Dec 2013 Newsletter
your news & views
your news & views P3 Keeping Christmas under control
your news & views
your news & views
P6 Keeping you safe
Gardening Competition 2013 Winners
Contents
your news & views Headlines in Brief 2 Getting to know the Staff 2 Keeping Christmas under Control 3 Gardening Competition 4-5 Keeping you Safe: 6 Communal Areas - Keep Clear 6 Tips to Stop Water Damage 6 Beware Cold Callers 6
your news & views
December 2013 Ring the Changes: Get on Board... The new Resident Scrutiny Committee New Staff, Roles & Departures Tenants Voice Real Empowerment to our Residents Here’s to 2014
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Getting to know the staff
Ayour new to receive SHare newsway & views
It’s really important that Suffolk Housing keeps in touch with its residents and SHare is seen as a really good way of doing this. Linking in with our new website and the increasing cost of design and printing, Suffolk Housing are giving readers an option of receiving SHare via email or through the website. An audio copy of SHare has also been developed which can be listened to through the website or by requesting a CD.
your news & views
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Headlines your news & viewsin Brief
Just Married! Hannah Gardner (nee Cadge), Business Support Manager ties the knot. Mcmillan Coffee Morning St Mary’s raises over £450. About 30 residents enjoyed a raffle, cake stall and auction.
Benefit Cap The cap was introduced from 15th July and will apply to the combined income from the main out of work benefits, plus housing benefit, child benefit and child tax credit. Trafalgar House opens its doors to show off its new face lift Older people were encouraged to come and look at our flats and sample the community atmosphere. Suffolk Housing’s Residents lead the way Kemi Lofinmakin, from Peabody London who own 20,000 properties comes to learn from Suffolk Housing. Website goes live On 1st October Suffolk Housing launched its new website at: www.suffolkhousing.org Young Leaders – Longfoot takes the bronze! You may recall that in the last edition of SHare, Rob was eagerly awaiting the results from his entry in 24 Housing magazine’s Young Leaders competition. Well, out of over 100 applicants, he came third - great news for him and a positive end to a challenging experience. He’d like to thank all his colleagues and residents for their support. 2
olman, Melanie Dssistant Finance A Give three words that best describe you? - Even-tempered, Friendly and Kind. What super power would you like to have? - To be able to see into the future. Your favourite film? - Notes on a scandal. Your three favourite songs? 1. When I’m 64 (The Beatles) 2. Make me smile/Come up and see me sometime (Cockney Rebel) 3. I want to be 19 again What was the first book you read? Hurry, Hurry Miss Murry, when I was 4. What three things are most important to you? 1. Family 2. Friends & colleagues 3. Health Where do you see yourself in 10 years? - Retired and travelling.
PLEASE NOTE: If you pay your rent by Standing Order, could you please amend the reference you use to the 5-digit reference number shown in the bottom left corner of your paypoint payment card, followed by your surname. For example 76543 Smith. For general communications regarding your rent account, please have this reference number handy.
Keeping Christmas under control Whatever your view of Christmas, there is one thing we all know – it’s going to cost us money. And more than we can afford, unless we are very careful.
For many families, their enjoyment of the season is spoilt by the worry of how they are going to afford all the extra spending. Unlike Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, none of us can produce wonderful clothes, presents and banquets with a wave of our magic wand. But we can make sure that we don’t let Christmas leave us in debt.
Top tips for a debt-free Christmas
Talk to your partner, family and friends about Christmas spending. Chances are they want to keep the costs down too, so you can all agree to spend less on each other. Make a plan for all your festive spending, not just the presents. Think about what worked and what didn’t last year. How many of those “stocking fillers” were abandoned or broken two minutes later? And how much of all that “bargain” festive food was thrown away, or put in the freezer and forgotten? Watch out for easy ways of saving up for Christmas. Many credit unions run Christmas savings schemes, and if you save with them you may become eligible for a low cost loan if you need it for a future emergency.
Think even further ahead. If someone is going to need new sports kit next summer, could you buy it in the sales and stash it away for Christmas? We can’t all be creative types, baking and making lowcost presents, but what about personal gift vouchers, promising future treats? A 25% extra pocket money voucher, redeemable anytime in the year, perhaps? If you think you are going to struggle with debts at Christmas, get help now. Talk to a debt charity like Debt Advice Foundation, where advisers will help you check for any help you’re entitled to and put together a clear financial plan. Their helpline is 0800 043 40 50, or you can go to www.debtadvicefoundation.org
Make a list of all the bills that have to be paid every month, whether it’s Christmas or not. Work out how much spare income you have every month – then make sure you put some aside for emergencies before you start on your Christmas shopping list. If you think you will need to use credit for Christmas spending, plan it carefully. Read the small print on any credit deals, make sure you know exactly how much you will have to pay off each month. Check you really can afford it after all the other bills have been paid. Always find out the total cost of something you’re thinking of buying on credit. You’ll be shocked at how the cost rockets if you make monthly payments to a catalogue, for example. Manage your children’s expectations – there may be different ways to achieve what they want. Perhaps you can afford to pay half the monthly payment on that smartphone if they get a Saturday job to pay the rest? 3
Gardening Competition 2013 Suffolk Housing’s Festival of Colour
1st PLACE WINNERS We really enjoy helping out in the garden, so it was nice to be able to share it with somebody else. It gives us a chance to learn about different plants and insects. We like to read in the garden and see the butterflies on the flowers. Our favourite part of the garden is the honeysuckle. Doing the competition was fun and so was the presentation evening. Everyone was friendly.
Abigail
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Rebecca Piggott
rden a G l a n u Comm y Private got Famil
Pig e h T T S 1
nters a l P y s t Po e, Sudbur
Devin h a r a S 1ST
The great British Summer certainly brought out some great gardens, pots and planters. Some say that having a garden is like having a blank canvas on which to paint with bright colours, but there is more to it than that; the scents, insects and other wildlife. The judges, Sue and Henry were certainly given a treat when they visited over 20 different gardens. Sue West a Housing officer is a keen gardener and Henry Kilvert manages part of Suffolk Housing’s ground maintenance. He has a great track record in gardening competitions as his business won a number of awards in ‘Norwich in Bloom.’ ‘Stunning’ was an expression used a lot when invited into hidden gardens around Norfolk and Suffolk, as I’m sure you will agree. This year there were two categories, Pots & Planters and Private or Communal Garden. The entries to them both were varied and of such a high standard. We had sheltered scheme gardens enjoyed by many residents, gardens grown by young and old and gardens built by recycling. To give recognition of the hard work put into to these hidden gems a presentation evening was held, with certificates and prizes handed out by the Chief Executive, Ian Winslet. Thank you to our two judges, I do agree you had a very difficult job.
Martin Barnes-Smith OTHER WINNERS FROM BOTH CATEGORIES
CERTIFICATES OF MERIT Herb Rubin - Trafalgar House Poppy - Parkway Geoff & Kathy - Elmswell Gary - Rattlesden Close Mr & Mrs Irvine - Clermont Ave Mrs Cendrecourt - Jubilee Court Mrs Logdon - Celestion Drive Mrs Meadows - Celestion Drive Linda Southgate - Bloomfield Street
Private Communal Garden
Pots Planters
2ND Stephen and Jacqueline Cox of Haverhill
2ND Anthony Earrey of Ipswich
3RD Freda Halsall of Bury St Edmunds
3RD Jean Waterman of Ipswich
CERTIFICATES OF DISTINCTION Charles - Parkway Vegetable Plot Geoff & Kathy - Elmswell Michael / Charlie - Silver Haven Fornham House Charles Jewson Court
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Keeping you safe Some advice from Suffolk Housing to ensure our residents are kept safe and well, but not just this winter! Communal areas keep them clear warns Rob Longfoot, Housing Services Manager As your landlord, Suffolk Housing has a duty to ensure the communal stairwells, landings and corridors in blocks of flats are kept clear of residents’ belongings. This is to reduce the risk of residents becoming injured in the event of a fire. Mobility scooters, pushchairs, shoes, furniture and bicycles to name a few are not permitted to be stored in communal areas and under our new procedures we will be taking steps to ensure these are removed swiftly for the safety of all. In short, all belongings must be stored inside flats. We understand the desire of some residents to make the communal areas look more homely, and to that end our new procedures allow the following items: Non-slip welcome mats (max. one per property), positioned in front of flat doors. Plant pots and other non-combustible items, stored on windowsills only: Picture frames hung on the wall (max. one per property). This action complements our technical fire risk assessments of communal blocks to ensure that they are up to standard and that the risk of injury from fire is mitigated – all in the interests of keeping you and your neighbours safe.
If you have any questions, please contact your Housing Officer.
Tips to stop water damage from frozen water pipes, from Angela - Customer Service Advisor. If you discover you have frozen water pipes, follow these simple steps to help prevent water damage to your property: 1. Turn off the water supply at the main stop tap. You should find this under the kitchen sink or where the service pipe enters your home. Now is the time to ensure you know where your stop tap is and it isn’t seized up and works. 2. Prevent water damage from the burst pipe. Protect everything around the frozen water pipe to avoid damage if it bursts. 3. Thawing out. Open the tap nearest to the part of the frozen water pipe so the water can flow through when it has melted. 4. Report the incident. Contact Suffolk Housing who will arrange for an inspection and any further repairs to deal with the emergency.
Beware Cold Callers, says Geri - Sheltered Scheme Manager, Ipswich This is a cautionary message for everyone to be aware of Cold Callers on the telephone. Two vulnerable Suffolk Housing Residents have over the last few months been talked into parting with large amounts of money for furniture which is hugely overpriced. They were misled into thinking that the Salesmen had been given their contact details by GP/ Hospital/AGE UK in order to help them. One lady received a telephone call one evening saying that they were calling to talk to her about a Reclining Chair that they thought she needed. She made an appointment with the Salesman who visited her the next day. During the appointment she was persuaded to buy a chair for the cost of £3,600 parting with a deposit cheque for £360. When she later told someone about it she was advised to cancel the cheque with her bank straight away. She subsequently went to cancel the cheque but it had already been cashed that afternoon by the Salesman. With further help, she was able to cancel the order but unfortunately lost her £360. Another person had the same problem with a bed salesman. Once again they lost £400. These Salesmen prey on the elderly and vulnerable because they pretend to care about their needs, but all they are interested in is getting money from their victims. If you receive a call from one of these
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companies do not be persuaded to make an appointment for them to visit you on your own, or if they do visit do not be pushed into making a decision there and then and parting with your money. If they are genuine they will be quite happy for you to take your time and seek advice from a family member or friend and contact them later. If you do need specialist items of furniture, speak to family or trusted friends and ask them to help you find a reputable company. There are also other support services which will help you. AGE UK is excellent at supporting the elderly or if you have an Occupational Therapist they too can help. If you have been talked into parting with large sums of money and you are either unhappy or concerned about it, contact your local Trading Standards Office. Remember you are not only protecting yourself by stopping these people, but you are also helping to stop other people being taken advantage of.
Ring the Changes
2013 has seen new faces and roles at Suffolk Housing, as you will see… > New Staff
Get on Board… The Board at Suffolk Housing has appointed three new members and for the first time an independent Chair of Audit. Board members can serve a maximum of 9 years under adopted rules and from time to time new members are appointed to keep fresh ideas coming into the organisation. In September the Board appointed Sue Harrison a former senior police officer in Essex, Joyce Fenton currently Head of Human Resources, Children, Families and Adults, at Cambridgeshire County Council and Bernie Fairman a Chartered Certified Accountant with a local private sector business.
The Board is led by a new Chair, Richard Carter who has served on the Board since 2007. At the same time the Board appointed Carole Taylor-Brown, former Chief Executive at Suffolk PCT and now owner of local consultancy Tamarix People, to lead our new independent audit committee and Lucy Allen, one of our leaseholder residents to chair the new Resident Scrutiny Committee. To find out more about our Board, Leadership Team and Governance generally why not look under the “About” section on our website.
Picture caption: Right to Left Sue Harrison, Bernie Fairman, Joyce Fenton, Martin Weaver, Richard Carter (Chair), Ian Tippett, Jolyon Larkman
The new Resident Scrutiny Committee, outlined by Lucy Allen the Chair. We are all feeling really pleased to have completed our review of Grounds Maintenance - our first ever as a Scrutiny Committee. It’s been challenging at times for all of us but we have bonded well as a team and helped each other which meant that the review went well. The team are very grateful to all the residents we spoke to, who emailed us back or answered questions for us.
We used the information received (anonymously) to help us write our report. The report was issued to senior management, the Board and the Chief Executive, and we feel this means that residents opinions are being heard, which is why we all volunteered in the first place. We are just starting to think about our next review, what it will be, when we will do it and how we’ll do it.
Ivan Barber, Technical Services Officer – Bury St Edmunds – From Riverside Maureen McDonald-Cooke – Housing Services Manager (Sheltered and Supported) Sarah Norman – Housing Officer – Ipswich – from Riverside Mark Alway – Housing Officer – Ipswich – new member of staff Joy Hemmings – Customer Services Advisor – new member of staff Lynne Fisher – Customer Services Advisor – temporary member of staff made permanent Dylan Waters – Business Support Apprentice – new member of staff Karen Borrett – Business Support Assistant – Ipswich – from Riverside Samantha Almond – Scheme Manager – Mildenhall – new member of staff
> New Roles Rob Longfoot – Housing Services Manager Liz Brinkley – Customer Services Manager Zoe Lucas – Financial Accountant Hannah Gardner – Business Support Manager Hazel Egan – Performance and Quality Manager Karen Moore – Corporate Services Director 7
It’s that time of the year again, time to reflect on the last 12 months, and to look forward to 2014, which I do with great excitement, and trepidation! The last year has seen much activity, with the new Resident Scrutiny Committee now formed and working on their first project, it was time to look at how Tenants Voice would be carried forward. The first thing was to look
at the way forward, and we decided that we wanted to be involved in meeting tenants, seeking their views, and raising our profile in the day to day business of SH. Always keeping the needs of the tenants in mind this will allow TV to take concerns to the Scrutiny Committee, who could then consider these when choosing their next project. We have been given the opportunity to do site visits with Housing Officers, visiting homes and talking to tenants. Some of us have taken a special interest in specific areas – so Sheltered Housing now has a representative on TV - Paula
Bone. Gill Pugh has been working on our calendar and Pam Edwards is also a Tenant Inspector. We have also welcomed some new members, but are looking for more – so if you would like to be involved please contact Martin Barnes-Smith our TLO, or any member of TV to find out more. May I take this opportunity on behalf of all the members of TV to wish you all Seasons Greetings and a happy and prosperous New Year. And remember if you see us out and about come along and say hello – and tells us your views on being a SH tenant.
Susan Feary Chair TV
Real Empowerment to our Residents I have visited many other housing associations and attended conferences in respect of tenant participation, the message I have brought back with me is that nearly all housing societies, in what ever guise they are, struggle with the true meaning of empowerment of tenants. Not so the case at Suffolk Housing. I truly believe with the new governance structure, support by senior managers and the Board that our tenants have that empowerment to make a real difference. As outlined by Lucy on page 7, the new Resident Scrutiny Committee recently completed
Here’s to
2014...
their first audit. What a task they were set. 6 residents working together to really dig down into the weeds of the service provided regards Grounds Maintenance. Supported by Tenants Voice and the Resident Inspectors they did exactly that. Staff, residents and contractors were interviewed, other housing societies were visited to see how they managed their contracts. The amazing thing is they only had 6 months to complete the work and submit a detailed evidenced report to Suffolk Housing. Like the true professionals they are, they completed
the task and their recommendations will play a major role in the tendering and selection process, running until March 2014, for a new contract in Grounds Maintenance. Well done Lucy, Danni, Michelle, Maureen, Lynn and Johnnie you did a great job, you have represented the tenants, been listened to and shaped the service provision at Suffolk Housing for the better. The report will be available to read on our website very soon at: www.suffolkhousing.org
As outlined in our recent annual report 2013: It doesn’t stop there, we won’t be letting up! Yes that relates to Suffolk Housing’s Value for Money Strategy, equally it can relate to everything Suffolk Housing does, because we won’t be standing still. Did you know 2014 brings the Ruby Anniversary for Suffolk Housing? Yes Martin B 40 years. It will be another great year, and at Suffolk Housing we are already arnes-Sm ith thinking of ways to celebrate and promote this milestone, watch this space!
your news & views Suffolk Housing, Old Mission House, St Botolph’s Lane, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 2AX Tel: 01284 767224 Fax: 01284 701573 Email:
[email protected] www.suffolkhousing.org Editor: Martin Barnes-Smith
your news & views
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