North edition - Nottingham City Homes

10 News from Nottingham City Homes April 2010 North Edition: Bestwood•Bulwell•Mapperley•Sherwood News from Nottingham City Homes April 2010 North Edition: Bestwood•Bulwell•Mapperley•Sherwood 11Allocations...Get involved...The event has been run for a number ofyears, but this year’s was the biggest andthe best yet!The day long conference gave delegatesthe chance to hear from a variety of partnerorganisations that included the HomeLinkteam, Nottingham Housing Aid, NottinghamCrime and Drugs Partnership, Children’sServices and others to highlight some of thebarriers and issues people face in findinga home and to give them information theyneed for their customers to best participatein the HomeLink service.The afternoon session saw delegates takingpart in interactive workshops, discussingissues raised by the speakers and puttingforward suggestions of ways in which wecan better engage with their customersSheltered makes senseOr are you on your own and just want tosocialise with people like you?If this is you, Nottingham City homes may havethe answer…If you are over 60 and looking for a move to improveyour quality of life, why not look at a new home inone of our sheltered complexes. These propertiesare available for rent NOW across the city.These homes are perfect if you want to liveindependently. But they offer the added peace ofmind that help is at hand if you need it.Every home is self-contained, which means youhave your own front door, and comes with a 24hour emergency alarm system.Most are one bedroomed flats, but we alsohave two bedroomed flats and a number ofbungalows. Most flats are in buildings no morethan two storeys high and most have lifts. Wealso have flats in some high-rise blocks withgreat views over the city. Complexes vary in sizebetween 16 and 96 properties.Linking upwith our partnersIs your home too big for your needs? Is it costing you too much to heat?More than 60 of our key partners attended our annual HomeLinkInclusion event at the Days Hotel Nottingham Thursday 4 March.Lots to do with people like you!One of the best reasons to live in shelteredhousing is meeting lots of people, and there’salways something going on.From day trips to talks, bingo, lunches, gardeningand a whole lot more, many older people likeliving with other people in similar circumstances.But it is up to you how much you take part –no-one will force you to!Increased peace of mindAll our sheltered schemes are linked to theNottingham On Call emergency alarm service.This provides help 24 hours a day, 365 days ayear at the pull of a cord or the press of a button.Want to look round?If you want to know more, perhaps even visit asheltered complex and meet some residents –just give us a call! You can talk to the ShelteredHousing Team on 0115 915 1616, or email us atshelteredhousing@nottinghamcityhomes.org.ukFind out where our sheltered housing complexesare by going to our website:www.nottinghamcityhomes.org.uk/supported_housingabout the HomeLink service. We’ll be takingthese suggestions forward to look at wayswe can better improve the service.Delegates came from a variety oforganisations, including other RegisteredSocial Landlords (housing associations),local community groups, Framework,Refugee Futures and Travelling Together.The feedback received from those whoattended was excellent with 100% ofdelegates who completed feedback formssaying that they felt more informed aboutthe HomeLink service from attending theevent. 100% said they would attend the nextevent and 97% said they are now in a betterposition to help their customers take part inthe services provided by HomeLink.How much does it cost?Less than you might think! Our sheltered homesstart from around £65 a week. When you’reready we’ll help you apply for any benefits,arrange your gas and electricity suppliers andmake it as easy as possible to move.How do I apply?You bid for properties you like through theNottingham HomeLink system. You need to beon the housing register to do that.Visit the HomeLink website to see what’s availablein your area www.nottinghamhomelink.org.uk.We also publish every empty home in Monday’sEvening Post.To find out more, or to ask any questions call us on0115 915 7167.Tenant and LeaseholderConference 2010Thanks to all of you who attended the Annual Tenant and LeaseholderConference on Saturday 20 March. This year’s event was held on aSaturday to make it easier for more of you to attend. It was organised bytenants and leaseholders and the agenda was set by what you told uswas important.There were speeches from Jean England, Chairof the Tenant and Leaseholder Congress, JanetStorar, Chair of our Board, Cllr David Liversidge,Portfolio Holder for Housing at Nottingham CityCouncil and our Chief Executive, Chris Langstaff.There was also a look back over the pastyear – ‘Celebration of Success’ – that includedupdates from various tenants, leaseholdersand employees. They focused on the SecureWarm Modern programme and its ‘One in aMillion’ apprenticeship scheme, Tenant andLeaseholder Involvement, Procurement andlast year’s e-auctions and Tenancy and EstateManagement, including our progress on tacklinganti-social behaviour (ASB) and the newdecorating scheme.Our visitor, Professor Richard Tomlins, gavea presentation on Equality and Diversity andcommunity cohesion.The day also included workshops on Equalityand Diversity, the TSA Local Standards andJustice Seen Justice Done – which was deliveredby Alan Breeton of Nottingham Crime and DrugsPartnership.Many thanks to all the tenants and leaseholderswho helped out on the day!You’re telling us about you!In the last edition of the newsletter,we included a questionnaire askinglots of questions about you. This isto help us tailor our services to meetyour needs. You’ve been sendingthem back in your hundreds – whichis fantastic and thanks to all of youwho have returned them!We’ve had such a great responsethat we’ve extended the deadline forreceiving these until the end of May.Don’t forget, all completed forms willbe placed in a prize draw for £100 inshopping vouchers.Recycled the last newsletter? Notto worry! The form is also available atyour local housing office or from theHousing Service Centre, 14 HoundsGate, Nottingham NG1 7BA.Get InvolvedMonth logoIn the last edition of the newsletter wetold you that Hashil Murshid (pictured)was the worthy winner of our GetInvolved month competition.This competition encouraged children fromNottingham’s local primary schools to sendin their drawings of how they think we shouldpromote the Get Involved Month, being heldin September this year.We’ve taken Hashil’s design and createdthe brand identity, pictured above, that willbe used on everything we do to promoteGet Involved Month. We think it keeps allof the excellent elements that Hashil putin his original design and will always beaccompanied by a note saying that theoriginal concept was by Hashil himself.We’ll be telling you all about Get InvolvedMonth in the next edition of the newsletter.In the mean time, keep a close eye out forHashil’s design and don’t forget to get involved!