issue 38 - Eastlands Homes

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Community Grant helps 12 local groups Congratulations to the 12 local organisations who were awarded a total of £1,790 by customers on our neighbourhood assemblies in our latest round of community grant applications. The successful groups include: • Friends of Clayton Park: £200 towards Jubilee celebration party • Mill Court Tenants Group: £190 towards new gardening club • Peterchurch Tenants Association: £150 towards planting initiative • Waytars tenants / residents: £250 for equipment in new community facility • Lingfield Road Tenants & Residents: £175 for new seating area • Friends of Birchfields Park: £100 towards community fun day • Rose Court: £150 towards community ‘pamper day’ • Healthy Ardwick: £100 towards football competition • Brailsford, Mosely, Braemar and Balmoral Residents Group: £100 towards Jubilee party • Coverdale and Newbank Community Association: £100 towards Jubilee party • Gortonia Community Arts Association: £50 towards digital photography workshops • Gorton Visual Arts: £225 towards craft session for residents of a sheltered housing scheme The Eastlands Homes Community Grant supports projects and activities operating in east and south-east Manchester. Applications are encouraged from all of our areas, but must benefit the local community in order to be considered. Application forms and further information is available at www.eastlandshomes.co.uk/ communitygrant or on request by visiting your local Eastlands Homes office or calling your local Eastline team. Applications for consideration in the Summer submission must be received by 5pm on Tuesday 31 July 2012. Concessionary Gardening We recently carried out a tender process for the concessionary gardening service. ‘Greenfingers’ were chosen and have been supplying the service since April. If you receive the concessionary gardening service you will notice that the workers wear high visibility vests with both Greenfingers and Eastlands Homes logos on the back. You can contact your local Eastline each month to find out the approximate date that the gardeners will be attending your home. After each maintenance visit, the contractor will leave you a feedback form for you to complete and return. Your feedback is vital as it allows us to deal with any problems and get these sorted to ensure that you are happy with the service you are receiving. Early feedback has said that the new service is working well: “The best up to now, very pleased” “The workmen were great, they did a great job, best workers ever.” If you don’t currently use the concessionary gardening scheme, but would like to, call your local eastline now to see if you are eligible. 14
Tap Hygiene It is important that taps that are used for drinking water are kept clean. The water coming out of your tap is safe but bacteria can live in the kitchen and some can grow both on the outside of the tap an inside the lip of the spout. They are not visible to the naked eye, but the tap can become contaminated from foods or items washed in the sink. For this reason, you should never allow food to come into contact with the end of the tap. Key water tips • Regularly clean household taps thoroughly using a mild household disinfectant ensuring that you wash inside the spout. • After cleaning the tap, run it for a few moments to remove any remaining disinfectant. • Don’t leave the dishcloth on the tap to dry. Taste and odours Customers occasionally report that their tap water has an unpleasant taste or odour. These complaints are often of a chlorine smell or a chemical, bitter or medicinal taste. Sometimes this taste occurs only in boiled drinks, especially tea, or when a glass of water has stood for some time. There could be several causes, the commonest of which are given below. However, if you get a sudden or unusual taste or smell with your drinking water contact you water company so that they can investigate the problem. Outside taps and hosepipes A hosepipe connected to an outside tap can present major risk to water quality in the home. If there is a sudden reduction in mains pressure, contaminated water could be sucked back through the hosepipe into your home. Key water tips: • Outside taps should be protected with a double check valve to prevent backflow. Now hose taps are available with a double check valve built into the tap. Separate double check valves are also available. • Never place the hosepipe outlet into the drains, garden ponds, buckets or watering cans containing chemicals like fertilisers or pesticides. • Hosepipes should be fitted with a self-closing flow control (such as a trigger spray gun) and be hand held when in use. Returning to a vacant property If your home is empty for two weeks or more and water has not been used, then the quality will deteriorate. This can lead to taste and odour problems and in extreme cases illness. Ground Maintenance Continental Landscapes have been awarded the Grounds Maintenance contract to maintain over 300,000 sqm of Eastlands Homes open and communal spaces. This will involve: • Carrying out litter pick prior to cutting grassed area’s • Cut all open space grassed area’s • Clear footpaths abounding grassed area’s of clippings • Cut back hedges and shrub’s twice a year • All grass collected at first cut • Weed treatment to all hard standings • All shrub area’s to be tended to on grass cycle and to be weed and litter free • Pedestrian mowing routes to be edged. As part of their commitment to employing local people on their contracts, Continental Landscapes have employed two people from CVs provided by us from our local residents, and will continue to use this a source, for recruiting new staff as required. Continental Landscapes will be working with us to create a tram of Green Inspectors made up of customers who will act as our eyes across our estates. 15
Page 1 and 2: Summer issue 2012 no 38 Customer Pa
Page 3 and 4: Diamond Jubilee Sheltered Housing S
Page 5 and 6: Encouraging you to have an input Th
Page 7 and 8: Customer Involvement Getting our sh
Page 9 and 10: Community Safety Hate crimes A hate
Page 11 and 12: The Green Scene Tips and ideas on h
Page 13: Repairs Service Type Our Target 11/

issue 38 - Eastlands Homes

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