Digital storytelling project wins

Tenants’ Newsletter
December 2013
Viewpoint
Digital
storytelling
project wins
award
read more on page 11
Broadacres Housing Association Limited is an exempt charity
Freephone 0800 587 5291
www.broadacres.org.uk
Chairman’s Christmas
message
Every year I look forward to watching one of my favourite Christmas movies - "A
Christmas Carol"- and every year I get a lump in my throat at that moment when the
anti-hero comes good. Scrooge realises that a small gesture can have a huge impact.
He sends an enormous turkey on Christmas Day to the home of his assistant, Bob Cratchit, and in so doing
effectively saves Tiny Tim's life.
It's with this thought in mind that I offer to you the opportunity to do something similar (though not on that scale).
Broadacres is privileged to be at the heart of the Hambleton FoodShare, and I would urge you to buy that extra
bag of rice or tin of ham and donate it to such a worthwhile initiative. It will be of enormous help to those around
us who will have little this Christmas, and - who knows - may make a life changing difference to someone.
Then, we can properly share Tiny Tim's sentiments, "God bless us, every one!"
Have a very Happy Christmas!
Brian Mayne
* You can donate to the Hambleton FoodShare in the following ways:
-
Send a cheque made payable to Hambleton Foodshare to Suzanne Smith at Broadacres' head office
-
Make a bank payment directly into the Hambleton Foodshare account CAF, sort code 40-52-40 and
account number 00023262
-
Food donations can be made to New Life Baptist, Methodist Church, Age UK, Zion URC and Richmond
& Hambleton Furniture Store or Broadacres - all based in Northallerton
Board update
At Broadacres’ Annual General Meeting
elections were held for the Board
of Management,
Tenants of Broadacres had been invited to
nominate tenants to sit on the Board. Two
candidates were put forward for the one
vacancy and Austin McNamara (pictured)
was re-elected to the Board.
The terms of office of two other Board
members, namely the Reverend Canon
Brian Mayne and Paddy Burke, had also
come to end and both had
indicated they wished to
stand again.
As no further nominations
were made, this meant
that both Rev Mayne and
Mr Burke were re-elected
to the Board of
Management.
02
Our phone service
Our phone service is now available
from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday
on 0800 587 5291 (free from a landline)
or 01609 767900.
Calls are handled by a team of experienced
staff who aim to deal with your query at first
point of contact. They can give advice and
information about all our services and if they
are unable to assist will pass you to the relevant person.
We are particularly busy between 8am and 11am so if you
can phone outside these hours, you should get through
more quickly.
Over the Christmas period our full phone service will be
available until 6pm on Christmas Eve and from 8am on
2nd January.
At other times we will offer a service for emergency repair
calls only. We have now appointed Coast and Country
Housing Association to answer phone calls ‘out of hours’.
Please only phone (using the same numbers) if you have
an emergency repair that must be attended to.
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
Volunteers win award
Three volunteers who have helped to raise
thousands of pounds and given up thousands
of hours of their time to help people living in
one of our extra care schemes have had their
tireless work recognised through an award.
Christine said: “We are reliant on volunteers and
without their continued help and support we
wouldn’t have been able to provide the social
activities which play such an important role in the
health and wellbeing of the residents.
Wendy Braithwaite, 55, and sisters Pauline Taylor,
54, and Debbie Albinson, 52, recently received
the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation Team Award in
the ‘Cornerstone of the Community’ awards held
by Newcastle Building Society.
“We are very lucky to have Wendy, Pauline and
Debbie because finding good volunteers is like
gold dust, and they thoroughly deserve this
award.”
The award is in recognition of their volunteer
work over the last seven years at Town Close, a
40-apartment extra care complex owned by
Broadacres in North Road, Stokesley.
The trio provide companionship for the elderly
residents, as well as raising money for the Town
Close social fund and running weekly activities.
They were nominated for the award by Melanie
Hall, Support Worker, and Christine Foy,
Broadacres’ Extra Care Coordinator at Town Close.
Wendy and Debbie, who both live in Stokesley,
and Pauline, who is from the town but now lives
in Rillington, Malton, say they were shocked
when they discovered they had won the award.
They said: “There were so many groups that
deserved to win so it was very flattering when our
names were called at the awards ceremony.
“Being a volunteer, especially in somewhere
like Town Close, is very rewarding and you
certainly feel like you are making a real difference
to peoples’ lives.”
■ From left to right: Award winners Pauline Taylor, Debbie Albinson and
Wendy Braithwaite.
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
03
Meet
Broadacres’
Rent
Collection
Team
■
Back row: Norma, Julie, Mike, Amanda,
Jayne & Cathy Front row: Joanne M,
Amy, Joanne B & Karen
Our Rents Team is here to collect the rent that pays for the services you receive.
Tenancy Support Team
Rent Account Managers
Amanda Donkin & Jayne Stamp
help those affected by Welfare
Reform changes, to offer advice,
support and referral to other
agencies.
The Rent Account Managers
look after anyone who has got
into a higher level of debt on
their account:
Rent Advisor
Karen Norton: Northallerton,
Bedale & Bainbridge
Amy Evans
looks after the low level debts,
and prevents people from getting
into high arrears
Cathy Heavey: Northallerton,
Richmond & Catterick
Amy also manages recharges
and garages.
Norma Hodson: Thirsk,
Ryedale & Ripon
Julie Holmes: Easingwold,
Selby & Sherburn-In-Elmet
Joanne Bennett: Stokesley,
Great Ayton & Brompton
Debt Recovery Team
Joanne Muir & Michael King
manage the debts of our
former tenants – working with
specialised Tracing Agents
and managing our small claims
court cases.
They also deal with invoicing
and collection of recharges when
someone leaves their home
and we have to spend additional
money to put it right!
Each member of the team has been fully trained to guide and assist you with any
questions you may have:
We can:
• Assist you making a claim for
Housing Benefit
• Refer you to other agencies if
we think you could benefit
from some additional help
I noticed that the rent payments
were not very regular. From
this, I found out that the family
were affected by the bedroom
shortfall. I booked an
appointment and went to visit.
I spent almost three hours with
the family and discovered that
there were other financial
problems.
Julie, Rent Account Manager:
Over the last five months I have:
I have a tenant whose
relationship has broken down
and her partner has left the
• Organised a £700 write off
payment towards her
Yorkshire Water bill.
• Check if you are receiving
the right money
• Help you budget your money
effectively
04
property. She has a son and
works, but is on a low income.
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
• Visited Housing Benefits to
ensure her claim was made
on time and up to date.
• Obtained a Discretionary
Housing Payment (DHP)
towards the rent – worth £26
per week.
• I am now advising on how to
deal with other debts – and
who can help her with those.
I regularly check the account to
make sure the rent is being paid
and I am currently helping her
with another DHP claim.
Continued
Paying your rent if your circumstances change
Started work or had a
change in working
hours?
• Let the Department of Work
and Pensions (DWP),
Housing Benefit and Council
Tax Department know
straight away.
• You must tell us within 7 days.
Lost a job or contract
has come to an end?
• You must make a claim for
Job Seekers Allowance
straight away. We also
recommend making a claim
for Housing Benefit so that
they will pay the rent on your
behalf without any gaps.
Working but off due to
sickness?
• You may qualify for a range of
support including Housing
Benefit which could cover
your rent until you have
returned to work. You can
either contact your local Job
Centre for further advice or
Broadacres – we will try and
help out where we can.
Change to your
household?
• Somebody moved out or in
(lodger or family member)? –
you must tell the DWP, Housing
Benefit and Council Tax straight
away to avoid any possible
overpayments and charges.
• Had a child? – You should
ring the DWP (Tax Credits)
straight away, and notify
Housing Benefit so any claim
you have can be updated
straight away and you don’t
fall into any debt.
• If you are unsure, give us a
ring – we are here to advise
and help you know what you
need to do!
Your rent must be treated
as a priority and paid
every week.
If you want to pay at longer
intervals, it must be paid
in advance.
Contact the Rents Team: 01609 767900/0800 587 5291 or email rents@broadacres.org.uk
Tackling Housing Fraud
in North Yorkshire
Social housing fraud costs the public purse at least £900 million
each year.
In 2012, nearly two million families were on a waiting list for social housing. In North
Yorkshire there are more than 13,000 people registered with North Yorkshire Home
Choice, with over 1,000 in gold banding. Homeless families often have to enter
temporary accommodation due to a lack of available housing. The total cost to the
public purse of housing these families is nearly £1 billion each year.
Broadacres is working with Veritau Ltd – a counter fraud organisation – and other social housing providers
across North Yorkshire to tackle housing fraud and we need your help to do so.
How to spot a fraudster
• If you never or only very rarely see the tenant, call us. If a property is empty or not being
lived in, it should be made available to someone who needs it.
• Do you live near a housing association/council property where the tenants keep changing? It could be
sublet and the real tenant making money from it. It’s estimated that 98,000 social housing properties in
England are being unlawfully sublet.
• Do you know someone who has lied to be housed? They may have lied about where they used to live,
how many people are in their family, or about other property they own. Lies like these take homes from
people in greater need.
To report suspected fraud in complete confidence, call Veritau’s fraud hotline on 01904 552935 or
email counter.fraud@veritau.co.uk.
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
05
Broadacres now has a new website
The new site, which still has the same
www.broadacres.org.uk address, features an
animated home page, complete with a moving
Broadacres Property Services van and a street ‘scene’
that uses real-life images of our properties/schemes.
The biggest change we have made to our site is reducing
the amount of pages whilst still ensuring
the information that is important to our residents
and other stakeholders is still available.
We believe the new site is now much easier to navigate,
with three main headings aimed at existing customers,
people who wish to find a home and anyone interested in
the various services we provide (see page 16).
It is still very early days for the website and we will adapt it
in response to any feedback we get, so any views you
have would be appreciated.
Please email us at info@broadacres.org.uk or call us on
0800 587 5291 or 01609 767900.
Mulberry bears fruit
Mulberry Homes Yorkshire is advertising
the first properties on the exclusive
Sowerby Gateway development in Thirsk.
In the first release we will have a two-bedroom
house and a three-bedroom house for sale
via a shared ownership lease, followed by a
further two four-bedroom homes and
one three-bedroom house.
In the first instance, these homes will be for
people with a local connection to the Thirsk
area. Anyone interested in the shared
ownership properties and wanting further
information can visit our website or contact
New Homes Coordinator Kath Stansfield
on 01609 767972.
In this phase we will also have four twobedroom homes and two three-bedroom
homes for rent and these will be advertised
through North Yorkshire Home Choice.
Anyone interested should register with North
Yorkshire Home Choice and the homes will
be advertised around March 2014.
06
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
Paddles up
A Richmond teenager has returned from the world
kayaking championship with a world ranking to
match his age.
Richard Pawley was one of the youngest competitors in the 2013
Freestyle Kayaking Championships held in North Carolina, USA,
and his performance at the event (he competed in the ‘Squirt
Boat’ category) has earned him a world ranking of 17, which is
the age he turned when he was out representing his country.
The generosity of family, friends and the local community helped
pay for Richard and his father to travel to the event. This
included sponsorship provided by Broadacres, which runs the
ABLE Day Centre in Colburn where Richard’s brother Stephen
attends. Richard is pictured left with Stephen and ABLE
Manager Lynn Tompkinson.
Richard’s achievement is even more impressive when it is considered he is still receiving treatment to shrink
a tumour in his nose that was discovered during a routine operation 18 months ago.
Lynn Tompkinson, Manager of the ABLE Day Centre, said: “We are all very proud of Richard and his big
brother Stephen is especially pleased that he did so well.”
Christmas activities
To get everyone in the festive spirit, we are holding a number of Christmas-related activities in our
supported housing schemes.
Alverton Primary School will perform at The Orchards on the 16th December. Father Christmas has kindly
agreed to come early to see the visiting schoolchildren so family and friends are especially welcome.
Throughout December, at Rivendale in Northallerton, we have a special offer of a Christmas tea, which
includes a sandwich, piece of cake or a mince pie and a cup of tea or coffee, all for £2.50.
For those people living near Rivendale who will be alone on Christmas, we have a number of limited places
for Christmas lunch. Please call on 01609 781096.
Christmas fairs have already been held at The Orchards and Rivendale, with festival stalls for the public
to enjoy.
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
07
Wedding anniversaries
Ruth and Tom Maddison
Ruth and Tom, from Great Ayton, recently celebrated their
60th (Diamond) wedding anniversary.
The couple met at Guisborough Fair when they were 16 and 17
and married in Christ Church, Great Ayton, when Tom was 21
and Ruth 22. They have lived all their life in Great Ayton and
moved into their house from new in 1957.
Ruth and Tom married when Tom left the RAF. Tom was a
service engineer working on photocopiers and printers for
many years. Ruth has had a number of jobs including bus
conductor and barmaid.
They have two children – David and Diane and four grandchildren, Laura, Louise, Jenny and
Michael. They have one great-grandson Stanley, who is 18 months old, and is their pride and joy.
Tom enjoys aero modelling and has made a number of exceptional models, as well as running classes and
attending shows and exhibitions on the subject. Ruth likes doing jigsaws, playing bingo and knitting.
Tom is very fit and goes walking every week with his son, as well as walking holidays abroad. He also
regularly walks up Roseberry Topping.
When asked the secret of 60 happy years, Tom said it was keeping quiet and Ruth said it was doing
things together.
John and Bobby Gaunt
John and Bobby have just celebrated their 70th (Platinum)
wedding anniversary.
The couple met in the RAF during the war. She was known as
Bobby because of her bobbed haircut. John worked in
newspaper advertising on a Middlesbrough paper before the
war and returned afterwards – they then moved around a bit
and initially retired to Norfolk.
The couple then moved to Oswaldene, Osmotherley, some
years ago to be nearer their only son who lives in Saltburn.
They have a granddaughter who has a small market garden
in West Rounton and supplies Roots with organic vegetables.
Bobby loves knitting and also spinning and weaving.
08
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
Hats off to knitters
Several Broadacres staff got their knitters in a twist – but it’s all in
the name of charity!
Broadacres is supporting this year’s ‘The Big Knit’, a joint campaign
between Age UK and Innocent Drinks to help vulnerable people.
Six members of staff, Sandra Donnelly, Julie Ford, Elsie Collu, Amanda Barfoot, Fiona
Coleman and Amanda Aveyard, along with residents living in The Orchards extra care scheme in Brompton and
Rockliffe Court physical and sensory disabilities scheme in Hurworth, have knitted over 300 bobble hats for the
campaign.
The hats will go on top of Innocent Drinks, with 25p from
every hat-topped bottle sold being donated to Age UK.
Elsie Collu, Broadacres’ Care Services Administrator,
explained: “The money raised for Age UK through the
campaign helps to keep older people warm and well in
winter through befriending visits, emergency cold
weather support, warm meals and other vital services.
Assistant,
s
Service
Care
Julie Ford, Finance Assistant, Elsie Collu,
Administrator, and Amanda Barfoot, Management Accountant.
■ Pictured from left to right: Sandra Donnelly, Finance
“As a company which provides services for older people
we know how vital this support is, and with so many
eager knitters at Broadacres we were delighted to be
able to contribute to the campaign.”
Anne gets on her bike
Anne Ash, Broadacres’ Finance
Administrator, joined 89 other women
in October cycling across Cuba.
Our staff and residents have
also been involved in other
charitable events over recent
months, including:
The monies raised will be split equally between Breast
Cancer Care, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust and Ovarian
Cancer Action. Each participant had to raise a
minimum of £2,900, which Anne (pictured right) raised
through organising various events and games locally
and at Broadacres.
-
Several people raised
thousands of pounds for their
chosen charities by completing the
Great North Run
-
We raised money by taking part in Jeans for Genes
day at head office
-
We had a coffee and cakes morning at head office
and raised £145 for Macmillan Cancer Support
-
Our three extra care schemes in Northallerton,
Brompton and Stokesley raised £510 by taking
part in the Macmillan Coffee Morning.
The ride involved cycling 400kms over five days
through unspoilt Cuba using local roads with a local
Cuban back-up team. The women also met local
schoolchildren and supplied clothes, stationery and
sports equipment they had brought from the UK. The
experience was challenging and worthwhile, especially
after training in the rain on the Yorkshire hills and dales.
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
09
CUSTOMER INVOLVEMENT @ BROADACRES
The Fun Factory
Broadacres’ Community Involvement Team launched the
new Northallerton Youth Club in September.
The young people that attended were given the opportunity to
win a £20 gift voucher of their choice by naming the club.
Gerrard Bickerton, 7 (pictured), thought up the winning name,
‘The Fun Factory’. Gerrard is a keen footballer who plays for
Brompton Juniors FC and wanted to spend the gift voucher
on a new pair of football boots and shin pads.
Twenty young people from the Northallerton area attended
the opening session and took part in a welcome party with
music, games and party food. Other planned activities include clay model making,
cake decorating, lantern making, music sessions and much, much more.
Broadacres were awarded £500 from the Police Disposal of Property Fund for the project, which
has been used to purchase a pool table, a games console, lots of arts and craft materials, and to
cover room hire. We have also recently received £1,000 from the Esh Charitable Trust which will
help with ongoing running costs.
Seven Broadacres’ tenants have kindly volunteered to help at the club and we would like to thank
them for their support. We are also very grateful to the Governors of Mill Hill Primary School for
allowing us to use their premises.
Like!
Facebook is a great way for customers to share
their views and have any general queries
answered, so why not ‘like’ our page at
facebook.com/broadacres
Our Community
Involvement Facebook
page has passed the
magic 200 ‘likes’ mark and to celebrate we
gifted one of our ‘liker’s’ a £50 Love2Shop
gift voucher.
All 200 names were put in a hat and the winner,
Annabelle Jane Robinson (pictured right) was
selected by Glyn Mucklow, Chair of the
Performance and Improvement Panel.
After being notified of her win, Annabelle shared
that she was “so happy” and that she had
“never won anything before.”
The Facebook page was set up around two
years ago by the Community Involvement Team
and recently we have seen a flourish of new
‘likes’ and customers are engaging with us
more and more frequently.
10
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
By Andrew Gledhill, Broadacres’
Creative Engagement Facilitator
We recently ran an ‘Open Door’ project in
Northallerton, which was aimed at giving us an
insight into what Broadacres’ tenants value,
individually and as a group.
This involved encouraging tenants and
residents to ‘open their doors’ in order to have
conversations about what really matters to
them and their families.
Using a fun and quirky activity - portrait
photography and audio recordings - we
engaged with around 250 Northallerton
residents over a period of four days, asking
them to pose for a portrait, either in their
homes or on the street. The participants also
got a print of their own portrait to keep. We also
asked participants a simple question designed
to start a conversation about values.
The question was: ‘your home is on fire and
you and your family (including pets) are safely
outside. If you could save one item from the
house what would it be?’
CUSTOMER INVOLVEMENT @ BROADACRES
Opening doors
Answers ranged from mobile phones to family
photographs, often with underlying values
attached such as the importance of friendship
and communication, and how family and
memories are seen as more important than
material objects.
By focusing on these values we were able to
understand what is important to our residents,
which will help shape our approach to
community engagement in the future.
The photographs you see on this page are part
of a larger group of portraits and during the
next few months some of these will be
projected onto buildings in the Northallerton
area to form an external mobile exhibition.
This type of engagement can provide
inspiration for future community activity and
engagement and we believe that when
individuals participate in a positive experience,
they can become motivated and energised to
participate on many levels.
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
11
CUSTOMER INVOLVEMENT @ BROADACRES
More funding successes
As well as money for the Fun Factory, the Community Involvement
Team has been busy over the last few months helping to attract muchneeded funding for community based projects, including:
• Police Crime Commissioner funding towards materials for
young people undertaking reparation work on some flats in
Northallerton - £3,863
• Hambleton Community Grants Scheme towards the costs of hosting
various activities connected with celebrating the 10th anniversary of
The Orchards Extra Care Housing scheme - £1,350
The team also joined forces with Rural Arts to help attract funding through the
Skills Funding Agency for a community learning pilot. The project was developed to engage customers in a
programme of creative workshops and encourage them to participate in supported learning with qualified
tutors in a non-threatening, accessible and friendly environment. Customers from Broadacres, supported
schemes at Maggie Neil House and Leyburn Lodge took part in these workshops. Comments from
participants included:
‘Good to meet new people who accept you for who you are and develop new skills’
‘It has given me a real sense of achievement’
The photograph above show some of the ceramics made by customers that took part. It is hoped that
further workshops for the schemes involved can be delivered in the New Year.
If you would like more information about Rural Arts you can contact them on 01845 526536 or visit
their website www.ruralarts.org
Community Development Fund
‘Stroke Forward’ is a voluntary group that supports people who have survived a stroke.
They were recently awarded £485 from our Community Development Fund.
The funding will help to keep the group running and provide much-needed mutual support between
survivors for the next year. The group was set up primarily for Hambleton, Richmondshire & outlying
areas, however, people from the Dales & Darlington also attend the group.
The group would welcome anyone who
was treated at the Friarage and James
Cook Hospitals and anyone referred to
them by the Stroke Association. It meets
regularly at our Rivendale extra care
scheme in Northallerton. For more
information about the group contact
David, a stroke survivor himself,
on 01609 776699 or
david_jestin@yahoo.co.uk.
Broadacres has supported a wide range
of local organisations with grants of up
to £500 from our Community
Development Fund. If you are part of a
local organisation that may benefit from
the fund, you can find our more by
visiting www.broadacres.org.uk/Services
/Community-Development-Fund/
12
■ Tenant Francis Dutton (left) and Tenant Bob Cook (right)
present a cheque to David Jestin, Chairman/Secretary
of Stroke Forward.
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
A digital storytelling project that aims to
capture the different and interesting lives of
people living in our homes has won a
prestigious housing industry award.
in 1990 aged 50, set the world motorbike sprint
record riding his high-powered motorbike
120 miles an hour along the Elvington race
track in York.
The project won the Innovation and Technology
category in the Northern Housing Consortium
‘Northern Silver Screen’ awards.
Led by Andrew Gledhill, Broadacres’ Creative
Engagement Facilitator, we have captured a
number of amazing stories involving our
residents.
Andrew Gledhill said: “By getting people to talk
about different aspects of their lives and
capturing this using audio visual technology
such as film, animation and photography, we
are aiming to build up a digital storytelling
library that can be shared and enjoyed by
everyone.
These include Rich Deakin, from Snape, near
Bedale, who once played football against a
young Pele in America. Rich (pictured on the
front page) was playing for a team in Chicago,
where he had emigrated, when their encounter
took place.
“The whole reason for undertaking the project
was to demonstrate that people living in our
homes have lived interesting and varied lives
and we have unearthed some amazing stories.
“Winning the award was totally unexpected but
we are absolutely delighted.”
He went on to work for the Chicago Fire
Department before he, and his American wife
Mary-Lou, returned to live in the UK.
If you live in a Broadacres home and have a
story you would like to share please contact
Andrew Gledhill on 07854 765714 or email
andrew.gledhill@broadacres.org.uk
Another story captured by Andrew involves
Jack Graham (pictured below), of Bedale, who
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
CUSTOMER INVOLVEMENT @ BROADACRES
Award-winning stories
13
CUSTOMER INVOLVEMENT @ BROADACRES
Review of
Planned
Maintenance
The Performance and Improvement Panel (PIP), has
recently completed a review of Broadacres’ planned
maintenance service.
The review looked at the installation of new kitchens,
bathrooms, boilers, heating systems, windows and
doors, at a time when the work was being carried out
by contractors. The Panel concluded that overall a
good service is provided to customers, but made a
number of recommendations for improvements, as
well as identifying some positive practices.
Broadacres’ staff are currently investigating the
recommendations to see how they can incorporate
them now that a lot of the work is done by Broadacres
Property Services. The Panel would like to thank all
staff, contractors and fellow customers who took part
in the review. A copy of the review report is available
on Broadacres’ website and paper copies are available
on request.
The Panel is a group of customers that review
performance and services. It has been in existence
for over two years and we are keen to encourage new
We want
your views
Early next year we will be
contacting some of you to ask
you what you think about our
services. It is 2 years since we
did our last customer satisfaction
survey and we want to know if
you are still satisfied with what
we do and how we can improve.
We won’t be contacting everyone
but will make sure that we have a
representative sample of views.
Please help us to keep improving
our services by completing and
returning the survey.
14
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
■ Resident David McIntosh Powrie, 74, sent us a
complimentary letter saying he was so happy and
pleased with the new kitchen we fitted in his home.
involvement in the group. If you are a customer
and are interested in joining the Panel please contact
Emily Thomas 0800 587 5291 or 01609 767963,
or email emily.thomas@broadacres.org.uk for
further information.
Glyn Mucklow, Chair of the Performance and
Improvement Panel
Young offenders ordered by the courts to repay their debt to society are helping to transform an
overgrown allotment site in a North Yorkshire village.
CUSTOMER INVOLVEMENT @ BROADACRES
Allotments transformed
Under the supervision of the North Yorkshire Youth Justice Service, the young people aged 14 to 17
have been working on allotments owned by Broadacres just off Main Street in Topcliffe, near Thirsk.
Due to under-use, the allotments had become overgrown, but thanks to the efforts of four youths
(pictured above with members of the Youth Justice Service) they have now been transformed. This has
included cutting hedges/bushes, removing weeds and debris and cutting the grass.
Christine Norman, Broadacres Housing Officer for the Topcliffe area: “We are delighted that this
partnership with the Youth Justice Service has resulted in the allotments being tidied up and they now
look fantastic.
“People were being put off renting an allotment due to the state of the site but they are now much more
attractive and we hope this will lead to more people taking a plot.
“The Youth Justice Service are going to continue maintaining vacant plots for us and we have given
them a plot free of charge to thank them for the work they have done.
“The fact these young people are trying to turn their lives around and do something meaningful for the
community is very inspirational.”
Dave McKenzie-Brown, Reparation Officer for the North Yorkshire Youth Justice Service, said: “The four
youths who carried out the work committed low level offences and were ordered by the courts to
undertake work in the community to repay the damage they have caused by their offending.
“They have shown a great worth ethic whilst learning skills that may enhance their future employment
prospects and hopefully this positive experience will reduce the risk of them reoffending in the future.”
This is part of a number of reparations projects that Broadacres, Customer Involvement Team –
Emily Thomas, Chris Norlund and Andrew Gledhill – are working on with the Youth Justice Service
across the areas where it has homes.
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
15
Services for you
Did you know as a customer of Broadacres you are able to access a wide variety of
services that range from an oil purchase scheme through to affordable home
contents insurance? The services we offer are as follows:
Day care
Based in Colburn, North Yorkshire, our ABLE Day
Centre provides an opportunity for people with learning
or physical disabilities, mental health issues or
dementia, to engage in meaningful activities which
help to improve concentration, aid dexterity, encourage
decision-making and promote social interaction. These
activities include card making, watercolour painting,
glass and pottery painting and woodcraft.
Home contents insurance
The contents of your home and
your personal possessions are your responsibility
and we strongly recommend that you arrange home
contents insurance for this reason. Our specialist low
cost insurance scheme can provide cover from as little
as £2.33 (for those aged 60 and over) and £3.50 (for
those aged under 60) per month.
Home improvement agency
/Handyperson service
Our small household repairs service,
which operates in the Hambleton,
Richmondshire, Ryedale and
Stockton-on-Tees areas, is aimed at
doing all those small but essential
jobs that you feel no longer able to
manage and that will take less than
three hours to complete, for example
putting up shelves, curtain rails or
assembly of flat pack furniture.
Oil purchase scheme
Our oil purchase scheme assists those customers
who would prefer the option to pay for their heating
oil by making monthly payments. We believe it’s
easier to budget for oil by paying monthly and
we have negotiated a 2.5p litre discount with two
local suppliers.
Hambleton FoodShare
Hambleton FoodShare is a
community partnership
supported by Broadacres which
provides emergency three-day
food parcels for people who are
struggling to feed themselves
and their families due to various circumstances.
Money advice
Broadacres want to advise and support you if you
are having financial problems and we offer a free,
independent and confidential money
management and welfare
benefits service. We can
provide advice on
budgeting, debt,
welfare benefits and
financial products
such as basic bank
accounts and home
contents insurance.
16
Richmond and Hambleton
Furniture Store
Based in Northallerton, we can supply
good quality used furniture and
electrical items to people on low
income and those in need of
affordable household items.
Older persons support
Our service operates throughout Hambleton District
and provides support to older and vulnerable people,
with the aim of allowing them to remain in their own
home and maintain their independence.
Hambleton Lifeline
Our emergency alarm call and monitoring service
is aimed particularly at enabling older people, the
disabled and the vulnerable to continue to live in
their own home with greater confidence and security.
The service is available no matter where you may live
within the Hambleton district, irrespective of whether
you are a Broadacres’ tenant.
Community Development Fund
We have grants of up to £500 available to assist
community based projects in areas where we
have housing.
If you are interested in any of these services,
more information is available on our website or
you call us on 01609 767900 or 0800 587 5291.
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
Putting charity to the fore
An amazing 96 golfers took part in our annual
charity golf tournament.
Held at the prestigious Rockliffe Hall Golf Club in
Hurworth, near Darlington, we had 24 teams
competing in the event.
It was a case of four seasons in one day as golfers
experienced a mixture of rain, hail and sunshine,
during their rounds, but it failed to dampen the
enthusiasm.
Everyone then retired to the 19th hold for a twocourse dinner followed by presentation of prizes for
the person nearest the pin and longest drive. A raffle
was also held.
Jim said: “I would hate to
have gone through what our
family did without their support
and I am absolutely delighted that
Broadacres have been able to raise so much money
through the golf day, it really will make such a
difference.”
We would like to express our appreciation to all those
companies who supported the event through
entering a team, providing sponsorship and donating
raffle prizes.
A fantastic £4,000 - a record for Broadacres in our
20th year - was raised and this money will go to
Candlelighters, a charity set up and run by parents of
children who have, or have had, cancer. We chose
Candlelighters because one of our members of staff,
Jim Clace, is a supporter of the charity. His 11-yearold grand-daughter, Megan (pictured right with her
brother Joshua), died tragically of cancer on
Christmas Day. A Broadacres’ resident, Mark Alder,
was among the golfers and Candlelighters supported
his family following the death from leukaemia of his
nine-year-old brother.
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
17
Focus on winter
With winter now definitely upon us here
are some useful tips which will hopefully
prevent some of the problems which can
happen if we have severe weather.
Things to do
-
Make sure any exposed pipes and outdoor taps
are insulated to prevent them from freezing. This
is particularly important if you are using an
outhouse as a utility room.
flow again. Do not use a direct flame on any
frozen pipework.
-
Turn water back on to check nothing is leaking.
-
If problems persist please contact us.
If your pipes burst
-
Turn off the water supply.
-
Turn off electricity at the mains if water is near.
-
Contact us.
-
Check your guttering is not blocked or cracked
and there are no obvious roof repairs required.
-
Make sure that you can turn off the water, gas
and electricity.
-
Report any problems to us.
You may want to consider keeping an emergency
kit, such as blankets, drinking water and nonperishable food. You may also wish to draw
up an emergency plan, e.g. where would
you go if you had to leave your home.
-
Make sure that you have insurance to cover the
contents in your home (see page 16).
Snow and ice
During periods of cold weather
-
Keep your heating on a low setting or a
regular timer to prevent pipes from
freezing and damp problems occurring.
-
If you have a gas or oil condensing boiler (there
will be a white plastic pipe discharging from
beneath the boiler) then set your boiler
thermostat to maximum. Your room thermostat
will still control the temperature in your home. In
addition, clear any snow or ice from the outside
drain where the condensate pipe finishes.
-
Keep pathways clear and safe.
If you are going away
-
Let us know so we can advise you how to
prevent frost damage.
-
Leave a key with a trusted person and ask them
to check on your home whilst you are away.
-
If you can do so, leave the loft hatch open.
In freezing or snowy conditions, in most areas
Broadacres is not responsible for taking any action,
even if the roads or footpaths belong to us. If they
have been in public use for more than 20 years they
will have become a public right of way and
Broadacres does not have any legal responsibility to
clear snow or spread salt.
Some of our estates have salt bins for you to use
on the public areas. The cost of them is either
included in your “estate services “service charge
or is paid for by your Parish Council. A few estates
still have salt bins that are not included in the
above arrangements. As they still have salt in them
we have left them on site. We will, however, not
refill them and will arrange for them to be removed
when empty.
If your pipes freeze
18
-
Turn off the stopcock and open
all hot and cold taps.
-
Warm the pipes with a hairdryer or wrap warm
towels around them until the water starts to
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
HOW ARE WE PERFORMING?
Target
Dec
12
March
13
June
13
Sept
13
% of emergency faults
attended to within 24 hours
100%
n/a
n/a
99.2%
99.6%
% of appointments kept
>95%
92%
94%
99%
99%
Average satisfaction
with the repairs service
>9
9.6
9.6
9.6
9.6
100%
99.9%
99.9%
99.9%
99.9%
>75%
66%
66%
62%
66%
<21 days
26 days
28 days
27 days
26 days
>9
8.9
9.5
9.1
9.3
% of correspondence responded
to within 5 working days
100%
95%
95%
96%
95%
% of resolved Stage 1
complaints responded to in
full within target time
>96%
95%
93%
96%
87%
Measure
How does this
Are we on
compare to
target?
last quarter
Repairs
% properties which have a
valid gas servicing certificate
Customer
Service Centre
% of handled calls answered
within 20 seconds
Other Measures
Average time to re-let
a property
Average new
tenant satisfaction
Better
Same
Worse
On track
Near to
target
Missing
target
If you would like to know more about how we’re performing, including any other areas you would like us
to report on, then please contact Carl Doolan (Housing Services Manager) on 01609 767935 or email
carl.doolan@broadacres.org.uk
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
19
Mustard chicken with winter vegetables
This is a great way to make a chicken go further,
and the mustard gives it that little kick
Ingredients
• 1 chicken, about
1.8kg/4lb in weight
• 2 onions
• 6 celery sticks
• 6 carrots
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 1 tsp black
peppercorn
• 50g butter
• 3 small turnips,
peeled and cut
into wedges
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tbsp wholegrain
mustard
• 3 rounded tbsp
crème fraîche
• good handful
parsley, chopped
pot, add the onion and lardons, then gently fry for 5
mins until just starting to brown. Add the remaining
veg, then fry for 2 mins. Stir in the flour, then cook for
1 min. Measure 900ml stock (if you don’t have
enough, make it up with water), then gradually add to
the pan, stirring. Cover, then simmer for 20-25 mins
until vegetables are tender.
• 100g smoked bacon
lardons
Preparation method
1. Put the chicken in a large pot. Halve 1 onion, 1
celery stick and 1 carrot. Add to the pot with the
herbs, peppercorns and a sprinkling of salt. Add
water to come halfway up the chicken, bring to the
boil, then cover tightly and simmer for 1½ hrs. Cool
slightly, remove the chicken to a dish, then strain the
stock into a bowl.
4. Return the chicken to the pan with the mustard
and crème fraîche, then return to a simmer, stirring
gently. Season and sprinkle with parsley.
Per serving
2. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, strip
the meat from the bones and tear into pieces with
your hands.
3. Chop the remaining onion, and cut the celery and
carrots into thick slices. Heat the butter in the same
If you have a favourite recipe you would like
to see included in future editions please phone
Emily Thomas on 01609 767963 or email
emily.thomas@broadacres.org.uk
£50 winners!
Your feedback is very important to us and in order to encourage a higher
level of satisfaction surveys returned to us we run a prize draw.
All customers who return a survey with their name and address on it will be entered into a monthly draw to win
£50 (if you owe us money we will deduct this from the prize). The winners over the last few months were:
January 2013 – Mr Stones from Carlton
February 2013 – Mrs Marshall from Thirsk
March 2013 – Miss Herron from Northallerton
April 2013 – Ms Workman from Northallerton
May 2013 – Mr Marsay from Great Ayton
June 2013 – Mrs Blakeburn from Billingham
July 2013 – Mrs Lambert from Pickering
August 2013 – Mrs Stockley from Bedale
September 2013 – Mr and Mrs Watson from Northallerton
Thank you to everyone who completed a satisfaction survey.
Your feedback helps us to know what we are doing well and
where we can make an improvement to our service.
If you ask, we can supply this document in large print, in Braille,
on CD, in picture format and in languages other than English.
Freepost RRBZ-TATA-BYHL Broadacres Housing Association,
Broadacres House, Mount View, Standard Way,
NORTHALLERTON, North Yorkshire DL6 2YD
20
Viewpoint Tenants’ Newsletter It’s not just about the bricks
Resource Housing Reg. No. 2111