside if possible – if not, you can dry it in the bathroom and open the window or vents and close the bathroom door. Do not dry on radiators as this will only make your boiler work extra hard, costing you more on your energy bill and causing condensation as well. f Ventilate your home. When you wake up in the morning it’s advisable to open the window in your bedroom for about 10 minutes to allow fresh air in, this will help clear the mist on windows. You can then close it and leave the window vent open, depending on how your home was built. f Always open windows in the kitchen and bathroom after or during use. If you have an extractor fan that will be better as there will be no cold wind. f Ventilate cupboards or wardrobes and don’t push furniture right against the wall.
Cheaper bills With winter approaching, here are a couple of tips for saving money. • This is the perfect time to switch energy suppliers or tariffs as you could save up to £300 a year. We advise you to switch using comparison websites like uswitch.com rather than through your current supplier. Your supplier will provide you with the cheapest tariff they can offer, but other suppliers might be cheaper. • Reclaim your energy bill credit – If you have switched suppliers or moved in the past six years you could be entitled to unclaimed credit. To find out more check MyEnergyCredit.com. For more information, read The Trust Energy booklet ‘Every Penny Counts’ or speak to the Trust’s Energy Surveyor, Jason Ademola, on 01923 209016.
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Closing in on tenancy cheats!
Older People’s Day
Last month we took a tenant to court after we found out he was illegally subletting the home he was renting from us.
Residents had a fantastic time at our celebrations for International Older People’s Day on 1 October. In partnership with W3RT we held two events, one at Leavesden Green Community Hub and one at Holywell Community Centre, with a wide range of activities and entertainment for all to enjoy.
He was not living at the property and was advertising it for rent. Despite taking several deposits he owed the Trust over £3,000 in rent arrears. A District Judge gave the Trust immediate possession of the property and ordered the man to pay us nearly £11,000, including a £4,700 fine for making illegal profits from tenancy fraud. We can now offer the two-bedroom house to a Watford family in housing need. We are closing in on tenancy cheats! If you suspect anyone of living in a Trust home illegally, call 0800 458 9200 in confidence.
Watch the Trust on the small screen! We’ve made a fun video to tell you more about the work we do in our communities – from reducing your energy bills to creating places where you can meet up with your neighbours.
news
GLT members Avril Barclay, Mazie Gibson and Fatoumatta Jallow helped us to make the film and you may also spot some other local residents you recognise – although you’ve never seen them quite like this before! Head over to www.wcht.org.uk/film to watch it. While there you can also see our staff taking part in the Ice Bucket Challenge!
Received a letter about your boiler inspection? You could win £100!
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for access to their home. This is so we can service your boiler and complete a Landlord’s Gas Safety Record.
We are giving away £100 per month in our new gas safety prize draw.
If you respond to the first letter (and if you are eligible), you’ll be entered into a draw for £100!
Every month, our gas contractor PH Jones writes to a selection of our tenants to ask
The winner of the first draw will be announced next month. Good luck!
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Our latest winner… We would like to congratulate Angela Warren from Chesham Way on being randomly selected as last quarter’s prize draw winner!
Help us go digital and win a PRIZE! Did you know that it can cost a business over £12 to answer a letter it has received, but an online transaction costs less than 10p? That’s why we want to move more of our communications online – it means we can invest more of our income into better services. How will my communication improve? f Get the latest news from us straight to your computer, tablet or phone.
Going digital Your full name Your home number Your address Your mobile number
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We will never misuse your email address or send you any spam. For your peace of mind, have a read of our privacy policy: www.wcht. org.uk/privacy-policy
f Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get updates and talk to us. f Check out our online tenant portal at www.wcht.org.uk for your rent account and more. What’s in it for me? If you supply us with your email address by 1 January 2015, we will enter you into a prize draw for £100 in intu Watford shopping vouchers! More details of the prize draw at www.wcht.org.uk/godigital
Here’s how you can win For your chance to win £100 in shopping vouchers, all you need to do is update your details by 1 January 2015. There are three ways you can do this: f Call us on 01923 209068 f Complete the online form at www.wcht.org.uk/ godigital f Fill in the form below and send it to us by Freepost
Post your completed form to (no stamp required): FREEPOST RRXH – LZUR – LKHG Communications Team Watford Community Housing Trust Gateway House 59 Clarendon Road Watford, WD17 1LA Your email address
Please tick here if you still want to receive Gateway magazine by post.
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feature
Surviving Halloween Some of us love it, some of us hate it – but how can you make sure your Halloween is peaceful, safe and affordable? And if you really don’t like Halloween... Cut out and display the handy flier opposite to keep the trick-or-treaters away!
Spicy pumpkin fritters, a tasty treat Here’s a simple recipe that’s a tasty way to use up leftovers from scooping out those pumpkins! 700g Pumpkin flesh 175g wholemeal plain flour ½-1 tsp salt ¼ tsp baking powder 1 tsp cumin seeds ½ tsp ground cumin 1 separated egg 1 small onion, finely chopped 1-2 garlic cloves crushed 1 ½ tsp chilli sauce 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander Cut flesh into thick slices about 10cm long by 1cm wide. Steam for 8-10 mins until just tender. Leave to cool. Place flour, salt, baking powder, cumin seeds and ground cumin in a bowl and mix. Make a well in the centre, add the egg yolk and gradually stir in 175ml water to form a smooth batter. Stir in onion, garlic, chilli sauce and coriander. Stiffly whisk in the egg white and fold lightly into the batter.
Cheap party idea Wrap the mummy – Two teams of two have a toilet roll each. The winner is the first person to completely wrap their team mate!
One third fill a deep fat fryer or large saucepan with oil and heat. Dip pumpkin in batter to coat and then in the oil. Fry for 1-1 ½ mins, turning frequently. Drain on kitchen paper.
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Dave’s tips on planning your party Dave Smith, a tenant of Northcotts, is an active volunteer for Hillside Residents’ Association and has helped to organise many social events, both for the association and his scheme.
and fancy dress, and they are also planning a spider-shaped piñata.
He is part of the committee that is organising Hillside’s Halloween party for local children.
“Witches’ blood sandwiches,” he recommends. “It’s only strawberry jam but it sounds a lot more exciting to eat!”
“We do it every year,” he says, “many parents would rather have their little ones at something like this than send them out trick or treating.”
Hillside Residents’ Association’s Halloween Party is at 5pm Friday 31st October at the estate office in School Mead. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Hillside’s party will feature traditional fun and games like apple bobbing
But Dave’s main bit of advice is to make the menu sound as gruesome as possible!
Safe trick or treating f Make sure any children are accompanied by a responsible adult f Plan your route before you leave the house f Carry a torch and wear reflective or bright coloured clothes f Stay close to home f NEVER enter a stranger’s house f Don’t eat any sweets that have been opened or unwrapped f Wrap up warm – it’s nearly November!
NO TRICK OR TREAT WE DO NOT WANT TO BE DISTURBED
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in your community
We Love the Meriden! It was great to see so many of you at our ‘I Love the Meriden’ event last month. We are working with the local community to find ways of making the area an even better place to live, so we held this fun day to hear your ideas. As well as enjoying fairground rides and other activities, lots of you shared your thoughts on what makes the Meriden special – and also made suggestions as to how we can improve it together. The event also marked ‘Social Saturday’, a national celebration of the UK’s social enterprises. A ‘social enterprise’ is a business that helps the community and we have several in Watford and Three Rivers, including Watford Cycle Hub, 9 Lives Furniture Recycling, Watford Workshop and the Meriden’s own Green Canteen. They were all there at the event and it was a great opportunity to promote their excellent services!
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Celebration of Cassie Winter There was a special tree planting event in August to celebrate the life of Caroline Winter, who passed away earlier this year. Caroline, known to friends as ‘Cassie’, was well known in her community. She was an active volunteer and used to help out at the Maple Leaf community café at the old Leavesden Green community centre on a regular basis. She died following complications from pneumonia aged just 40.
Cassie’s friends organised a ceremony at the new community hub to remember her. We got together with our grounds maintenance contractors, Glendale, to provide the tree and some bulbs for a new flower bed in Cassie’s memory. Cassie’s mother Doreen Partridge told well-wishers: “Cass was so liked by everybody, she was a funny girl but she was my girl. A big, huge thank you to special people and friends. God bless you.”
The green, green grass of home Glendale is our grounds maintenance contractor – they cut the grass in our communal areas, look after shrubs and hedges and help to keep our neighbourhoods looking tidy. They have now been looking after our estates for six months. It’s always difficult changing such a large contractor, especially when the services delivered affect all of you. However, after a few mobilisation issues we are pleased that customer satisfaction rose from 88% to 100% in August 2014, and we have
received several compliments for their work in recent weeks. Watch out for customer satisfaction surveys that Glendale post through doors on different estates every month – fill it in and you could win a £25 gardening voucher. Grass cutting will continue to the end of October and will start again in mid March 2015, although timings will depend on the weather. A few of you have told us that Glendale has missed out some grass cuts in your community.
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Congratulations
to our apprentices!
Six young apprentices have been presented with ‘graduation’ certificates by Richard Harrington MP, after completing a programme to improve our homes. The group were the first apprentices to take part in the Community Maintenance Team, a training enterprise that we set up with Construction Gateway. The scheme offers our residents an opportunity to gain an NVQ in Construction Skills while carrying out kitchen and bathroom refurbishments at our homes. The apprentices were joined by friends and family as they received their certificates in a presentation ceremony at Leavesden Green Community Hub.
Bradley Mellor, pictured here with Richard Harrington MP, said: “I was doing carpentry at college when I read about the Community Maintenance Team in the Watford Observer. I jumped at it because my college course was all based in the classroom but this is much more hands-on. It’s been brilliant, so much better for developing my skills. It’s shown me where to go in life.” A second cohort are due to complete their apprenticeships next summer, and the Community Maintenance Team plans to recruit further apprentices to join the scheme in the coming weeks – so watch out for more details soon!
This is because our contractors used to include small pockets of land belonging to local authorities such as Watford Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council in their cut. We are no longer able to look after council-owned land, but we are working together to make sure these areas are properly maintained in the future. If you have any comments about our grounds maintenance service, email jane.pursey@ wcht.org.uk.
From
£12
per hour
Hire your local Community Hub! Hall and room hire from as little as £12 per hour Our community hubs are great for children’s parties, hobby groups, exercise classes, business meetings or just somewhere to meet up as a group. Leavesden Green Community Hub Clarke Green, off Clarke Way Watford WD25 0BW Harebreaks Community Hub The Harebreaks Watford WD24 6NJ Boundary Way Community Hub 214 Boundary Way Watford WD25 7ST Call 01923 209186 or go to www.wcht.org.uk/ halls-for-hire
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our performance
In our Spring 2014 edition, we provided you with a handy guide on which repair jobs the Trust are able to help you with.
Here are just a few areas that are YOUR responsibility:
While we carry out a wide range of repairs, some parts of the home are your responsibility to maintain and we will charge you if we have to repair these. We may also charge you if we are called out for an emergency inappropriately.
f Light bulbs and fluorescent tubes
f All internal decorating f Replacing carpets and other ooring f Extra locks f Repairs to letter boxes (unless they are part of uPVC or composite doors) f Replacing batteries in smoke alarms f Replacing latches, handles and hinges on inside doors (if the damage is not due to fair wear and tear) f Damage to sinks, basins and baths that isn’t normal wear and tear. f Unblocking waste pipes on sinks, basins and baths f Replacing toilet seats (unless you are elderly or disabled) f Maintenance of showers put in by you or a previous tenant For a full list, go to www.wcht.org.uk/repairs-responsibilities. Our Gateway Repairs Team attend to our properties from Monday to Friday and we also have operatives on standby for emergencies.
How did we do last year? Read all about it! We recently published our Annual Report to Tenants and Leaseholders, which tells you how we performed against our key targets from April 2013 to March 2014. You can find out how many repairs we carried out, how many homes we let, how we spent our income and much more. We have also published a more detailed report on our financial performance, our Annual Financial Statement. Both reports are available online at www.wcht.org.uk/annualreports or you can request hard copies by calling 01923 209112.
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A typical Asbestos roof
you said we did Facts about asbestos One of our tenants has asked us to publish some information about asbestos, to help you all to stay safe. Here’s what you need to know! What is asbestos? Asbestos is a material that has been used in the construction of thousands of buildings which we come into contact with every day. It can appear in many places, including textured ceilings, floor tiles, garage roof sheets and window sills.
Always get our permission before you make any alterations to your home. We can then visit and tell you if there is any asbestos present. Never sand, scrape, drill or use abrasive pads or brushes on asbestos material.
Christmas can be an expensive time of year for everyone and it is easy to overspend. It is tempting to use money intended for other bills such as your rent, electricity or Council Tax. Please avoid this if possible as you will get reminder letters and possible legal action may be taken. If you are up to date with your rent the week commencing 22nd December 2014 is rent free. However if you are in arrears you are expected to make a payment to reduce your arrears. If you pay by monthly direct debit we have taken account of the rent free week in calculating your payment.
What should I do if I find damaged materials which might have asbestos in them? You must let the Trust know immediately.
Is asbestos dangerous? Asbestos can be dangerous if you breathe in a large number of asbestos fibres. This can happen if a material which contains asbestos is damaged or disturbed, releasing asbestos fibres into the air.
However, this does not mean you have been exposed to dangerous levels. Most of the time, if there is asbestos in one of our homes, the fibres will be held in place by a strong adhesive bond. This reduces the risk of fibres being released into the air if the material is slightly damaged.
However, asbestos material in good condition is not a health risk and should be left alone.
But all the same, it’s best to let us know. Call us on 01923 209000 or email us at enquires@wcht.org.uk.
Should I take precautions? If you are not sure whether something in your home contains asbestos, it is important that you do not damage or disturb it.
For more information go to www.wcht.org.uk/asbestosstaying-safe
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Stay on top of your rent!
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get in touch
Email us: enquiries@wcht.org.uk Postal address: Gateway House, 59 Clarendon Road, Watford WD17 1LA Useful contacts – the Trust General enquiries
01923 209 000
Repairs (free from a landline)
0800 218 2247
Rent enquiry
or 01923 209 247 01923 209 111
Anti-social behaviour
01923 209 222
Disabled adaptations
01923 209 220
Useful contacts – other agencies Council Tax Watford Borough Council Three Rivers District Council
01923 226 400
Three Rivers District Council
0203 5676 900 01923 776 611
Water supply Affinity Water
0845 782 3333
Thames Water
0845 9200 800
Disabled parking badges Hertfordshire County Council Lost energy top-up card
0300 1234 050 Check with your supplier
Your Feedback is important to us. You can let us know what you think in many ways. Via our website (www.wcht.org.uk/feedback) By email at feedback@wcht.org.uk By telephone on 01923 209000 In person to any member of staff In writing to Gateway House, 59 Clarendon Road, Watford, Hertfordshire WD17 1LA And by completing satisfaction surveys At the Trust we value your views on our services. Your feedback not only helps us, but it could also win you money!
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Our Safer Communities Officers are always happy to help and there are several ways you can get in touch... 01923 209192 asb@wcht.org.uk Step 1 Call us, email or fill out a form on the web here: www.wcht.org.uk/ report-anti-social-behaviour
01923 776 611
Refuse collection Veolia/Watford Borough Council
Problems with nuisance behaviour?
Step 2 We will respond to you within two working days to arrange a safe meeting place and time to talk to you Step 3 Together we will agree an action plan (what we can do for you and what we need from you).
Don’t forget you can check your account online. Simply go to www.wcht.org.uk and click ‘My account’.
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