In Touch autumn 2007 - Teign Housing

News from theresidents’ groupsIpplepen and DistrictThe group’s AGM was held in July and was well attended.Gary Cooper was re-elected as Chair and Lynn Greenawayre-elected as Secretary. It was Pauline Gooding’s birthdaythe same day so a birthday cake was presented to her andthen enjoyed by everyone with their cup of tea.Buckfastleigh and DistrictTheresa Farris attended the groups AGM in July to talkabout supported housing. Elections for the committeewere held - Barbara Bray was re-elected as Chair, AlanWakely re-elected as Treasurer and Julie Bishop elected asSecretary.The group is now busy arranging another bingo eveningand the annual Christmas party – look out for more detailscloser to the time.Exminster and DistrictTeign Housing Chief Executive, Mike Hanrahan, was theguest speaker at the groups AGM on 22nd August. StuartStone was re-elected as Chair, Alf Vicary as Vice-Chair andAnne Vicary as treasurer. The committee is looking for asecretary. If you live in the area and would like to helpout please let us know. So far this year the group haveheld their meetings in Exminster and Starcross and will beholding a meeting in Kenton soon.The Roboroughs, AshburtonThere are now plans in place to create a play area and thegroup hope it will be up and running before too long andthe children will have somewhere to play.Following a request by the group, skips were provided byTeign Housing for residents to clear any rubbish they had.This was a great success and the estate is looking tidier.The groups AGM was held in June and the followingcommittee was elected:Gaye Myhill was elected as Chair, John Raffell was electedas Vice-Chair, Marie Grant was re-elected as Secretary andRoy Andrews was elected as acting Treasurer.Link Tenants’ Group, Newton AbbotThis group is now meeting every two months in thecommunity room at Highweek Primary School. The lastfew meetings have focussed on the improvements beingcarried out to residents’ homes. People who have had theimprovements have been able to talk to those who aredue to have the works in the near future as well as talkingto Teign Housing staff and contractors.News from the Tenants’ ForumThe Tenants’ Forum AGM was held on 17th July. Therewere two presentations from guest speakers.Firstly, representatives from Ian Williams, the newresponsive repairs contractor gave a presentation on howthey were going to manage the contract and the systemsthat they and Teign Housing were putting into place toensure the best possible.Secondly, John Beaman, Chairman of FORT SW (Forumof Regional Tenants of the South West) gave a talkexplaining how the organisation came to exist and itsaims and objectives for the future in the light of theGovernments emphasis on Regional Strategies. FORT SW ismade up of tenant representatives from Social Landlordsin the South West of England. Their aim is to give aunited voice and ensure effective lobbying of Governmentand the national housing bodies for the needs andproblems experienced in the South West of England.Finally, the election of the officers of the Forum tookplace:Chair - Pam Harding returned unopposedVice-Chair - Stuart Stone returned unopposedPress Officer - Ray Shrubb returned unopposed.The Tenants’ Forum is open to anyone wishing to attendas a guest. If you would like to attend a meeting, pleasecontact the Tenants’ Resource Centre on 01626 366862or Julie King on 01626 322751. Future meeting datesare 16th October, 20th November and 18th December,starting at 6.30pm in the Board Room at Teign Housing’soffice, Newton Abbot.Your resourceThe Tenants’ Resource Centre, situated in Teign Housing’s office inNewton Abbot, is run by volunteers who are all Teign Housing tenants.It is a place where you can come and have a cup of coffee or tea, usethe internet and get information on housing. We are looking at theother services we could provide to make the centre an even betterresource for tenants.We are currently talking to the Council for Voluntary Services (CVS) andthe local credit union, with a view to them providing a service from theResource Centre on certain days of the week. We would also like to runsome training sessions for tenants so look out for these in the future.What would you like to see in the resource centre? If you have any ideasplease contact us and let us know, after all it is your resource!Complete and return this form with your suggestions, call the ResourceCentre on 01626 366862 or email: tenants.forum@btconnect.com Wewould love to hear your ideas!Stuart Stone, Vice Chair of the Tenants’ ForumName________________________________________________Address_ _________________________________________________________________________________________________Phone number_________________________________________Email address_________________________________________Suggestion___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Stepping into thebusiness worldMy name is Alan Sanders and I aman economics student from ExeterUniversity. I have been working forTeign Housing over the summer ona placement through Shell Step. Theplacement is designed to help medevelop my business skills while Icarry out a project to help improve theperformance of the company.I have spent my time here making surethat all the ways you tell us aboutyourselves – through satisfactionsurveys, TeignCare sign-up forms, theresident census – is held in one placeon our computer system. This will helpto ensure that each team within thecompany has the information theyneed to do their job well.Some of you may recognise me fromthe recent corporate planning day,where I helped with some of theactivities. I would like to thankeveryone I have had contact with formaking my placement enjoyable andsuccessful.Also on a Shell Step placement wasSophie Thomas from Cardiff University,who has been working within theHuman Resources department. Sophiehas contributed to developing a“disaster recovery plan” to make sureTeign Housing can keep providingservices in an emergency situation likethe flooding of the office or an estate.She has also has made improvementsto the staff recruitment and appraisalprocess to make sure the best peopleare employed to provide you with thebest care.Sophie and I hope you find that inthe following months Teign Housingcontinue to improve the services thatthey provide to you, with help from thework that we have undertaken.Alan and Sophie14 15