Bron Afon Impact Report - September 2016-17

Community involvement is
at the heart of what we do
We want to improve
the quality of life, and
life chances, for our
residents
We want people
to influence and
help shape Bron
Afon’s priorities
We will involve the
right people at the
right time
Impact report
September 2016 to
September 2017
We will make
it easy for
people to
have their say
Together we
can make a
difference

Impact report September 2016 to September 2017
The feeling is mutual
As a mutual organisation we have community involvement
at the heart of everything we do and we are now celebrating
the first year of our dedicated involvement strategy.
We’re proud that our mutuality
makes us stronger and helps to
bring our REAL values to life
through the amazing hard
work of our staff and members
together.
Respect
Engage
Ambition
Listen
The Bron Afon Board
Mutual respect, Mutual support,
Mutual learning, Mutual goals
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Impact report September 2016 to
September 2017
What difference
does it make?
The Community involvement
strategy sets out 7 key outcomes
that we want to achieve:
Broader
involvement
from across our
tenants and
residents
Participants
feeling valued
and listened to
A more tailored
and relevant
approach based
on people’s
interests
Tenants, residents,
members and
communities
empowered and up
skilled to participate
effectively and
confidently
Communities
feeling
supported and
empowered to
make change
Involvement
being the
norm within
service areas
Services
developed and
improved as a
result of
involvement
With the help from some amazing volunteers we have seen some very
encouraging progress throughout 2017.
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Impact report September 2016 to September 2017
Broader involvement from across our
tenants and residents
We have seen great commitment from a lot of local people who have contributed to a
range of decisions, improvements and projects!
We reached a total of 2148 Bron Afon Members, an increase of 325
in the year.
468
were actively
involved
3059
volunteer hours given to projects,
meetings, workshops and events
Participants feeling valued and listened to
We always ask participants questions about how being involved in activities and sessions has made
them feel. The responses over the last 12 months have been very positive;
98%
said they feel that they were
able to make a contribution
98%
said they felt they were
listened to
99%
said they felt part of the
discussion
97%
said they felt that their views
were valued
97%
said that they had gained
new or useful information
Participants have told us that
taking part has made them feel:
Good! Feel
valued as a
tenant, to get
feedback is
good.
Part of the
bigger picture.
That we have
real input and
ideas that we
come up with
are listened to.
Part of a
working team.
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Impact report September 2016 to September 2017
A more tailored and relevant approach
based on people’s interests
We use what we know about our members to invite them to meetings, workshops
and events that we think will interest them. Some examples include:
1
We invited pet owners, those who have made
complaints about pets, and a local animal charity
to help us review our Pet Policy.
2
For the review of the Community Safety Policy we
invited those who had experienced antisocial
behaviour in the last 12 months.
3
We digitally engaged those using our ‘My Account’
tenant portal to ask for their feedback. Their
suggestions are helping us make My Account
more user friendly.
4
We invited a group of current learners within
Bron Afon to work with us to influence the
development of the Agored Accredited Centre
Learners Policies.
5
We have tailored a range of involvement and
engagement opportunities to engage our
communities in the development of local
Community Action Plans.
By targeting our approach to involvement in this way more members have
been involved and they’ve focused on the things that matter to them.
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Impact report September 2016 to September 2017
Tenants, residents, members and communities
empowered and up skilled to participate
effectively and confidently
We offer support and training to individuals and groups to help them take part
in a range of activities. We have tried out different training opportunities this
year and we’ll be doing more of this during 2018.
98% of members that have received support, training or development
opportunities have reported an increase in confidence and ability to
contribute effectively. One member told us:
I'm 45 years old and have suffered with mental
health issues all my life. Over the course of my life I
have distanced myself from people and shut
myself away from the world. Late in 2016 after
another long hospital stay I found myself homeless
and was eventually re-homed in a Bron Afon property
in March this year. I was informed when I got
the keys for the property that there are many ways
I could be involved with Bron Afon. I reached out
and filled in an online form through the Tenants
Portal, shortly after I had an interview and joined
the Tenants Services Forum. I now have a social
outlet taking part in this forum and have found
myself in a room full of people many times which I
never thought I would be able to ever do again. I
now feel that I'm part of helping Bron Afon to
shape their future and help all fellow tenants now
and in the future.
Here’s some of the training we’ve delivered this year:
First aid and food hygiene for groups
delivering community projects.
Environmental Health for our key members.
Effective communication for local projects.
Event management and risk assessing for local
committees and groups.
Introduction to Housing for our formal groups.
98%
of learners have told us that they have gained new
skills or knowledge as a result of development
opportunities provided.
100%
of learners were satisfied with the learning
experience.
In 2018
our Members’ Academy will include a wide range of learning opportunities for all
members to access free of charge. All the courses have been
developed and selected by our members themselves.
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Impact report September 2016 to September 2017
Communities feeling supported and
empowered to make change
We have seen great commitment from a lot of local people who have contributed to
a range of decisions, improvements and projects!
53
community groups and schools have been supported to deliver local change
in their communities.
We have supported local groups to access a total of £32,739
worth of grants.
Satisfaction surveys completed by those involved in community groups we have
supported show very positive results:
99%
are satisfied with the support
they receive from Bron Afon.
100%
said that the group’s ability to make
changes that are important in their
communities has improved.
100%
said that their personal
sense of wellbeing and
achievement has improved.
100%
said they felt the quality of life in
their community had improved.
96%
said that their perception of
Bron Afon had improved.
One participant from St Dials Action group stated:
Our Involvement Officer is amazing at helping out the group. Helping us with applications,
funding courses and what we can do to help our community be a safer place.
We have now recruited 74 Community Environmental Champions who help us
with improving their local environment by reporting issues and taking part in
activities and projects.
Page 7

Impact report September 2016 to September 2017
Bron Afon Community Grant Scheme
Bron Afon Community Grant Scheme was launched in September 2017 and the panel
is made up of local residents.
In the first round grants totalling
£6,000 have been awarded across 16 local clubs and groups to
support projects for the benefit of their communities. We continue to work with our contractors to
gain community benefits that will support local groups to deliver their priorities.
Themed groups:
Social inclusion
activities
£2,900
Improving community
assets
£1,250
Sports and
recreation
£600
Environmental
project
£600
Health and
wellbeing
£400
Intergenerational
projects
£300
£400
£300
£400
£200
£400
£350
£400
£400
£400
£500
£400
£400
£400
£400
£200
£500
Beeches Complex
Blaenavon pact youth panel
Castle St Allotments
Cwmbran Kyokushinkai
Fairfield United
Lauren Green Residents Group
Nant Celyn Primary School
Parents of Play information Torfaen
SDW Community Group
St Dials Action Group
St Johns Cymru
Thornhill 4 u too
Ti a Fi
Trac 2
Woodlands Field Charity
Trevethin Matters Community Group
Thank you to Bron Afon for the funding towards the Christmas Day event
that helped so many families and people that are lonely.
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Impact report September 2016 to September 2017
Involvement being the norm
with service areas
All teams across the
organisation have received
training and awareness
sessions around mutuality
and involvement and how
this relates to their role –
Making it everyone’s
business.
Staff inductions have been
reviewed and now include a
specific section regarding
mutuality and involvement.
We have changed our
approach to case
management to ensure that
we demonstrate that we are
actively listening in day to
day service delivery.
Members play a key role in
staff recruitment to help us
select people with the right
skills and values. 14 members
have taken part in recruitment
over the last year and
were involved in the appointment
of our Chief Executive
and Director of Property and
Development.
Page 9

Impact report September 2016 to September 2017
Helped develop our
new look Repairs
Handbook
Reviewed our Pet Policy
and set new guiding
principles to include
animal welfare, property
condition and staff and
community safety
Helped shape a range of
Learner Policies to help
us become an
accredited learning
centre to deliver training
and development to our
staff and customers
Helped us with our Self
Assessment and
review our overall
performance
Helped define key
principles in readiness
for our Older Person’s
Housing Strategy
development
Developed our new
Corporate Plan to
include People, Homes,
Communities and
Business priorities
Reviewed My Account
customer portal to
help us improve its
usability
Designed our Community
Group Support Process
which defines how we
can support them to
achieve
Voted for Rule Changes
regarding our Board
composition
Designed our Members
Academy to include
training and development
opportunity on a wide
range of topics
Developed our Asset
Maintenance Plan
process for prioritising
works in future plans
Through our Community
Grant Scheme allocate
funding to local groups
and clubs
Influenced local
improvements as part
of our New Build
Developments
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Impact report September 2016 to September 2017
New opportunities
As well as continuing to support and develop our existing groups and forums we
have also established some new opportunities for people to work with us and to
hold us to account.
Retirement Forum:
78
actively involved members
100% said the forum is informative, and 72%
In 2017 they:
felt listened to.
Developed the Together
Active exercise initiative
which provided
opportunities for older
people to participate in
a range of activities
Worked with us to
provide information on
energy savings options
to members on how to
reduce energy
consumption and
maximise their income.
Instigated the heat
metering pilot which will
lead the way for a wider
project to improve
energy efficiency.
Ran the Never Too Old Project
A project lead by older people for older people to deliver a range of opportunities and
activities to help combat loneliness and improve health and wellbeing
Committee of 11 members lead on the
project and plan all the activities.
140 active members.
Project members spoke at the Ageing Well
in Wales conference.
The project has been cited as best practice
by the Older Persons
Commissioner.
When we asked them to describe what
being part of the project meant to them
they stated:
‘a feeling of belonging’…
‘being part of the community’…
’getting out of the house’...
with many expressing the importance of
companionship and meeting new people.
Participants say the project helps them feel
more socially included, more active and less
lonely. Over a 1/3 have told us that they
would be alone or doing nothing if they
weren't attending this project.
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Impact report September 2016 to September 2017
Youth Forum:
10
active members have been working on:
Peer mentoring – working with other young people to increase their confidence
Exploring and developing alternative housing solutions for young people
Devised and piloted ‘Wake up to the Changes’ awareness campaign which
helps young people to make informed choices about their housing options
Equality and Diversity Reference Group :
7
Has had a variety of staff and
worked in partnership to influence:
members involved. They have
The implementation of
the Equality and
Diversity (E&D) Strategy
across the organisation
The development of
members and staff to
become E&D champions.
Bron Afon becoming a
dementia friendly
organisation
Mutual Futures has been very well represented by members since its launch with:
117 115
77
members and
staff attending in
February 2017
members and
staff attending in
June 2017
members and
staff attending in
November 2017
This year our Mutual Futures
sessions have focused on:
Developing our corporate plan
Helping us identify our priorities
Shaping our approach to managing our
finances to ensure a sustainable business future
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Impact report September 2016 to September 2017
The Complaints Forum:
7
staff and members jointly reviewing our performance on complaints and working together
to make improvements to services. They have made
14 recommendations that are
being implemented across the business with a focus on improving customer experience.
The Scrutiny Team:
The Scrutiny Team is well established and now has
how we communicate with tenants about repair responsibilities.
They have made 20 recommendations
which are now being implemented.
6
members. This year they have focused on
in this area spanning the work of several teams,
The Tenant Services Forum:
The Tenant Services Forum is a group of 9
ages who have to date:
members of all
Shaped the content of
the Members’ Academy
Established their own set
of measures which they
are using to monitor
Bron Afon’s performance
and challenge where
they feel they need to
Been scrutinising our
new or revised tenant
facing policies, strategies
and service changes to
ensure that members
are involved right from
the start.
Been monitoring and
reviewing our Community
Involvement performance
since the launch of new
strategy
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Impact report September 2016 to September 2017
Next Steps
During
we aim to
Launch our new
Members’ Academy
Review our involvement
groups to focus on the
areas of our new corporate
plan, to make sure that
members and tenants hold
us to account
1 2 3
Develop a better way to
record and report on
trends from customer
feedback in every day
conversations
Develop a consistent
approach for collating all
feedback in each service
area and an effective way
of demonstrating change
and impact that results
Develop a plan to further
embed Mutuality within the
organisation in line with the
launch of our new Corporate
Plan and Values. This
includes looking at the role
that our Board and senior
management team have to
play in this.
4 5 6
Further strengthen the
role of the wider membership
in ‘holding Bron
Afon to account’
Review our online
options to increase
involvement through
social media, website
and customer portal
7
Page 15

Working together
really does make a
difference, so why
not join us!
@bronafon
For more information on Community
Involvement opportunities please contact
the team on:
Tel: 01633 620111
Email: community.involvement@bronafon.org.uk