One newsletter Winter edition 2015

Winter 2015
onehousing.co.uk
Growing
our extra care
homes – Season
Festive
rubbish
Cracking
down on
the rubbish
dumpers
Making a small
difference locally

One newsletter: Winter 2015
WELCOME
by Mick Sweeney
In this issue, you’ll read about all the latest
news inside One Housing, find out about how
we’re keeping up with the demand of Britain’s
ageing population with our extra care brand
Season and how we supported our resident
Ghada set up a homework club where she
lives.
With the festive season fast approaching,
I would like to send you all season’s
greetings and wish you all a very happy
New Year. If you do need to contact us
during the holidays, you can find our
office opening hours on page 3.
I hope you enjoy your winter newsletter
and please do feel free to send your ideas
on stories and items you’d like to see
in future issues to comms@onehousing.
co.uk.
Get social
Are you on Facebook, Twitter or
LinkedIn?
If so, please ‘like’ and ‘follow us’ to get
our latest news, find out about events or
get advice.
‘Like’ us on Facebook
Facebook.com/onehousing
Follow us on Twitter
@Official_OHG
Connect on LinkedIn - get
professional updates and
job vacancies (every week)
linkedin.com/company/onehousing-group
Contents
Welcome to your winter newsletter
Festive opening hours
Inside One Housing
Readers’ Corner
Keeping warm without the
worry this winter
Cracking down on the rubbish
dumpers
Making a small difference locally
Fun things for all this festive season
02
03
04
06
08
09
10
11
2

onehousinggroup.co.uk
Festive opening hours
We hope you have a problem-free Christmas and New Year,
but if you do need to get in touch, here are the opening
hours for our Customer Contact Centre and offices during the
festive period.
Customer Contact Centre
You can call the Customer Contact Centre as usual during the following opening hours on
0300 123 9966 or 020 8821 5300.
If you live in the Maidenhead area, please call Housing Solutions as normal on 0800 587
9941 to report any repairs during office hours and emergency repairs outside of these
times.
If you live elsewhere, call 0300 123 9966 to report emergency repairs to our out-of-hours
service.
Thursday 24 December (Christmas Eve): 9.00am – 4.00pm
Friday 25 December (Christmas Day):
Monday 28 December: (Bank Holiday):
Tuesday 29 December:
Wednesday 30 January:
Thursday 31 onwards: (New Year’s Eve):
Friday 1 January: (New Year’s Day)
Saturday 4 January:
Closed
Closed
Open as normal
Open as normal
9.00am – 4.00pm
Closed
Open as normal
Chalk Farm, Suttons
Wharf South,
Maidenhead and
Millwall offices
Thurs 24 December (Christmas Eve):
Fri 25 December (Christmas Day):
Mon 28 December: (Bank Holiday):
Tues 29 December:
Wed 30 January:
Thurs 31 onwards: (New Year’s Eve):
Fri 1 January: (New Year’s Day)
Sat 4 January:
9.00am – 4.00pm
Closed
Closed
Open as normal
Open as normal
9.00am – 4.00pm
Closed
Open as normal
Rent reminder
Please remember to pay your rent over the festive period just like any other time of
year to avoid putting your home at risk if you get behind with payments.
If you are having trouble, we want to help. Call us on 020 7428 4272.
3

One newsletter: Winter 2015
One Housing in the news
Career woman and mum
of two wins In-House
Solicitor of the Year award
In October, Annemarie Roberts our Assistant
Director of Income and Legal
Operations won the Law Society’s
excellence award for the best “In-House
Solicitor of the year”.
Annemarie, who was over eight months
pregnant at the time, won the award for
her hard work and dedication. She is
responsible for leading the organisation’s
legal, customer and leasehold accounts,
purchase team and service charges and
rent setting functions.
Annemarie says: “I’m honoured to win the
‘in-house solicitor’ award from the Law
Society. I was up against colleagues from
highly commercial and charitable environments
who I admire and respect very
much. I was supported by mentors early
on in my career and I want to do the
same and encourage other talented people
to pursue a career in law.”
You can read more about Annmarie’s win
on our website.
Take care when trying to
get in contact with us
A company with a similar number to ours is
receiving a high number of calls from residents
asking to be put through to someone at One
Housing. This often leaves residents frustrated
when the company cannot help them with their
request.
The company has a similar phone number to
our Customer Contact Centre and we would
like to remind residents and customers to take
extra care when dialling to stop this incident
from happening. You can contact us on 0300
123 9966 or 020 8821 5300.
Avoid the carrier bag
charge – pick up a free
cotton shopper
In October, the Government introduced a 5p
charge on all plastic bags given out at supermarkets
and large stores.
To help save the environment
and save you from the extra
charge when shopping - pick up
a free cotton shopper bag from
your local housing office or email
the Communications Team at
comms@onehousing.co.uk who
onehousing.co.uk
can pop one in the post to you.
Every little helps.
Keep us updated
If your contact details change, please let us
know in case we need to get in touch. You
can let your housing officer or homeownership
advisor know or get in touch with our
Customer Contact Centre on 0300 123 9966
or 020 8821 5300.
4

Resident opens her home to
Councilors and staff
onehousinggroup.co.uk
Value for Money
at a glance
We’ve published our 2014-2015 Value for Money
report. Here is a snippet of what we’ve achieved
in the last year.
850
213
£1.25m
We invested £1.25m this year to help over
850 residents into training & employment
with 213 securing a job with our support.
Last month, residents Mr and Mrs Vatoci who
live at Saxon Court, King’s Cross, kindly opened
up their home to local Councillors and our Directors.
Councillors were keen to see the new modern
flats, which were built, as part of the
regeneration project at King’s Cross. This
opportunity provided councillors to ask our residents
in the area questions about their home
and the local area.
Mr and Mrs Vatoci said they were very happy in
their home and happy with the services
provided. Thank you to Mr and Mrs Vatoci for
welcoming them into your home.
Readers’ survey
competition winner
Thank you to everyone who completed our
readers’ survey. Getting your feedback will
help us improve the newsletter greatly.
We’re pleased to announce the winner of the
prize draw is Chriff Djeddoo who has received
£50 in high street vouchers. Congratulations
Chriff!
If you’d like to feedback or give your
uggestions on how we can improve - send them
to comms@onehousing.co.uk. If you would
prefer to receive the newsletter by email – let
us know too.
300k
2.3%
We have improved
rent collection within
our housing care and
support team resulting
in an all-time low arrears
level of 2.3%.
22
£75k
£87k
One Direct, our new
internal maintenance
service, has cut the
cost of refurbishing
empty homes by an
average of 30%. This
year this saved us
around £300k.
£75k £87k
Handling 22
anti-social behaviour
cases
in-house saved
over £87K in
legal fees.
You can find the full report on our website
onehousing.co.uk
5

One newsletter: Winter 2015
Readers’ corner
Have something to share with
our readers’. Write in or email
us about the things we have
helped you with or anything
to do with your home or
neighbourhood.
“The refurbishment of my new
home has been very worthwhile
even though the temporary
decant was very stressful. Thank
you to the Project Coordination
team at One Housing for being
very helpful throughout this
stressful time.”
Mrs Norman
“The cinema trip took a great
deal of planning and effort and
the results certainly proved this
was first class. The staff gave
me the impression that nothing
was a problem at any time.
Thank you for a wonderful day.”
Active at 70 member
“I would just like to take this
opportunity to thank the gas
engineers Ben and Jay who
carried out a very difficult boiler
replacement and relocation
in our flat, last week. The
work was complicated and
very physical but they were
good humoured and made
sure everything was working
properly and cleaned up to a
high standard before they left.”
Mrs Macdonald
“We had our grass cut today
from a lovely bloke, he done
such a brilliant job on his own
and tidied up. We would all like
to say a thank you to him.”
Ms Green
Get in touch:
Write to us at: Communications Team, One
Housing, 100 Chalk Farm Road NW1 8EH
Email – comms@onehousing.co.uk
Post on Facebook: facebook.com/onehousing
6

onehousinggroup.co.uk
Roden Court
Growing our extra care homes
to help our ageing population
We have a range of properties that are
designed exclusively for older people, offering
them the chance to live independently in their
own homes, with services on hand if they need
them. These homes are marketed under Season
our senior living portfolio.
Season offers beautiful retirement housing for
sale and shared ownership in London and the
South East. We develop and manage homes
that are contemporary, vibrant, age-adapted
and in desirable locations. Why? Because
Britain has an ageing population and there is a
gap in the market for affordable, high quality
homes that let older people keep their
independence with the security of skilled care
and support available to them.
We’re currently building over 400 units across
London and Home Counties, with the
majority set for completion next year. Once
finished these affordable homes will aim to
provide aspirational living and increased sense
of community with a range of on-site facilities
such as. Our current extra care properties –
Roden Court, Roseberry Mansions and Esther
Randall Court will also join our Season portfolio.
Roden Court
For more information visit seasonhomes.co.uk.
7

One newsletter: Winter 2015
Keeping warm
without the
worry this winter
Free home
energy saving
courses
Cold homes can have a miserable impact on
your health, especially during winter.
Keeping warm can help prevent colds, flu and
more serious health problems for our older residents
such as heart attacks and strokes so it’s
important to keep warm both indoors and
outdoors. Here are some tips on keeping war
and safe:
• Heat your home to at least 18C.
• Keep your bedroom window closed on winter
nights – breathing in cold air can be bad for
your health as it increases the risk of chest
infections.
• Keep active when you’re indoors – move
around every hour or so.
• Get cosy - wearing several thin layers can trap
warm air close to the body.
• Make sure you’re receiving all the help you’re
entitled to – learn how to make your home
energy efficient, improve your heating and
keep up with your energy bills. Gov.uk/phe/
keep-warm.
Our Volunteering team is running short
courses on how to keep your home warm and
energy bills down. The course will cover:
• top tips on reducing energy use and saving
money
• winter fuel payments
• switching suppliers
• understanding your bills and tariffs
• switching suppliers and top tips.
The courses are free and held in our community
centres. All attendees will receive a free energy
saving gadget that will allow you to monitor
your energy use at home.
Register your place by contacting Anthony
Hind on 020 8821 5164 or email
ahind@onehousing.co.uk.
8

onehousinggroup.co.uk
Cracking down
on the rubbish
dumpers
Festive rubbish
We know that many of you dispose of your
rubbish the right way and recycle wherever
possible. But a minority of residents are still
dumping rubbish incorrectly. In some cases,
there have been reports of rubbish actually
being thrown off balconies and out of windows.
This causes a real danger of injury to anyone
who may be walking below the flats.
In an incident last month on the Isle of Dogs, a
six-year-old girl walking along the path outside
one block was nearly struck by a glass jar that
had been thrown out as rubbish from a window
above; the police are now involved in this matter.
Over the Christmas period, more waste is
produced so it is important to recycle items such
as wrapping paper, glass jars and food packaging
where you can. Check with your local council
to see which items are recyclable.
Real Christmas trees can also be recycled as part
of garden waste. Visit your council’s website for
information on where to leave your tree after the
festive period and for collection dates.
Dumping rubbish, whether on the streets or in
front gardens is an eyesore as well as an
environmental hazard, particularly when the
rubbish includes items such as used nappies and
sanitary towels. We all have a role to play and
need your help to reinforce the message that
this behaviour is not right or safe and to help
make sure our communities are where people
really want to live and work.
Contact your local council by phone or visit their
website if you need to arrange for the removal of
bulky household items. A charge is usually made
depending upon the number of items.
If you have a car, you can always dispose of any
recyclable and bulky items by taking these to
your local household waste disposal skip.
If you notice someone dumping large
items of rubbish on your estate, please
report the incident:
• online at onehousing.co.uk
• by calling our Customer Contact Centre
on 0300 123 9966
• by calling us on our duty line on 020
8821 5344 if you live in Berkshire.
9

One newsletter: Winter 2015
MAKING A SMALL
DIFFERENCE LOCALLY
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10

onehousinggroup.co.uk
FUN THINGS FOR ALL
THIS FESTIVE SEASON
The festive season is once again on our doorsteps and there are plenty of things to
do – whatever your age. Why not take advantage of the holidays and have an outing
with the kids, snap up a few festive bargains or show off your ice skating skills.
We’ve picked a few activities that you all can enjoy; prices will vary for each so go
online for more information.
Berkshire
• Santa’s Grotto on the high street,
Nicholson’s Centre – opens on 5, 12 and
19 December.
• Come as yourself and leave as an Elf -
trail around the town centre to become
an Elf for the day. For more information
visit enjoymaidenhead.com
Central and West
London
• Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park London –
open until Sunday 3 Jan.
• Barbican Christmas Market - 10 days of
seasonal shopping – 12 Dec to 21 Dec.
• More London Christmas Market, London
Bridge – open until 21 Dec.
• Southbank Centre Winter festival, South
Bank – buy arts, crafts, street food
• Adventure to Santa’s Grotto – Westfield,
Shepherd’s Bush, open until Thurs 24
Dec.
East London
• Columbia Road Christmas Wednesdays,
Bethnal Green – late night Christmas
events and shopping - every Wed until 23
Dec.
• Winterville – festive playground, indoor
kids area, bazaars, street food – fun for
all at Victoria Park, South Hackney - open
until 23 Dec.
North London
• Islington Christmas Market, over 60 stalls
selling gifts, crafts, food and Santa’s Grotto
- open until Sat 19 Dec.
11

How to contact us
Website
onehousinggroup.co.uk
General enquiries and complaints
0300 123 9966 / 020 8821 5300
customerenquiries@onehousinggroup.co.uk
Complaints by email
complaints@onehousinggroup.co.uk
Repairs 0300 123 9966
cscmaintenance@onehousinggroup.co.uk
Berkshire residents
0800 587 9941
contact@housingsolutions.co.uk
Local housing offices
One Housing Group
(Head office)
100 Chalk Farm Road
London NW1 8EH
Maidenhead office
Ground Floor
25–27 Broadway
Maidenhead SL6 1LY
Suttons Wharf South
44 Palmers Road
London E2 0TA
Millwall office
12 The Quarterdeck
London E14 8SJ
Castalia Square office
17 Castalia Square
London E14 3PQ
Translation
This newsletter is also available in other languages, large print, Braille
and audio format upon request. Please contact 0300 123 9966 / 020
8821 5300 or visit your local housing office.
0300 123 9966 / 020 8821 5300
[Arabic]
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য 0300 123 9966 ( ) / 020
8821 5300 ( )
য [Bengali]
0300 123 9966 / 020 8821 5300
[Traditional Chinese]
Na życzenie można również otrzymać ten biuletyn w innych wersjach
językowych, w powiększonym druku, w języku Braille'a lub nagrany
w wersji audio. Prosimy skontaktować się z nami telefonicznie pod
numerem 0300 123 9966 / 020 8821 5300 lub odwiedzić swój lokalny
urząd mieszkaniowy (housing office). [Polish]
www
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farta Braille ee dadka indhaha la' iyo nuskhad dhegeysi ah marka la
codsado. Fadlan la xiriir lambarka 0300 123 9966 / 020 8821 5300
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ln, ch ni Braille và đnh dng âm thanh nu có yêu cu. Xin vui
lòng liên h 0300 123 9966 / 020 8821 5300 hoc ghé thăm văn
phòng nhà ti đa phương ca quý v. [Vietnamese]
10 reasons to choose My Home
Contents Insurance Scheme
• Flexible regular Pay-As-You-Go
payment options
• No fuss, quick and easy to apply
either through the post or over
the telephone
• No excess (you don’t pay the
first part of the claim
• Covers theft, water damage and fire
• Covers damage to internal
decorations
• Covers accidental damage
to sanitary fixtures such as
toilets and washbasins
• Covers damage to external glazing
for which you are responsible
Terms & conditions, exclusions & limits apply. A copy of the policy wording is available on request.
Ask your landlord for a free application pack or to apply for cover today, call My Home on:
0845 337 2463
(it may be cheaper to call
• Covers lost or stolen keys and
freezer contents
• You don’t need to have special
door or window locks
• You don’t need to have a
bank account
01628 586189 from a mobile)
email: myhome@thistleinsurance.co.uk or visit www.thistlemyhome.co.uk
Made for
Tenants &
Leaseholders
T E N A N T R I S K S
5441_04/10
12
The National Housing Federation My Home Contents Insurance Scheme is a product name arranged and administered on behalf of the National Housing Federation by Thistle Tenant Risks.
A trading style of Thistle Insurance Services Limited. Lloyd’s Broker. Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. A JLT Group Company. Registered Office: The St Botolph Building,
138 Houndsditch, London, EC3A 7AW. Registered in England No 00338645. VAT No. 244 2321 96. The National Housing Federation is an Appointed Representative of Thistle Insurance
Services Limited.