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OUR BUSINESS IS IN GOOD SHAPE
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HELLO AND WELCOME A very warm welcome to this second edition of your ONE magazine. We had some really good feedback on our launch edition earlier in the year so hopefully you’ll be just as happy with this one. Since then, we’ve been pleased to announce a surplus of over £17million, the launch of our new private rented brand – Hive – and the results of our customer satisfaction surveys, which show that we are continuing to offer high levels of service you’re happy with. Owning homes we can all be proud of is, of course, one of the most important parts of our business and in a difficult financial landscape nationally, this has the potential to present us with some challenges in the coming weeks, months and years. That said, we have been working hard behind the scenes to make sure we are as ready as we can be. Our work around Quality Counts – where we are looking at all of our stock and thinking about how it will look in the future – along with our customer journey programme – which is looking at how we currently offer services to you and how we might be able to do that in a different, more cost effective way in the future – are just two areas which will help us to keep ahead of the game. As well, our new private rented brand – Hive – will allow us to reinvest rent from these properties into our social housing arm and mean that we are less reliant on government funding over time and
NEW CHARITY OF We’re proud to announce that Alzheimer’s Society has been chosen as our Charity of the Year for 2014/15, following a staff vote. Dementia currently affects 850,000 people in the UK and is expected to rise to one million by 2021. The Alzheimer’s Society is the leading support and research charity for people with dementia and we’re hoping that with a collective effort from our staff and customers, we will help to make a difference to those affected.
LOOKING FOR A NEW HOME? We’ve launched a new ‘Find a Home’ website that will help you find the latest Your Housing Group properties that are right for you. Visit www.yhghomes.co.uk to see our latest affordable homes, whether you’re looking to buy outright, or explore your options for Shared Ownership or Shared Equity, with its quick search function, you’re sure to find what you’re looking for quickly and easily.
therefore more self-sufficient. It’s really important to us that you are involved in this work and in helping us to shape business decisions which affect you as we move ahead. And that’s why I’m really pleased to see so many of you joining our new Customer Involvement Panels and sharing your thoughts with us. There’s more than 60 up and running already and it’s not too late to get involved – information on page 6 will give you all the details you need. Don’t forget to look out for the Customer Annual Report online and in your local offices and thanks again for your continued support. Regards, Brian Cronin, Chief Executive
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OUR NEW ANNUAL REPORT This month we’ve released our brand new Customer Annual Report for 2014/15. You can pick up a copy from your local housing office or download a copy straight from our website at: www.yourhousinggroup.co.uk/annualreport
WINTER 2015
THE YEAR
CONTENTS
By supporting the Alzheimer’s Society we can help them do more for those living with dementia and also help them further the research that they need to do to find a cure.
Building homes from bricks
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Our business is in good shape
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Throughout the year we will be hosting different events and opportunities for fundraising. Check our website and social media to see events that you can get involved in, or donate directly to our
Welcoming Simon Holt
corporate JustGiving page: www.justgiving.com/company/ YourHousingGroup
CHESHIRE PHOENIX For the third year running, we are proud to announce that we will be principal sponsor of the Cheshire Phoenix basketball team. Look out for the team sporting their Your Housing Group team kits, in their new home at Ellesmere Port Sports Village. Throughout the season we will be offering customers the opportunity to win tickets to the games , so keep your eye out on our social media accounts for updates. @your_housing
/yourhousing
SCHOLARSHIP FUNDING If you live in Partington and face financial barriers to education or employment then you can apply for a Katy Patten Scholarship. The fund is set up in memory of Katy Patten, who was the chair of Your Partington Community Board and an active member of the community. Find out more by calling 01925 593 520 or by visiting the Your Partington office. Applications close Friday 11th December.
Join us on our Customer Journey
400 success stories making a difference Congratulations to apprentice Holly! Keeping it local
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Offerton Community Kitchen
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Horticulture is helping hand
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Help shape our Cumbrian community
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Prince’s Trust team helps transform Brookside
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Your Tung Sing connects online
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All change for the Headrow Board
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Green fingers portal grows on Your Moorlands
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SPACE, a summer hit!
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One stop shop for Leasowe
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Furniture ‘free for all’ in north Liverpool
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Six steps to save this Christmas
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Quality Counts - Your Place, Our Promise
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#TheLittleThings
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It’s a fix for Sam
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Bursary helps dreams come true
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Give and gain celebrations
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Youngsters pose the questions
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Barbara is a lifetime winner
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Anfield regeneration project Original, modern living - HIVE
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BUILDING HOMES FROM BRICKS, FOR APPRENTICE RHYS When young Rhys Jones from Hanley [Staffordshire] was growing up, he could only dream of building houses. Now, thanks to an Apprenticeship with Eric Wright Group and Sapphire Consortium - of which Your Housing Group is a partner - the reality has come true. Local lad Rhys is one of several apprentices employed by the Group’s construction arm to help build two new extra care developments across Stoke-on-Trent for the City Council. The properties will bring much-needed accommodation for people aged over 55 and will go some way in freeing up larger family homes for first time buyers. A third development in Chell is being built by Seddon and forms part of the project to bring 390 extra care apartments for the city. Rhys, who has been on site at the new Oak Priory development in Abbey Hulton since October 2014, is currently studying for a HNC in Construction Engineering at a local college, which after two years will see him become a qualified surveyor.
“I get on to site for about 7.30am most mornings and really look forward to the day ahead - the banter on site is great. I played with Lego when I was younger and always wanted to build the biggest or highest tower and now I get the chance to turn that into reality.” Rhys Jones - Apprentice As part of his apprenticeship with Eric Wright Group, Rhys has a mentor, Jack Magenheimer to help him expand his knowledge of construction engineering. 4
Jack said: “This is really the only way you can learn, doing the job yourself and understanding first-hand what needs to be done. Rhys is such an easy going lad, who is willing to have a go at anything, picking everything up so quickly and he’s learnt a lot in such a short space of time.” Rhys added: “To have a mentor like Jack has been invaluable. Without his help and knowledge I don’t think I would have learnt as much as I have. I’m looking forward to the next 18 months and becoming fully-qualified.” Oak Priory is due for completion in summer 2016 and will see 175 apartments available for people aged over 55.
WINTER 2015
NOT LEGO,
OUR BUSINESS IS IN GOOD SHAPE Having a keen eye on what we do, how we do it and what we spend has helped to make sure that we’re in good financial shape, recording a 2014/15 surplus of over £17million - that’s an increase of over £3million on the year before. It’s also helped us to find more than £3million of savings by changing the way our business is structured and over £260,000 through energy efficiency projects.
we are entering this new phase in very sound financial shape.”
This means we continue to have the highest possible rating – known as a V1 - for our financial performance from the Homes and Communities Agency which regulates our business.
priority, and we continue to
“Our work throughout the Group over the past year has increased savings, improved efficiencies, enhanced our ability to build new homes, and generated significant social value.”
“The requirement for new housing remains a strive for growth and we will commit resources to meet demand for housing.” Brian added: “Whilst our financial position remains strong, now is not the time to rest on our laurels. The changing landscape in our sector means we must manage our business plans accordingly in order to continue to improve our services and achieve our plans for growth to help deliver on the national need for housing.”
Kathy Cowell - Chair All apartments are specially designed with the individual in mind and the development, which is one of three currently being built across Stoke, will also have communal facilities for the local community to enjoy. These include a restaurant, hairdressers and a beauty salon. Anyone interested in renting an apartment, should contact Stoke-onTrent City Council on 0800 561 0015 or visit: www.sapphireconsortium.co.uk
“We couldn’t have achieved it without the hard work and dedication of our employees who have embraced our core values of passion, pride and creativity across everything that we do.” Chief Executive, Brian Cronin, said: “The work we have carried out over the past year means that 5
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JOIN US ON OUR CUSTOMER  We are inviting you to come on a journey with us, to help us to understand more clearly what your service expectations are of us, how reliable that service currently is and how easy - or otherwise - it is for you to access those services from us. To do this, we have launched a major programme - a customer journey mapping exercise - to look at all of these issues, to consult with you and to recommend options which will help shape how we deliver services in the future.
We currently have nine customers signed up but are always looking for more people to contribute. As an inspector you will carry out a series of pre-agreed tasks, such as telephone calls or reception visits.
The programme will look at your journey as a customer and how we can improve our services looking at your expectations as a customer, how reliable our service is and how easy it is to get something resolved. After we have gathered enough information we will report our findings back to Board in the new year.
You will then report findings so we can learn from your experience and make improvements along the way.
TELL US WHAT YOU REALLY THINK If you have what it takes, you could help us shape the customer journey by becoming a customer inspector. As an inspector it will be your job to test our services from a customer’s point of view. 6
If you are interested in becoming an inspector, register your interest with us by sending your name, address and telephone number to: Kayley Waite Your Housing Group 602 Aston Avenue Birchwood Warrington WA3 6ZN or email: kayley.waite@yourhousinggroup.co.uk
WINTER 2015
WELCOME SIMON HOLT - OUR NEW SERVICES COMMITTEE MEMBER
JOURNEY WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN OUR CUSTOMER ASSURANCE PANEL? We now have 18 new members signed up to the Customer Assurance Panels (CAPs), but we are always looking for more customers to join in. If you are someone who can demonstrate the necessary skills to scrutinise services across the region then we want to hear from you. As a member, you will hold us to account, make suggestions and recommendations to the Services Committee and Subsidiary Boards. We will provide training and support for members of the CAPs and there are opportunities available across all our regions. To apply, send your name address, telephone number and email address to: Anila Khalid Your Housing Group 602 Aston Avenue Birchwood Warrington
We are delighted to welcome Simon Holt onto our Services Committee. At just 20 years of age, Simon will be a crucial asset to the governance structure and will help the Board steer us in making crucial decisions, offering a young customer’s perspective at the same time. Natalie Hinchliffe, Your Housing Group’s young people’s specialist said: “Simon really gets involved in the local community, so many of the local young people look up to him and his drive to succeed is really inspiring. The Services Committee will be a great experience for him but will also give us a younger person’s perspective on the Group, which will be fantastic for us to hear and will really help us make insightful future plans.” Over the coming months, as part of the Services Committee, Simon will be helping us undertake a review of customer service delivery by looking at satisfaction surveys, complaints and key performance indicators. He will also be involved in the customer journey project, helping to shape how we deliver services in the future. Good luck Simon!
WA3 6ZN or email: anila.khalid@yourhousinggroup.co.uk or visit: www.yourhousinggroup.co.uk/getinvolved 7
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400 SUCCESS STORIES MAKING A REAL DIFFERENCE TO Congratulations to Daisy Haye resident, Elaine Whorton, our 400th customer to secure a job though our employment and skills programme in Staffordshire, Cheshire and the High Peak. Elaine is a resident at Daisy Haye Retirement Living Scheme in Leek and due to her special needs and hearing impairment, she struggled to understand the new jobseeker obligations. With support from employment and skills officer Louise Harley, Elaine completed various training courses, volunteered at a local charity shop and has now secured a paid position at the Daisy Chain Café at Daisy Haye. Over the past four years the employment and skills programme in Staffordshire has radically improved. These 400 success stories, like Elaine’s, represent a huge achievement in a difficult economic climate and have generated a social value in excess of a staggering £2.5million. Central to its success are our weekly Work Club sessions held in Birchwood, Cheadle, Leek and Biddulph in partnership with Support Staffordshire. These drop-in sessions offer a one-stop shop for all employment and benefit related queries, whilst in a supportive environment where job seekers can get the advice and help they need.
“We’ve come a long way in the last four years and have established ourselves as the number one project for anyone in the region looking for help to find a job. I’m really proud of the difference we’ve made to the lives of these 400 people and their families, and the ripple effect of this in our communities is huge, with new people approaching us every day seeking to emulate the success of their friends and neighbours. Elaine is a great example of how getting a job can transform the lives of our customers.” Louise Harley - Employment and Skills Officer
CONGRATULATIONS TO Business Administration Apprentice, Holly Gordon, has received a prestigious Aspire Apprentice Award at Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium. The awards celebrate the achievements of apprentices and their employers over the preceding year, and this year saw Holly recognised for the impact she has made working with three separate teams. Holly works at Your Moorlands and provides assistance to our housing, careline and community projects teams, whilst studying for her qualification. 8
WINTER 2015
PEOPLE’S LIVES Work Clubs are held at the following locations: Mondays 10am - 12pm Oakwood Community Centre Birchwood
Tuesdays 10am - 12pm Hammersley Hayes Community House 7 Dovedale Close Cheadle
Wednesdays 10am - 12pm Support Staffordshire 7 High Street Leek
Thursdays 10am - 12pm BRIC Annexe 93 St John’s Rd Biddulph
APPRENTICE HOLLY! “Holly is a delight to work with, and has impressed us from day one with her positive attitude and joined us on a voluntary placement, we now can’t imagine not having her, as she takes everything in her stride and makes our jobs so much easier. Louise Harley, Employment & Skills Officer
Elaine Whorton (left) with Employment and Skills Officer, Louise Harley
Photography - Len Grant
willingness to learn. Having originally
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KEEPING IT LOCAL - news and The next five pages are a snap shot of what’s been happening across our regions locally over the past few months. We’ve been working hard across our communities to bring you the best programmes, from helping you develop new digital skills, to setting up social enterprises to encouraging sustainable employment. To see the latest local stories, visit: www.yourhousinggroup.co.uk/news
OFFERTON COMMUNITY KITCHEN SERVES UP SKILLS AND SATISFIED CUSTOMERS IN STOCKPORT Offerton Community Kitchen serves up welcoming meals to over 20 people every Tuesday and Thursday lunchtime, providing jobs and joy to the locals around them.
HORTICULTURE IS HELPING HAND MP William Wragg (second right) with Offerton Community Kitchen staff
The kitchen in Offerton Community Centre, is supported by us along with Stockport Homes, and after opening in February 2015, the kitchen has so far served over 1,700 meals, involved 19 volunteers and raised £2000. The idea behind the project was to create long term financial sustainability for the community centre and to empower and offer new skills to local residents through volunteering and accredited training courses. It is predicted that for year 2015/16 the kitchen will have generated £350,000 worth of social value for the area.
“We’re so pleased with the success of the kitchen so far. We’ve had visits from local MPs and it even won a Stockport Homes Community Project Award last month!” Phil Worthington - Your Housing Group 10
Ten local unemployed people have taken part in horticulture training on the Birchwood Estate in Warrington. As part of the course, the team has been helping with the general upkeep of the area including reforming grass edges to paths, trimming and pruning hedges and planting out new shrubs. At the end of the course, all those taking part will be given a certificate and will receive tuition in job seeking skills to help them along the way. We’re really pleased with the success of this programme and hope to continue with similar schemes in the future.
views from across the regions
WINTER 2015
YOUR TUNG SING CONNECTS ONLINE HELP SHAPE OUR CUMBRIAN COMMUNITY Live in Cumbria? Then tell us what you really think of your neighbourhood and sign up to the Allerdale Joint Initiative, delivered by Your Derwent & Solway and Allerdale Borough Council. The final stage of the project will create a number of local community action groups, made up of residents and partnership agency representatives. The action groups will focus on key areas including employment and skills, health and wellbeing, young people, older people, and financial inclusion. If you live in the Moss Bay, Moorclose, Northside or Hillside areas in Cumbria and would like to be involved, please contact: Lisa Clark Kath Peters 07917 836482 07917 836374 Workington area Maryport area
Customers from Your Tung Sing have been receiving bite-size courses in social media and the internet, using tablets and laptops set-up in their own preferred language to build their confidence and get more out of the web. Nigel Devereux, Community Projects Officer, said “Once customers started hearing about the availability of the sessions we started to see examples of self-organising. Groups of neighbours or friends would get together and invite us to run a session in one of their homes, which was great for schemes where there was no communal area.”
“What’s been really lovely to see is the secondary outcomes from our digital inclusion work. Yes, people have been engaging in the benefits of computers and the internet in ways they hadn’t before, but rather than isolating people, the devices have been bringing communities together.”
PRINCE’S TRUST TEAM HELPS TRANSFORM BROOKSIDE The Prince’s Trust in Ormskirk chose Brookside retirement living development for its latest community project. Working together with the gardening club at Brookside, the team transformed the wooden garden furniture, pagodas and raised beds that were looking a bit tired – well done to all involved! 11
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ALL CHANGE FOR THE HEADROW BOARD Your Headrow celebrated their 40th year of operation at their Annual General Meeting (AGM), where it was also announced that the Headrow board will be stepping down and any future responsibilities will be delivered by the Your Housing Group common board. Your Headrow will still exist as a company (a subsidiary of the Group) and customers will be unaffected by this change. Chair, David Exall, also stepped down from the Board at the AGM and thanked the outgoing board members who he had served with, expressing great affection for the residents he had met over the years. David still maintains a close involvement with Headrow and has since been elected as Chair of the Headrow Residents’ Association.
“Everything is in place for a very bright
HAPPY 40TH ANNIVERSARY TO HEADROW! The AGM also took the opportunity to celebrate 40 years as a successful provider of housing and community services. The celebrations brought to light the impressive journey of Your Headrow - from building their first ever scheme in the 70s at Sandywood Court in Horsforth, to developing the attractive Waterfront Mews at Apperley Bridge in Bradford.
GREEN FINGERS PORTAL GROWS ON YOUR MOORLANDS Grounds maintenance scheduling has just got a whole lot simpler for Your Moorlands with the new Green Fingers online portal. This easy to use website helps you check up on planned grounds maintenance in your area.
future and I know that Munir Ahmed and his
Join the team online by following these simple steps:
team, whose devotion to duty have made
STEP 1: Register at www.greenfingers-group.co.uk
my job an easy one, will continue to deliver
and click through to OpCore
the excellent level of service which we, as
STEP 2: Set up alerts to suit you STEP 3: Send suggestions and feedback STEP 4: View jobs calendar to see planned and
residents, have come to see as a given.” David Exall
completed work in your area 12
WINTER 2015
ONE STOP RESPONSE SHOP FOR LEASOWE Leasowe Community Homes (LCH) has joined up with Your Response to take care of all your customer service enquiries. You can now call Your Response on 0345 345 0272 for the following services:
SPACE, A SUMMER HIT! Youth engagement scheme, SPACE, was revived this summer after a 16 year break and brought 180 sport and activity sessions for young people to over 20 sites in Staffordshire Moorlands, completely free of charge. Gavin McAlister, Community Projects Officer, said “We support community projects aimed at young people throughout the year and particularly during the summer holidays as we recognise the importance of engaging them in activities which help them to make positive decisions in their lives.”
“Bringing SPACE back to a new generation of young people has been a great success, and has provided a full programme of activities for young people across our communities throughout the summer, getting the best possible value for our resources.” SPACE has now closed for the summer, but keep your eye on our social accounts for updates on future schemes: Find us on Twitter: @your_housing or on Facebook: /yourhousing
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Low level income management calls
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General enquiries
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Rehousing enquiries
These are in addition to the services already provided by Your Response, around complaint management and gas servicing. Your Response has a 98% customer satisfaction rating, is open for longer hours than the previous provider and has a single number for both office and out of office hours. You can contact one of the helpful team there from 8am – 10pm Monday to Friday, between 9am – 5pm at weekends and from 10am – 2pm on Bank Holidays (except for Christmas Day and Easter Sunday). The one-stop-shop number to ring is: 0345 345 0272 If you prefer to e-mail, you can do that too using response@yourhousinggroup.co.uk and the team aims to get back to you in seven working days.
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FURNITURE
‘free for all’ IN
NORTH LIVERPOOL The third annual Free For All event saw The Bulky Bob’s team make a total of 138 free deliveries and hand out 231 items of furniture, ranging from settees to wardrobes, bookcases to sideboards. While the free furniture was the big attraction, the event at the Isla Gladstone in Stanley Park also included free entertainment for families with face painting, a children’s entertainer and the opportunity to learn how to up-cycle old furniture with Project UP, as well take part in Bell Group’s DIY master classes. Local agencies were also in attendance to provide residents with lots of information and support on housing, welfare and health issues. Anna Simon, Community Projects Officer for Your Housing Group said: “This event brings together lots of willing partners to help people in North Liverpool. The event has really grown over the past three years and this year we had over 500 people attending throughout the course of the day to enjoy the free activities on offer for all the family as well as getting advice on cooking leftovers, getting back into work or training and much more.”
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“This is our third Free for All in North Liverpool and it is one of our favourite events of the year. We enjoy working with all of our partners helping and supporting the local community by getting free pre-loved furniture to those who need it.”
Helen White, Operations Manager for Bulky Bob’s
WINTER 2015
STEPS TO SAVE THIS
Christmas
The earlier you start saving the better as borrowing money over Christmas could come at a cost from high interest rates. Plan your spends carefully and make sure you don’t get stung this season. Take these simple steps to help you stay on target this winter:
Step 1: Plan Your Budget Start setting a budget by listing off everyone you need to buy for and decide how much you want to spend on each person. Once you have done this, you can then work out your total budget and how much you’ll need to put away. There are loads of budget planners online that could help you with this.
Step 2: Bag a Bargain Many supermarkets and online stores have great deals in the run up to Christmas. Money saving websites like www.moneysavingexpert.com gives you a good round up of the best offers and www.mysupermarket.co.uk helps you compare prices on groceries and flags up bargains.
Step 3: Change Traditions Why not email your Christmas cards this year and save on postage? There are lots of free websites where you can create personalised cards. If you usually send about 30 cards, you could be saving almost £18!
Step 4: Book Your Travel If you need to travel somewhere this festive season, then book your travel in advance. Train tickets are generally released 12 weeks in advance and you can often get big discounts when booking ahead.
Step 5: Get Creative People love personalised pressies, so this year get your creative hat on and make something. Get your kids involved and make biscuits, chocolate truffles, Christmas decorations or photo scrap books. You could even make your own Christmas crackers.
Step 6: Start Saving Now If you can save even a couple of pounds a week from now, you’ll be surprised how it builds up in the lead up to Christmas. All credit unions offer savings accounts and it’s never too late to get into the savings habit.
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QUALITY COUNTS:
your place, our promise Owning homes we can be proud of and investing in neighbourhoods we can help to transform, are key commitments for Your Housing Group and in 2014/15, we kick-started a new programme called ‘Quality Counts: Your Place, Our Promise’ to help us to do just that. The first stage was to map out all of the properties we own and then to look at each of the following things;
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The condition of our homes and how they perform from a financial point of view – for example, are they profitable, do they breakeven or do they cost us money?
Quality is the key – the quality of homes and of environments and communities
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Your Place – because this can apply to a home or a location and we are talking about both
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What investment our properties will need in the future
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Whether the tenure mix is still right
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What the demand for property is in areas
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What wider community issues exist that affect a neighbourhood and how you feel about living there
Our Promise - because we are clear that we are promising to make decisions which make a difference to people’s homes and lives in a positive way – irrespective of whether that means we continue to be their landlord or not.
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Once we’ve completed that work, we’ll then produce a series of community and neighbourhood plans which will set out our proposals for the future of the properties we own and also for our involvement in, and vision for, the communities in which we are based. 16
We’ve called the programme Quality Counts: Your Place, Our Promise because;
WINTER 2015
#TheLittleThings Sometimes it’s the little things that have the biggest impact in our lives, like walking the dog through the autumn leaves, or spending time baking cakes with the kids. If you pay by direct debit, you will have more time, money and control over your cash flow.
Direct Debit payments are made automatically and mean you no longer have to wait in a queue or make a weekly phone call, so you can relax and focus on little things that are important to you instead. You can choose the day or date to pay, how often and the amount you want to pay. You can choose to make weekly, fortnightly or monthly payments. If there are any changes to the amount, you will receive 14 days’ notice in writing. You can choose to cancel the Direct Debit at any time. It’s unlikely, but if there is any mistake you’re guaranteed to receive a full and immediate refund. Simply call Your Response on 0345 345 to set up a Direct Debit to pay your rent.
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One of our Customer Services Advisors will help you set up a Direct Debit suitable for you. You agree the amount, choose the day and date to pay, and how often you want to pay (weekly, fortnightly or monthly).
Look out for our Direct Debit campaign and share #TheLittleThings moment on Twitter and Facebook. @Your_Housing /yourhousing
It’s #thelittlethings that make a difference... ...like paying your rent by Direct Debit HOUSING GROUP
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Iwan Thomas (right) from Bridge Foyer, receiving his bursary award from Community Projects Officer, Russ Nixon
it’s a fix FOR SAM
#YFest2015 performer Sam Kirkpatrick, 25, from Manchester appeared on ITV Granada Reports recently to discuss his struggles when he was homeless. It was Sam’s passion for song writing that kept him going when he had nowhere to live, and now a song writer, Sam is urging other young people who have fallen on hard times to stay upbeat and never lose hope.
“Thankfully, even in the
rough times, I had music.
Writing songs and listening
to others took me to another world. It kept me pushing
through. It kept me alive.” To support Sam through these challenging times, we helped him apply for housing and provided some life coaching that helped him overcome anxiety and to gain confidence in his abilities.
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We introduced Sam to the Fixers team who have since helped him produce a music video, which he is using as a tool to inspire other homeless young people. “I wrote the track for the music video myself. It’s partly about my life, but also to show people there is hope.” Fixers are a national charity that gives young people aged 16-25 a voice on any issue that matters to them. To date, the charity has given a voice to over 16,500 young people across the country. You can watch Sam’s Fixers music video ‘Look Towards the Sun’ on our Youtube account: www.youtube.com/YHGTV
bursary helps
WINTER 2015
DREAMS COME TRUE This year we opened our doors to 190 young people with ambitious career aspirations, who just needed a small financial boost to help them onto the right career path.
After two successful years of running the Young People’s Bursary, we opened the funding pot for a third year running and asked young people aged 1425 from across our regions to apply for funds which could help support them into work, education or training. We had a generous £50,000 to allocate, with a maximum of £1,500 per person. Bursary requests came in thick and fast and included requests for items such as laptops, drum kits, stationary, course compulsory clothing and equipment, school uniform, interview clothing and work clothing. There were also requests for tuition fees, educational trips, training courses and DBS checks. We issued 103 awards in total after a competitive assessment process, where each young person came in to our offices to ‘pitch’ for their cause. The pitch was to a panel of Your Housing Group employees and at least one member of the former Community Governance Group (CCG). The panel asked each candidate about their aspirations and how this bursary could help them reach their goals in the future. To receive the bursary, the panel had to be convinced that it would significantly impact the candidate and also each candidate had to agree to volunteering at various local community events if required.
“This bursary has given me everything
I need to go to university. It has helped me so much in achieving my dream of doing a course in journalism.”
Laura - bursary winner from Leasowe Sarah Mitten, Community Projects Manager, said: “The young people who came in presented themselves really well. There was a huge range of requests from as little as course books for school right up to laptops and software packages to help them on university courses. We were really pleased to be able to help so many young people get that career boost that they needed.” 19
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GIVE & GAIN celebrations Last year, staff at Your Housing Group took part in a total of 690 volunteering hours, helping on a range of community initiatives across the North West. To celebrate and recognise these efforts, we held a Give and Gain Day celebration at The Fuse in Partington where we were joined on our very own red carpet by special members of the community who had helped us volunteer and fundraise throughout the year. With bags of popcorn and mocktails available for our guests, we showcased various films of our volunteering ‘best bits’ which highlighted the fantastic £31,600 raised in total for charity from across the group and of course the £19,000 raised for Macmillan. Other major successes celebrated included 13,000 people engaged in health and wellbeing
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projects, and 4,328 older people engaged in projects - exceeding our target of 3,500. Kathy Cowell, Chair of Your Housing Group, said; “This has been a fantastic year with total social value achieved reaching £18m including £15.5m on community projects, £500,000 on financial inclusion and £2.5m on employment and skills. I want to say a huge thank you to staff, residents, volunteers, board members and our stakeholders for all their hard work and efforts in achieving so much for so many in our communities. We set ourselves some ambitious targets and in almost every case exceeded them which is incredible. I’m very proud of everyone.”
WINTER 2015
youngsters POSE THE QUESTIONS We’ve been giving young students the challenging task of filming and interviewing people from in and around our communities, capturing key stories in the area through the medium of film. Young people have grown up around digital communication platforms such as social media, computers, tablets, and the internet. With digital communication almost second nature to them, this exciting project encourages local students to use these skills to get them more involved in their community and tap into their inner journalist, giving them an opportunity to have conversations with local professionals, key members of the community as well as their parents and teachers.
We recently asked the children to film some of our corporate videos, including one of us volunteering at Kirkby Church of England School, which you can see on our YouTube channel at: www.youtube.com/yhgtv
BARBARA IS A lifetime winner We are so pleased to announce that Barbara Brand, one of our Silver Talk volunteers in Cheshire, has won the Wire FM Lifetime Achievement Award. Silver Talk is a volunteering programme set up by our team in Cheshire, where chatty volunteers make phone calls to our customers who may be feeling isolated or lonely, or who just want someone to talk to. Barbara joined the Silver Talk team last December and despite problems with her health, turned up to volunteer every week and would put a smile on everyone’s face. With her bubbly personality, Barbara now has a large fan base of Silver Talk customers who now look forward to her weekly phone call, making a huge difference to their mental health and wellbeing.
“I am so delighted to be given this award.
I really love being a member of the Silver
Talk team and each week look forward to my weekly chats with the customers. Everyone is really friendly and I couldn’t be more pleased.”
Barbara Brand - Wire FM Lifetime Achievement Winner
Barbara pictured with singer Lemar 21
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ANFIELD REGENERATION PROJECT TOP 60 DEVELOPMENTS IN UK We are pleased to announce that our Anfield regeneration project has been nominated as one of the Top 60 Developments in the UK by Inside Housing. Since 2013 we have been working in partnership with Liverpool City Council and Liverpool Football Club on a £260m vision that we hope will breathe new life into a once rundown area of the city. The project involves remodelling a number of terraced properties that were no longer meeting the housing need and turning them into large family homes, more suitable for our Anfield customers. Further plans include the development of ’96 Avenue’, a major public space named in memory of the Hillsborough victims, the expansion of Liverpool Football Club’s Anfield Stadium, a new
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pedestrian-friendly public square that will create new jobs and provide commercial and retail opportunities, completion of Stanley Park and a unique 100-bed hotel which will provide training opportunities to local people.
“The Anfield project is a brave and
innovative approach to urban renewal in a deprived area which focuses on the needs of - and benefits for - the local community.”
Simon Nicol - Director at Building Research Establishment
WINTER 2015
NAMED AS ONE OF Lorraine Donnelly, Development Director said: “We are so proud to be recognised by Inside Housing for the work we and our partners are doing in Anfield.“
“It is a brilliant achievement for The
Anfield Regeneration Project to make it
into the Top 60 in the face of such fierce
competition in the Regeneration Scheme of the Year category.”
On Friday 16th October we went up against five other developments from across the UK for the Award. Sadly we didn’t win, but were still pleased to have been shortlisted.
ORIGINAL, MODERN LIVING LIVE HIVE, EXPERIENCE MORE Visualise your life in a Hive property by paying a visit to Church Street in Warrington, where you can see a Hive property come to life, with our new augmented reality app. Hive is our first private rented sector (PRS) development which will see 106 two and three bedroomed houses and apartments, developed in the heart of Warrington. The development will offer customers a 24/7 customer service where they can report repairs, order furniture packages, search for gardening services and book in a dedicated Hive handy man service. To demonstrate what Hive living is all about we’ve developed a virtual tour of a hive property, that you can view straight from your mobile device before the building process has even begun. All you need to do is visit the Hive development site on Church Street in Warrington, open up the Ogle app on your mobile phone and hold it over the hoardings to see the property come to life. Hive is due for completion by mid-summer 2016. For more information visit: www.renthive.co.uk
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pick up your 2014 / 15
CUSTOMER ANNUAL REPORT TODAY!
Alternatively view it online at:
www.yourhousinggroup.co.uk/annualreport
HOUSING GROUP
YOUR HOUSING GROUP 602 Aston Avenue
info@yourhousinggroup.co.uk
/yourhousing
Birchwood
www.yourhousinggroup.co.uk
@your_housing
Warrington WA3 6ZN
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