spotlight on wrexham

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Wrexham Spring 2012 Spotlight on Hightown Communities First 999 Day Also in this edition... Award winning financial inclusion project ‘My home - every penny counts’ Award winning residents Wrexham residents win TPAS & Making a Difference awards

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Wales & West Housing Association's newsletter for the Wrexham area

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WrexhamSpring 2012

Spotlight on

Hightown Communities First 999 DayAlso in this edition...

Award winning financial inclusion project‘My home - every penny counts’

Award winning residentsWrexham residents win TPAS & Making a Difference awards

2www.wwha.net

Spotlight on Wrexham - Spring 2012

I do not need to say that we are all still facing very challenging economic conditions and now more than ever we recognise the importance of delivering excellent customer service, supporting innovation to meet demand and, quite simply, going the extra mile to help our residents and their communities to help themselves. We are committed to being green, to helping our residents deal with money-related problems, and to as many of them as possible up-and-running online. We’re also working with various partners to help people get into, or get back into work or training.

Then there are our latest developments within the business including news of our £101m Development programme, our

new RP strategy and how we’re approaching self-assessment. And we’re absolutely thrilled to be able to tell you that we’ve been recognised as the top not-for-profi t organisation in Wales in the Sunday Times Best Companies List 2012.

So I hope you will take fi ve minutes to read this newsletter and that it proves to be useful and informative.

Finally we always value your feedback so don’t hesitate to get in touch and tell us what you think, about Spotlight, the news within it, or any other aspect of our business.

Anne HincheyChief Executive

Welcome to the Spring 2012 edition of Spotlight on Wrexham

Children enjoy a surprise visitor at Hightown Communities First 999 Day

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Spotlight on Wrexham - Spring 2012

More affordable homes for the Wrexham areaDeveloping more high quality, affordable, sustainable homes for people in Wales is a major priority for us and in Wrexham we are very excited to be working in partnership with Wrexham CBC on a £15m scheme to redevelop the Kingsmills Road and Rivulet Road areas.

This development will provide 147 mixed tenure affordable houses and apartments for the community including dedicated homes for older people, plus a community centre and medical facility. Planning approval has been received for the Rivulet Road scheme and Kingsmills Road is due early 2012. Works are due to commence shortly and our aim is that works will be completed within 18 months.

As part of the Kingsmills Road development, the demolition and rebuilding of the Hightown Community Centre is being taken forward with the existing management committee to which new members are being recruited.

The intention is that the local community will make the new centre a vibrant and well-used space. Ongoing open meetings are being held with the committee and service users with the next one scheduled for March 27th.

We are confi dent that local residents and suppliers will benefi t directly from this development. The local employment and training opportunities to be created are being progressed with the developer and partners to ensure the benefi ts to the local community are maximised.

In anticipation of keen interest in this development a blog site has been created to keep readers abreast of developments.

Details can be viewed at http://hightownfl ats.com

Ponciau School redevelopment, Wrexham

This recently completed £2.65m development will provide 15 new family homes (three bungalows and 12 houses) plus accommodation to meet the housing needs of fi ve people with autistic spectrum disorders together with the accommodation for carers.

Ponciau School

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Spotlight on Wrexham - Spring 2012

...cont’d

WWHA’s current five year £101m development programme includes innovative projects for residents with autism and learning difficulties, together with general needs housing and extra care facilities. The programme is supported by £15m social housing grant funding from our partner local authorities and the Welsh Government.

Nikki Cole, Head of Development at WWHA, adds: “While family housing is a major area of strength and expertise for WWHA, we also work in partnership with local authorities across Wales to meet the needs of local people with learning difficulties and autism.

“We relish the opportunity to provide housing solutions to meet a wide variety of housing requirements. Grant funding to assist the development of new social housing is limited however the Association has been successful in securing funding to help develop a range of housing opportunities across our area of operation.”

Continued investment in our propertiesDuring the last six months of 2011 we spent £5.7m on refurbishing our homes across Wales and we are delighted to say that we are on course to achieve the Welsh Housing Quality Standard by the end of 2012.

We’re investing a further £1.2m in a major window renewal programme, including £209,000 in the Wrexham area which should make our homes more comfortable, warmer, cheaper to heat and less likely to need expensive maintenance work in the near future.

We’ve invested £1.3m in renewing kitchens in more than 400 homes including ten in the Wrexham area.

And across Wales we’ve also invested £600,000 refurbishing bathrooms, five of which were in Wrexham at a cost of £10,000.

We also spent a further £116,000 in Wrexham on other works, such as resurfacing paths, fencing works and other general repairs.

Tackling anti social behaviour

WWHA has successfully negotiated with CAIS in an attempt to find alternative supported accommodation for a resident in the Wrexham area with mental health issues who was failing to manage his tenancy.

A notice had been served to end the Starter Tenancy, however the Association agreed not to pursue legal action if alternative supported accommodation could be secured.

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Spotlight on Wrexham - Spring 2012

Award winning financial inclusion project

We are proud to be a member of the North Financial Inclusion Partnership which has recently won two prestigious national awards for it’s ‘My Home…making every penny count’ DVD:

1. Promoting Independence Award 2011 – Service User Involvement Award 2011

2. MoneyActionNet Award 2011

The ‘My Home.. making every penny count’ DVD offers an innovative approach to tackling the day to day financial issues that a tenant may run into when first starting a tenancy with a social landlord.

The film explores the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ approach to money handling and highlights the dangers of adopting a ‘careless’ attitude

towards household finances. It also gives practical ideas as to where savings can be made and debt avoided. It particularly highlights the consequences of borrowing from illegal loan sharks and other sources of high cost borrowing.

The DVD is made available to all new housing association residents in north Wales.

The Partnership has representatives from all of the housing associations in north Wales:

• Cartefi Cymunedol Gwynedd• Cartrefi Conwy• Clwyd Alyn Housing Association• North Wales Housing Association• Cymdeithas Tai Clwyd• Cymdeithas Tai Eryri• Wales & West Housing

Association

SARTH project in North East Wales

A new single access to housing project (SARTH) aims to make access to social housing as efficient, consistent and fair as possible. It is a joint project of Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham local authorities and North Wales, Cymdeithas Tai Clwyd, Clwyd Alyn, Cartrefi Conwy and Wales & West Housing Associations.

All current partnership members have agreed to work together on a common framework for allocations and advice, as well as a set of

aims and objectives, in line with Welsh Government advice to local authorities.

The project steering group has since then recruited project development officer, Nicholas Weatherall, jointly funded by all partners and hosted by Wales & West Housing Association, to coordinate the development of a common allocations framework.

The project aims to pilot the common framework in 2013.

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Spotlight on Wrexham - Spring 2012

Take Ctrl

Take Ctrl is a digital inclusion initiative that aims to raise awareness of and provide training in the use and application of digital technologies, as a means of tackling financial inclusion across the whole of North Wales.

It is specifically targeted at three of the four priority groups identified for the Communities 2.0 project.

As the title suggests, the project’s aim is to empower people to make informed choices and to better manage their finances. It’s ultimate goal is to ensure that digital, financial and indeed social exclusion are reduced; to dovetail the approach for dealing with all three and to ensure that the reationale for driving digital take-up to eradicate poverty is firmly embedded in the mind-set of the project’s beneficiaries - from the housing associations’ policy development teams, front-line and broader staff base to their tenants and, indeed, the wider community.

The proposal was put together by a consortium of members from seven of the housing associations that serve the North Wales area - between them the associations have housing stock the length and breadth of North Wales and have a proven track record of working successfully in partnership on similar initiatives.

The project will run across the whole of the North Wales area.

The main component of the project is the proposed employment of a digital inclusion officer for a two-year period, hosted at WWHA, whose time will be shared proportionately between the organisations and their respective tenants. Her role will broadly incorporate the co-ordination (and sometimes delivery) of direct training and awareness raising; garnering and signposting to existing digital information; devising and adhering to marketing and volunteering strategies; forging links and building future partnerships.

Although the proposal is for a two-year initiative, from its very conception partners have been considering its sustainability and see this very much as the first phase of a much more inclusive project that could bring together existing projects in the area, secure new partners from the public, private and third sectors, and create a model for dealing with exclusion that could be replciated elsewhere.

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Spotlight on Wrexham - Spring 2012

Sylvester Court’s enterprising activities

A newly constituted residents’ group has been allotted a piece of land on the retirement housing scheme in Sylvester Court, Hightown, where the residents already run a successful lunch club.

They plan to develop the land to grow and supply produce to the lunch club and for sale to residents initially.

Residents say they aim to become a social enterprise in the future after attending a social enterprise course this Spring at 2012 at Trafford Hall. Vegetables, fruit, salad, herbs, plants and fl owers will be grown by residents and volunteers who will also be responsible for managing the project.

Calling themselves Sylvester Court Community Garden Voluntary Residents’ Group, members have obtained insurance through a Welsh Government scheme via Keep Wales Tidy (KWT).

KWT and volunteers from Wales Probation are now helping to clear the land and to establish the garden. Together with Age Concern and Hightown Communities First are also supporting the project with WWHA.

Members of the group also intend to open the garden when it is at its best to the local community and visitors from further afi eld.

From left: Shane Hughes - Keep Wales Tidy, Val Groves (Sylvester Court resident), Peter Whitaker (Sylvester Court resident), Raf - Wales Probation, Richard Purton - Wales Probation

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Spotlight on Wrexham - Spring 2012

Hightown Communities First999 Day

More than 80 residents attended a 999 Day organised by Hightown Communities First.

Activities included face painting, bouncy castle, trampolines, the Fire service fun bus, police car, play activities, an RNLI lifeboat and lots of information stalls.

Residents were involved in interactive activities aimed at learning more about community safety issues such as cold calling, trading standards, road safety, safety in the home, neighbourhood watch and also learned about the work of the fire service, Wales Air Ambulance Service, young people’s drug and alcohol service,

Victim Support, RNLI and the RAF.

Pauline Vickers, Co-ordinator for Hightown Communities First said, “It was great to see residents having fun whilst learning more about community safety issues.

“People could sit in a police car, sign up for neighbourhood watch online ‘watch link alerts’ and book a home fire safety check, learn more about Wales & West Housing Association, as well as having their faces painted and turns on the bouncy castle.

“Feedback from residents was extremely positive and we really do appreciate the support from our partner agencies. Thank you.”

WWHA Money Officer Les Cooper helping local children with money advice

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Spotlight on Wrexham - Spring 2012

Award winning residents

Residents of Barracksfield Estate in Wrexham have won a top 2011 Tenant Participation Advisory Service Award.

Barracksfield Tenants’ Association (BFTA) scooped the Tenants Participation Project Award 2011 for their initiative which raised more than £64,000 to build a new Multi Use Games Area on the estate in Hightown.

And three residents have won top awards for their efforts in our annual Making A Difference Awards.

Keen gardeners Andrew and Deana Taylor of Clos Scotts, Marchwiel, Wrexham, were named as winners

of our MAD Green Fingers 2011 Award, sponsored by Bushmede Ltd, one of WWHA’s contractor partners.

Bonnie Price, 23, bagged our MAD 2011 Fresh Start Award, sponsored by the Graham Group, another of WWHA’s contractor partners, for turning her life around after a battle with depression.

Sian Hope, one of our Barracksfield residents was also a finalist in the MAD 2011 David Taylor Local Hero category for her dedication and willingness to give up her own time for the benefit of others.

Barracksfield residents John Williams, Shannon, 6, and Lauren, 15 with Mair Edwards, Cymdeithas Tai Clwyd

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Spotlight on Wrexham - Spring 2012

Mortgage rescueOur mortgage rescue scheme is continuing to have a positive impact on the lives of many householders at risk of repossession.

We are one of the few associations to operate a self-funded scheme now that the grant funding from the Welsh Government has stopped.

We are still experiencing considerable demand and are committed to continuing the mortgage rescue scheme in order to help reduce homelessness.

So far we’ve invested more than £2m in the scheme and have:

• Purchased 31 properties outright – where the residents have now become our tenants. This includes 3 properties which have been purchased without grant as part of the Associations self funded scheme. A further 4 households have accepted offers of assistance as part of this scheme.

• Completed 26 loans to enable the occupiers to remain in their properties as owners

To find out more our mortgage rescue scheme call freephone 0800 052 2526.Or go to: www.wwha.net/OurServices MortgageRescue/

The Association has just closed another strong year of financial performance.

Firstly, as part of the new WG regulatory framework, we received a pass for financial viability judgement which is the highest rating awarded and demonstrates that we are adequately resourced to meet current and future business and financial commitments.

Secondly, our results for the year show both a surplus and a positive free cash flow. This has allowed us to invest over £30m in the last three years in our existing properties to improve the quality

of our homes.

With a further £10m investment planned this year, we are well on track to meeting the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) by the target date of 2012.

We already have £35m of funding in place to fund future development. Having brought into management 165 newly developed properties this year alone, we have plans to bring in a further 600 over the next 5 years. To do this will require further funding and we are well placed to do this, with low gearing and a large portfolio of unsecured high quality properties on our books.

Strong financial performance for WWHA

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Spotlight on Wrexham - Spring 2012

Awards round-upSince our last edition of Spotlight we’ve gained the following recognition:

• 2012 Sunday Times Best Companies. In 2012 WWHA has been named the top not-for-profit organisation in Wales and ranked 8th, up from 14th in 2011.

We are also the only Welsh housing association to be awarded the coveted three stars award by Best Companies.

“I’m absolutely thrilled that we’ve been recognised as the top not-for-profit organisation in Wales, and, that we’ve made the top ten NFP organisations to work for in the UK. And to have been awarded the highest rating of three stars is fantastic,” says Anne Hinchey.

“We pride ourselves on being a values-driven company – to be fair, open, supportive, efficient and responsible – to our staff as well as everyone with whom, and for whom, we work.

• WWHA were delighted to be named in the Top 30 Family Friendly Firms in the UK by Working Families, an organisation which campaigns for work-life balance. We were one of only two Welsh organisations to make the list which is dominated by blue chip firms.

• Our Stoneleigh Manor More Options Homelessness Project in partnership with Powys County Council won the Cymorth Cymru Promoting Independence 2011 Good Commissioning

Award. This project was also shortlisted for a CIH Welsh Housing Award ‘Making Best Use of Stock.”

• North Wales Financial Inclusion Forum, of which we are a member organisation, won the 2011 Promoting Independence Award 2011 Service User Involvement Award for it’s ‘My Home… Making Every Penny Count’ DVD. The DVD has since won a second award – the MoneyActionNet Award 2011 by social action information provider Lemos & Crane.

• WWHA residents have scooped two TPAS Cymru awards. The groups from the Garw Valley, Bridgend, and Barracksfield estate in Wrexham, beat off stiff competition from other social landlords’ groups in Wales.

• Our Powell Road Eco-Friendly Regeneration Project in Flintshire was shortlisted for an Outstanding Achievement in Wales CIH UK Housing Award.

• Our retirement scheme Sydney Hall Court in Connah’s Quay, run by scheme manager Rob Holmes, was shortlisted for The Cinnamon Trust’s Pet Friendly Care Home of the Year Award.

• We’ve achieved the Gold Standard in RSPCA Housing Footprint.

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Spotlight on Wrexham - Spring 2012

Eco-friendly initiatives

We are committed to being green across our organisation, as well as supporting our residents to be able to enjoy the many benefits of being environmentally friendly. and we have just passed our annual Green Dragon audit, reaching Level 2.

We are undertaking a wide range of projects, led by Owen Jones, our Environment & Sustainability Officer.

We have been installing Ground Source Heat Pumps at Clos Pontganol, Llangynidr, together with additional sites at Crickhowell, Llanfair Cereinion and Flint. These literally groundbreaking projects are going to have a huge impact in helping residents to save money on their energy bills.

Some residents in Maes Yr Onnen, Crickhowell are currently

paying £150 to £200 per month on their electricity bills, and they are now going to benefit from new windows, improved insulation and Ground Source Heat Pumps. Further measures such as removing their electric showers and replacing them with mixer showers will also help to reduce their bills.

Ground Source Heat Pumps are amongst the most sustainable space and domestic hot water heating systems currently available and residents will gain from having greater control of their heating and in most cases it will be cheaper to run.

Picured is the first bore hole being started at Clos Pontganol for the installation of the ground source heat pumps.

One of the 10 bore holes will go nearly 200 meters (aproximately 600 feet) down.

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Spotlight on Wrexham - Spring 2012

Other projects include:

• Fuel switching

• Continuing to trial voltage optimisation devices

• Working with the Environment Agency to develop flood plans for our properties which may be affected.

We’ve also invested more than £15,000 from our Environment Fund in 29 projects across Wales. These are all resident-led projects which have applied to us for grassroots funding.

Projects include developing biodiversity gardens, installation of raised beds for accessible planting,

to purchase of seeds, tools, greenhouses and other equipment.

We are continually working hard to make sure that, where possible, we use and incorporate environmentally friendly technologies into every aspect of our new developments as well as in our refurbishment programmes.

However, uncertainty around funding has unfortunately resulted in us having to put on hold our plans to install solar PV panels on the roofs of our suitable properties. This was due to factors beyond our control and we are among many other social housing providers across the UK in this position.

Picured is the former bin store at Western Court, Bridgend, which has now been transformed by the residents into a greenhouse, thanks to a £200 contribution from the WWHA Environment Fund.

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Spotlight on Wrexham - Spring 2012

Upskilling with Communities 2.0 and Take Ctrl

Wi-fi broadband access for older residents

We are committed to providing broadband WiFi access at all our 100 older persons schemes across Wales within the next two years, investing £1m in the project.

We are already working on a pilot scheme at Ty Pontrhun, one of our retirement schemes in Merthyr Tydfil, in partnership with Welsh provider Boynes. Four lines, routers and boosters will be up and running at the scheme from March 2012 providing 1MG download capacity for each resident. The cost to residents will be an affordable £1 per household per week.

We’re also working with a number of partners to upskill any of our residents, regardless of age or previous experience, to be able to enjoy the benefits of digital technology.

In Merthyr Tydfil we’re working with Communities 2.0 on the Connect Merthyr Project. This is supporting older people to learn how to use a variety of platforms on the internet inclusing email, Skype, search engines, Twitter and YouTube. It is also helping them to use a variety of other

digital equipment including mobile phones, cameras and video cameras.

Welsh Finance minister Jane Hutt visited the project recently to see for herself the incredibly positive impact it is having on its older participants.

And in North Wales we are hosting Jen Bailey, co-ordinator of the Take Ctrl Project. This is a partnership between seven housing associations including WWHA. For more details go to: www.takectrl.org

Self-assessment and planning for the future

Like many other housing associations we conduct rigorous self-assessment exercises to look at how well we are performing and to help us plan for the future.

We always welcome constructive feedback about any aspect of our business, our properties, or the services we deliver.

To find out more about our plans and self assessment process please go to:

www.wwha.net/AboutUs/CorporateInformation/Performance/InspectionInformation

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Spotlight on Wrexham - Spring 2012

Employment and training opportunities

We are continuing to work in partnership with our contractors and others to provide work and training to people within many of the communities where we work.

Donna Samuel is one of two returners to work who have secured permanent jobs with WWHA thanks to JobMatch, Bridgend. Donna recently met First Minister Carwyn Jones (pictured below) at a local Health and Wellbeing event, and she took the opportunity to explain how finding a full-time job had transformed her life.

Many of our contractors have taken on apprentices as a result of the work we commission them to do. Some other example of how we are supporting people to get back into work, include:

• Working with JobMatch to train two dedicated Energy Advisers who will spread the word among residents as to how to get the best fuel deals and how best to cut costs.

• Supporting our contractors and suppliers to create apprenticeships in electrics and window fitting.

• Creating work placements through JobCentre Plus and the Department of Work and Pensions’Work Programme.

• And we’re exploring what job opportunities we may be able to create through recycling.

New Resident Participation Strategy

We’ve updated our resident Participation strategy. If you’d like to find out more please go to: www.wwha.net/NR/rdonlyres/6C6733C0-FA83-4302-912C-F846D2D3C68F/0/InTouchWinter20112.pdf

Or you can read the strategy in full at: www.wwha.net/NR/rdonlyres/10FD0DC5-E4DD-4B9C-9FC0-EF0F5A83AA1B/0/WHALTPS2011.pdf

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Spotlight on Wrexham - Spring 2012

Wales & West Housing Association is registered as a charitableassociation under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 No. 21114R

Key

Contacts

Cate Porter, Housing Manager (Gen. Needs) 01352 [email protected]

Head Office 3 Alexandra Gate, Ffordd Pengam,

Tremorfa, Cardiff CF24 2UD

Tel: 0800 052 2526Fax: 029 2041 5380

Email: [email protected]: 0800 052 5205

Website: www.wwha.net Follow us on @WWHA

Flint OfficeUnit 2 Acorn Business Park Aber Road, Flint, Flintshire CH6 5YN

Anne Hinchey, Chief Executive029 2041 5335

[email protected]

Tony Wilson, Finance Director029 2041 [email protected]

Shayne Hembrow, Operations Director029 2041 5362

[email protected]

STRATEGIC

Lynnette Glover, Head of Housing029 2041 5365

[email protected]

Anne Caloe, Housing Manager (Retirement/Supported Housing)01352 736323

[email protected]

Nikki Cole, Head of Development029 2041 4093

[email protected]

Steve Porter, Head of Property Services029 2041 [email protected]

D E V E LO P M E N T P R O P E RT Y S E R V I C E S

Shayne Hembrow, Operations Director029 2041 5362

[email protected]

HOUSING