COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2014

The Charter sets out the standards the Scottish Parliament expects of us. Our tenants should be involved in agreeing the format and content of our annual report to them on our Charter performance. Tenants must also be involved in the ongoing scrutiny of our performance against the Charter outcomes. We are absolutely delighted to announce that on the 24th June we held the inaugural meeting of our Charter Focus Group. The Group had been provided with some background information as to what was required of them and a very productive and enjoyable couple of hours was then spent addressing some of the issues regarding the report we will produce in October.

SCOTTISH SOCIAL HOUSING CHARTER

www.ayrshirehousing.org.uk Telephone 01292 880120 or Lo-Call 08452712327

Text Message 07527 360360 1

Ayrshire Housing’s latest development at Burns Wynd, Maybole has received a prestigious Saltire Society Housing Design Award. The award was presented to the architect Roan Rutherford by the Local Government and Planning Minister Derek Mackay at a ceremony in Edinburgh. The award’s guest chair Eleanor McAllister said “the panel thought that the houses had been both designed and built with a real sense of delight. This is reflected in the positive reaction of the residents we met to their new homes”. The scheme consists of 13 wheelchair accessible houses arranged in a dramatic terrace on the edge of Maybole. At the same ceremony, the contractor Ashleigh (Scotland) Ltd received a Good Building commendation for the quality of their work from the Chartered Institute of Building. Last month, the scheme was judged the best affordable housing development at the Scottish Design Awards.

BURNS WYND SCOOPS AWARDS!

STAFF NEWS

Ayrshire Housing tenant, John Grigor, is setting out on a number of marathon walks to help kids across Scotland this year. On the 27th April along with 39 friends and members of his family, John walked the Glasgow Kiltwalk, 26 miles from Glasgow to Balloch. Not put off by the sore legs and blisters John then completed both the Edinburgh and Aberdeen Kiltwalks in May and June, both another 26 miles. Not only is he planning to walk the Speyside Kiltwalk in September and Dundee in October but John and his daughter Sarah are walking the Machu Picchu trail

in Peru in September. In fact Sarah will spend her 18th birthday in Peru raising money for kids at home. All fundraising monies will go to The Kiltwalk, a Scottish Charity (SCIO) founded in 2011 which raises money for children’s charities including Yorkhill Children’s Charity, CLIC Sargent (caring for children with cancer), Children’s Hospice Association of Scotland (CHAS), and Children 1st. 50% of the money raised is split between these charities and walkers are allowed to nominate a charity or school in which they have a personal interest. John and his team are aiming to raise over £20,000 to help these charities and have nominated Southcraig Special Needs school in Ayr to receive 50% of their monies raised. This will assist in

installing sensory lights and music into the swimming pool. The cost for which is over £14,000.   The next fundraising event will be held at Ayr Railway Club on the 30th August, if you would like to donate you can text AMTA78 followed by an amount to 70070 or log on to http://www.virginmoneygiving.com//allyMacleodTartanArmy14. We wish John, Sarah and all members of the team well in their walks and overseas trip.

A TENANT’S STORY

www.ayrshirehousing.org.uk Telephone 01292 880120 or Lo-Call 08452712327

Text Message 07527 360360 2

Healthy Working Lives Update Ayrshire Housing has achieved both the Bronze and Silver Award and is now Going for Gold! The Award helps us to promote a healthier and safer workplace and focuses on issues such as healthy eating, physical activity and mental health and wellbeing. We run several events and campaigns throughout the year, the last being our Cycle Challenge. Staff cycled a total of 122 miles, around all our developments using an exercise bike during their lunch breaks and after work. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and our goal was reached. We will keep you updated on our progress towards Gold in our newsletters, but if you would like any information about the campaigns and activities we will be running over the coming year, please contact Amy on a.fowler@ayrshirehousing.org.uk. Here at Ayrshire Housing we believe it is important to incorporate exercise into our everyday lives and

we would encourage everyone to adopt a healthy lifestyle!

www.ayrshirehousing.org.uk Telephone 01292 880120 or Lo-Call 08452712327

Text Message 07527 360360 4

We have just finished installing air source heat pumps into 33 1950s homes in the village of Dailly. The tenants are delighted with the improved comfort and lower costs compared with their old electric storage heaters. They are also delighted with the performance of the contractor, Coolheat. We were pleased that Councillor Helen Moonie, South Ayrshire’s Provost, joined our tenants Mr and Mrs Hodges in celebrating the completion of the last installation. The project was made possible by a £132,000 grant from the Department of Energy and Climate Change. This was the result of our success in the UK wide Renewable Heat Premium Social Landlords Competition last year. The grant has covered roughly half the total cost of the installations. We have also received a separate grant from the SFHA’s Energy Ideas Fund. This has helped to commission Edinburgh Napier University to carry out a year long evaluation of the installations. The study is intended to inform the development of other retrofit projects in older stock. It is being led by Professor John Currie of the University’s Scottish Energy Centre. We are also planning to host a public event aimed at providing energy advice to all the residents of the village later in the year.

Energy Efficiency Project Completed In Dailly

We have a longstanding relationship with Ayr’s Braehead Primary School. So we were delighted to support pupil Jamie Ramage’s attendance at this year’s National Schools Top Trumps Tournament final. Jamie was one of only 12 from across the UK who won through to the London final. Top Trumps is a competitive game which aims to build pupils’ literacy, numeracy and general knowledge. Our Board member, Councillor Ian Cavana, presented a donation towards travelling costs to Jamie and his supportive classmates. Each year we sponsor the inter-school garden design competition at the Ayr Flower Show. This year the winner is the Bute Class at Irvine’s Haysholm School. Connor McTaggart received the prize on behalf of his class at a ceremony at the school. In August, they will travel to the Show to see their design realised. The Ayr Flower Show is at Rozelle Estate from 22 to 24 August. Haysholm caters for pupils aged 5 – 18 with severe and complex additional support needs.

Working with Ayrshire’s Schools

STATEMENT:- __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

ELECTIONS TO THE BOARD Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of Ayrshire Housing will take place on Wednesday 10th September 2014. In due course, you will receive a formal agenda and a review of our activities and performance in the last year.

As you may know, the Board consists of five tenant directors, five from the community category and three appointed by South Ayrshire Council. All tenants are members of the company and can thus seek election to the Board. If you have a joint tenancy, both tenants are considered to be members.

There are up to 3 vacancies within the community category. If you are interested in a tenant position, please complete and return the form below by Friday 1st August 2014. If there are more applications than vacancies, a postal ballot will be organised with the result being announced at the Annual Gen-eral Meeting. Please provide a short statement of around 50 words in support of your application. This is a real opportunity to influence the quality of service that you and your fellow tenant members receive.

Name: ............................................................................ Address: ............................................................................ ............................................................................ Tel: ............................................................................ Email: ............................................................................

Alternatively you can email us at info@ayrshirehousing.org.uk

We can supply this document in a print size to suit. It is also available in Braille, audio and other formats, and in other languages. Our website also has several accessibility features which you may find useful.

I WISH TO STAND FOR ELECTION TO THE BOARD

www.ayrshirehousing.org.uk Telephone 01292 880120 or Lo-Call 08452712327

Text Message 07527 360360 8