North edition - Nottingham City Homes

2 News from Nottingham City Homes August 2012 North Edition: Aspley•Bestwood•Bilborough•Bulwell News from Nottingham City Homes August 2012 North Edition: Aspley•Bestwood•Bilborough•Bulwell 3
Our drive for
to your edition of the Nottingham City Homes
newspaper for tenants and leaseholders
a message from the
Chair
Becoming involved in my local
community has led to great rewards
– and it could do the same for you.
I started getting involved in a small way with
my local tenants’ and residents’ group as I
wanted to make my local community better
for us all. That sparked an interest that
has led me to gain formal qualifications in
housing, becoming chair of your Board – and
being awarded the MBE!
But I couldn’t have done this without the help
and support from those at NCH – that’s why
I’m delighted about the launch of our new
Tenant Academy.
Anyone taking their first step to joining in is
bound to feel nervous and wonder if they
have the skills needed. This is where the
Academy can help you.
a message from
Jean
Getting involved can mean
different things to different people.
And this issue of NCH News really
shows that range.
Despite the awful weather earlier this
summer, our green fingered residents have
been able to keep on top of water-logged
gardens. The results of their hard work and
dedication can be seen on pages 10 and 11
where we showcase the winners.
Getting involved in the annual Garden
Competition is just one small way of
contributing to the vision of ‘creating homes
and places where people want to live’.
Another way is to join your local tenant and
residents group to make your community a
better place.
Sometimes it is the power of us getting
involved and working together that can have
a big impact on where we live.
They will
provide
support and
training to
give you the
confidence to
take your first
steps on what
could become
an incredible
journey for
you.
Learning new skills can not only lead to you
becoming more involved with NCH but also
lead to skills, experience and qualifications
that could help you find a new job.
There are so many ways to get involved
with Nottingham City Homes – you can find
out more on pages four and five. And why
not come along to our special event in the
Council House on Thursday 5 September.
So what are you waiting for Get involved today!
Janet Storar MBE
Chair, Nottingham City Homes
From the
smaller
projects on
streets to
groups of us
taking our
message to
Parliament, it all helps.
Those involved in the Tenant and
Leaseholder Congress ran the ‘Nott Decent’
campaign – and our working together
means thousands of you are benefiting from
improvements.
But your involvement can be as little as
making sure you give us your views – and
one way of starting this is by telling us about
what you think about our tenancy policy (see
page 11).
Jean England
Chair, Tenant and Leaseholder Congress
There’s still time!
You need to be registered to vote in the next
and following elections.
If you haven’t already had one, you’ll shortly
receive an election registration form. It is a legal
requirement to fill this in and send it back.
How do I register
If you have lived at your current home for
some time you will be sent a form with
pre-printed details on it. If all this information
is the same and you don’t need to make any
changes, just sign the form and send it back
to Nottingham City Council in the envelope
provided. If there are any changes, make
them on the form, sign it, and send it back.
If there are no changes you can register:
• by freephone (available 24 hours) –
0808 284 1483
• on the internet –
www.elecreg.co.uk/nottingham
• by text - 07786 209 383. You will need to
text us the two security codes on your form,
separated by a space.
The services above are available 24 hours
and open until 8 October 2012.
For more information, phone 0115 876 4111
or visit www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/elections
News from Nottingham City Homes
Communications & Marketing Team
Nottingham City Homes, Head Office,
14 Hounds Gate, Nottingham, NG1 7BA
Telephone 0845 330 3131
Minicom 0115 915 7447
Email marketing@nottinghamcityhomes.org.uk
www.nottinghamcityhomes.org.uk
Like us on:
nottinghamcityhomesinvolvement
Follow us on:
@nottmcityhomes
Summer round-up...
Perfect day
for Pride
This year’s Nottinghamshire Pride took place
under glorious skies at the Forest Recreation
Ground on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 July.
The festival offered a great fun day out for all
the family – with lots of interesting stalls and
fantastic live entertainment, including this
year’s headline act Basshunter.
The weekend started with a march from Old
Market Square to the Forest Recreation
Ground, which involved hundreds of people
waving rainbow-coloured flags and carrying
banners with messages of support.
Carnival
time!
Colourful costumes and a theme of
‘togetherness’ were the order of the day when
we took part in the Nottingham Carnival on
Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 August.
Tenants and leaseholders were heavily
involved throughout the planning stages and
on the day – choosing the overall theme, the
colours of the costumes and the float and
learning new dance moves for the parade.
Along with our partner – carnival troupe ‘Hya
Level’, and other community dance troupes
from across the city, we took part in the Big
Parade on the Sunday and had a stall at The
Forest Recreation Ground on both days.
In the run up to the big weekend we held
Riverside Festival
Although we weren’t as
lucky with the weather for
the Riverside Festival and
Nottingham Mela, we didn’t let
the rain dampen our spirits as
members of our Involvement,
Customer Service and
Rents team dodged the rain
showers and handed out lots
of information to the people
attending.
This year’s festival took
place on Friday 3 to Sunday
5 August, with the Mela
Festival being open on the
Saturday and Sunday. Over
the weekend, thousands
of people of all ages went
along to enjoy the fairground
rides, live music, to watch the
Olympics on a big screen and,
of course, to meet us!
Pictured: Nottingham City Homes staff get ready to join
the march.
An NCH team, took part in the march and we ran
an information stall at the event, where people
could find out about getting involved and how to
bid for properties through Nottingham HomeLink.
Pictured: Carnival costume making workshops.
workshops across the city where tenants
and communities came along to work on
the costumes and learn the dance routines.
The dance workshops were supported by
Nottingham Forest – they provided a dance
instructor to help the adults and children learn
the routines. Look out for the pictures in the
next issue!
Pictured: Talking to residents
at the Riverside Festival.
We’re supporting ‘Hope
Nottingham’ to provide food
gifts for families in need
throughout the city – and we
need your help!
We’re looking for donations of
any of these items:
• Milk (UHT or powdered)
• Sugar (500g bags)
• Fruit juice (cartons)
• Soup
• Pasta sauces
• Sponge pudding (tinned)
• Baked beans / tinned spaghetti / macaroni
• Cereals
• Rice pudding (tinned)
• Tea bags
• Instant coffee
• Instant mash potato
• Rice / pasta
• Tinned meat / fish / vegetables
• Tinned fruit
• Jam
• Biscuits or snack bars
And it’s not just food that’s needed. If you
have any bedding, clothes, towels or other
textiles that you no longer use, and they are
of good quality, then we’d love you to donate
these as well.
If you can spare anything at all, bring it to any of
our housing offices from Monday 3 September –
or drop things off at the Council House if you’re
coming to our conference on the 5 September.
On that day we’ll also be opening the doors of
our Tenant Resource Centre based at our
Head Office.
Nottingham City Homes staff will also be donating
during the week – so it will be a real team effort
among staff and tenants and leaseholders.
Anything you can donate will be greatly
appreciated and go towards making life just that
little bit easier for people who struggle the most.
For more about ‘Hope’ please visit
www.hopenottingham.org.uk