21 August 2023
NFA members doing (much) #MoreThanHousing
Cheryl Stonehouse
NFA Press and Communications
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EACH year, NFA members put together show boards that celebrate key achievements, and which go on display at our annual conference. They capture the breathtaking range of work that council housing management companies turn their hands to – so much more than ‘just housing’.
Throughout this week, we’ll be sharing the 2023 conference boards.
Today – Berneslai Homes, Your Homes Newcastle and Cheltenham Borough Homes celebrating their work on tenant engagement, education and training opportunities and helping customers improve their employability.
Berneslai Homes: Confidence plays a huge part in whether someone feels able to start learning something new or look for a better job.
LOOKING for a job, interview confidence, CV writing, using a computer – even childcare to make space to learn these essential employment skills –are among the raft of help offered by the Tenants First team at Barnsley’s Berneslai Homes.
What does this have to do with housing?
Everything, of course. To have a decent, stable home, everyone needs to be able to find decent, properly paid, stable work. So helping customers and their families to access the education or training that will improve their job prospects is a key tenancy sustainment strategy.
This board shows how hundreds of people have been helped through the ACHIEVE scheme, funded in partnership with the ALMO’s parent Barnsley Council to the end of 2023. It also offers:
- Support with low-level mental health issues
- Financial well-being advice
- Vocational training
- Job hunting
- Travel costs
Confidence plays a huge part in whether someone feels able to start learning something new or look for a better job, and the team is always searching for new ways to make it as easy as possible for customers to take advantage of what’s on offer.
In 2022, for instance, Community Boost ‘Have A Go’ sessions ran from spring to autumn, funded through Barnsley Council’s Community Renewal Fund. This made it possible for the team to offer the 30-hours of training and taster sessions free to eligible unemployed residents in the central Barnsley ward.
Liz, one of 72 residents who took part, said afterwards: “The course was exactly what I needed – it has boosted my confidence and given me a new career goal.”
Your Homes Newcastle: A dedicated building safety team focused entirely on high rise homes.
IN August 2023, Your Homes Newcastle became one of only four housing providers in the UK to earn the BAFE Life Safety Fire Risk Assessment accreditation.
BAFE is the independent registration body for third-party certificated fire safety organisations across the UK and this accreditation is a gold standard of competence for building managers.
YHN – Newcastle City Council’s housing management organisation – looks after 39 high-rise blocks across the city. That’s more than 3,000 households who need to feel safe at all times.
In the wake of the tragedy at the Grenfell Tower in London in 2017, YHN reviewed all its building safety processes and systems. It asked both its tenant scrutiny panel and residents for their views of what they needed to feel safe in their homes.
The result was a dedicated building safety team focused entirely on high-rise homes and a simple-to-use contact system through which residents can report concerns – they can even contact the team via their building intercom system.
Alongside this, YHN comms staff developed an award-winning approach to keeping residents in the loop about how to spot problems and alert housing officers quickly, and exactly what they should do in an emergency. Every building now has its own illustrated poster describing its unique safety features.
The team are available to speak to residents at regular events close to the blocks throughout the year – 25 were held across 2022/23 – and, to make absolutely sure every resident has been reached, YHN staff knock on doors. In the last year, they’ve had 622 doorstep conversations.
Cheltenham Borough Homes: “You have shown me respect and helped me believe I can do anything I set my mind to.”
THRIVE is an award-winning programme from Cheltenham Borough Homes that focuses on young people who are finding school difficult and struggling to find a sense of direction. It aims to inspire them to stay in mainstream education and point them towards further training and apprenticeships that they might otherwise not know about.
This work, say the Cheltenham teams, is as much a part of housing management as keeping the bricks and mortar in good repair.
Purposeful teenagers and young adults strengthen their communities and are far less likely to be drawn into anti-social behaviour now or later in life.
“I have so much confidence in myself now. I really enjoy learning and earning my own money,” says Thrive graduate Ethan.
“It’s what I always wanted. You have shown me respect and helped me believe I can do anything I set my mind to.”
Weekly job clubs for jobseekers of all ages are also run by CBH – not only for customers, but for anyone in the community who wants help with interview skills or to update their training.
In the last year, these programmes have helped almost 100 people into work, 100 more into further training, and won CBH a place on the UK Housing Awards shortlist for outstanding resident employment and training work.