Inspire Magazine - Winter 2018

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ADVICE It’s never too late to start saving! Do you think that saving is what other people do, or don’t see the point in keeping some money aside? It’s good to have a goal - a holiday, new furniture or something new for you. Even the smallest amount can be handy when you need to find money in an emergency. And saving is much easier than you think! Savings apps are the latest way to save small amounts each week, month or whenever you can. Money Box This rounds up anything you spend, swiping the difference to your savings or investment account e.g. spend £2.40 on a coffee and it will transfer the 60p balance to your account. Please note as your money goes into an investment account, your savings can go up as well as down but you can control the level of risk. www.moneyboxapp.com Oval Money A savings and financial education app which integrates with Facebook, allowing users to contribute to their savings each time they post on social media. www.ovalmoney.com Bank savings apps Some banks have similar ways of saving such as Lloyds ‘Save the Change’, which also allows you to put the savings into someone else’s account to help them save. Check it out at: www.lloydsbank.com/savings/save-the-change.asp Ask your employer Your employer might have a savings scheme. This could come out of your wages. Credit Union Once you start saving you will be able to access low cost loans should the worse happen. Even when you are repaying the loan you will be contributing to your savings pot, so eventually you shouldn’t need to borrow. What a great feeling! www.manchestercreditunion.co.uk www.smcreditunion.co.uk Budgeting Cutting down on your spending is the ideal way to save money. Our Super Savvy Spending Diary will help you find out where your money is going and how you can start to save. Call us or search for Super Savvy Spending Diary on our website. If you’re cooking on a budget, find the cheapest supermarket at www.mysupermarket.co.uk They serve us right During our Community Soups we have proudly worked with Back on Track, a charity who support people that have experienced problems including homelessness, drug and alcohol issues, and mental health problems. Their café and catering service offer cookery skills to help their volunteers find their way into employment. Back on Track have kindly provided their very own tasty Chicken Masala recipe for you to try. Chicken Masala Ingredients 500g boneless chicken 1 medium onion finely chopped 1 tbsp ginger & garlic paste ½ can or 3 fresh chopped tomatoes ½ cup yoghurt 1 tsp chilli powder 1 tsp paprika ¼ tsp turmeric 1 ½ tsp coriander 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp garam masala Salt to taste 6 tbsp oil or clarified butter ½ cup chopped fresh coriander ¾ fresh green chillies chopped (optional) Method • Heat oil in a pan. When hot add the onion, ginger and garlic paste then fry until golden brown. • Now add half a cup of water, the chilli powder, turmeric, cumin, coriander and salt, and fry for one minute. • Add tomatoes and stir for 10 minutes or until the oil comes out, all the water is gone and tomatoes are soft. • Add chicken and fry it with masala for five minutes or until all the water from the chicken has gone. • Add yoghurt and fry until it has gone and you can see the oil. • Now add ½ cup of water, garam masala, coriander and green chillies. Lower heat, cover pan and cook for 15 minutes. • Serve hot with rice or naan bread. Our One Money team can provide individual advice on managing your money, simply call 0330 355 1002. 22
Your quick guide to how well we did during July to September 2017 Below are the top 10 performance indicators which were selected as the most important by members of our Scrutiny Panel. The panel is a group of customers and members of the wider community whose role is to challenge us to be the best we can and to help us to continue to improve in all we do. Amount of rent we have collected* We missed our target but the trend represents an ongoing improvement compared to the previous year thanks to a number of initatives, including more efficient and modern ways of working. (This includes payments made for rents as well as arrears, which is why the result can sometimes be higher than 100%) Percentage of homes available to new tenants* Fewer properties continue to be available, with only 246 new lettings, compared with 249 during the same period of time in the previous year. Average number of bids for each property advertised on Manchester Move Demand for our properties continues to increase and reflects the need for more housing in the city. Time to re-let properties once tenancy has ended Relet times have increased slightly as resources were diverted to support safety works during this period. LAST YEAR TARGET JUL - SEP 2017 98.57% 100.5% 98.90% 2.17% 2.50% 2.13% 132 90 164 18.99 days 17.00 days 21.67 days Calls answered within 20 seconds Ongoing improvements in the contact centre’s performance earned a result much closer to target. 74.22% 80% 70.25% Number of formal stage 1 complaints received The number of complaints received matches the equivalent point last year. Each case is taken seriously and used to help us improve our services. 10 Not applicable 10 Emergency repairs completed within 24 hours Performance has improved steadily since the start of the year and is expected to continue as we enhance our internal processes. Repair appointments missed because we couldn’t access the property A high number of repair appointments could not be completed as we could not gain access. We are therefore reviewing how we notify customers about their appointment. Not available Not available 100% 97.32% 6.00% 14.53% Properties with a valid Gas Safety Certificate All properties had a valid gas safety certificate at the end of September. 99.9% 100% 100% Properties sold through Right to Buy or Acquire We have sold a similar number of properties to the same point last year and aim to build 250 new properties by March <strong>2018</strong>. 28 Not applicable 27 *Result relates to April to September 2017 23
Page 1 and 2: homes health community support WINT
Page 3 and 4: NEWS Inside: Talking the talk Addre
Page 5 and 6: NEWS Talking the talk at The East M
Page 7 and 8: NEWS Changing your preferences onli
Page 9 and 10: NEWS Are you interested in buying a
Page 11 and 12: ENERGY Switch on to staying warm fo
Page 13 and 14: HOME Tips & tricks Here are some he
Page 15 and 16: What’s going on at... EVENTS Ther
Page 17 and 18: Proud to be On Top of the World PEO
Page 19 and 20: Have you heard? Once a month the Su
Page 21: PEOPLE Manchester children need fos

Inspire Magazine - Winter 2018

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