Welcome
Welcome to the latest edition of our newly renamed customer magazine, MyHome.
We had plenty of fab entries to our competition to name the magazine, so we’d like to say a huge “thank you” to everybody who took part – and congratulations to our winner: Barry Austin from Madeley!
We continue to reach out to gather your views and assess your satisfaction with our services. Over the past year we’ve asked you about anti-social behaviour (ASB), complaint handling, repairs and more.
We hugely appreciate the time that people have taken to share their views; your feedback is invaluable in helping us to improve. If you participated, we extend our genuine thanks for helping us scrutinise our performance.
We are pleased that 78% of our customers expressed satisfaction with the landlord services we deliver. We will continue to take feedback on board and look at what we can do to continually improve satisfaction levels.
Many of you also noted that your neighbourhood is a great place to live, that you feel safe in your home, and that you appreciate being treated fairly and with respect. We have listened to you and, where you’ve highlighted areas for improvement, we are actively working on these and we’ll share our progress with you.
You can read more on our survey results in our Tenant Satisfaction Measures spotlight on page 3.
This autumn, we’ll be out and about for our Community Walkabouts, offering you the opportunity to provide feedback about your area and let us know how we can better assist you. If you’ve ever thought, “I wish Aspire Housing could help me with...” or, “how do I get this sorted?”, this is the perfect opportunity to meet our colleagues face-to-face and get the answers you’re looking for.
We’ll also be launching this year’s Chat 2 Aspire event in September, with an action-packed week of neighbourhood visits, consultations and community activities.
You can see more around Community Walkabouts on page 4 – and keep an eye on our website and social media for updates on Chat 2 Aspire.
I hope you enjoy reading this edition of MyHome.
Andrei Szatkowski Executive Director of People
Keeping you informed Understanding customer satisfaction
Throughout the year, we conduct surveys following any repairs or services to gauge how satisfied you are with Aspire and your homes.
In addition to these surveys, we also contact customers at random and ask them a series of 22 questions that compile our Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs).
Introduced by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in April 2023, the TSMs ensure that every social housing provider collects and publishes consistent information on essential services like repairs, safety, and complaints. This transparency allows you to see how your landlord is performing in comparison with other housing providers, and gives the regulator an insight to what improvements may be required to improve services for customers. The RSH releases this data publicly in the autumn of each year.
Our surveys provide a snapshot of customer satisfaction, with participants randomly selected to ensure a representative sample. We set quotas based on tenure, age group, and geographical area to meet the regulator’s requirements and gather views from a diverse range of customers, including those in general needs, supported, and older people’s homes.
Our dedicated team conducts these customer feedback surveys through email (45%), telephone (53%) and text message (2%), making sure we capture a wide range of opinions. In the past year, we conducted 622 surveys.
Below, you’ll find a highlight of our latest survey results for this year-to-date, reflecting our customers’ opinions about your homes and the services you receive. For a detailed look at the full results, and to see our annual results for 2023/24, search ‘Tenant Satisfaction Measures’ on the website.
Latest Results April - June 2024
of customers living in rented homes are satisfied with the overall service provided by Aspire
on average, Aspire received 21 complaints per 1,000 homes in Q1 of 2024/25 (Stage 1 and 2 complaints)
of Stage 1 complaints were completed within ten working days
of emergency repairs were completed within target
of customers are satisfied that we provide a home which is safe
Gas checks had been carried out in 99.9% of homes at year end
of Water Safety, Lift Safety, Asbestos Safety and Fire Safety checks carried out in 2023/24
of customers said they are treated fairly and with respect
of customers said they are satisfied that they are kept informed about the things that matter to them
of customers are satisfied we keep communal areas clean and well maintained
of customers are satisfied we make a positive contribution to neighbourhoods
We’re coming to a street near you!
Our Community Walkabouts are your chance to give us feedback about the area where you live and let us know what more we can do to help.
Twice a year, we will be heading to your neighbourhoods and we are keen to hear from all of you. So, if you’ve ever thought, “I wish Aspire Housing could help me with this” or “how do I get this sorted?”, then, pop along to one of our Community Walkabouts and chat to us in person.
Community Contents Walkabouts Insurance
No matter how big or small an issue may feel, you can ask us any of your questions.
Come and join us
You can find the dates below for our next Community Walkabouts, including the meeting points and times.
Visit aspirehousing.co.uk/ community-walkabout or scan the QR code to see upcoming Community Walkabout dates
10th September
Talke Pits Estate
Congleton Estate
Cross Heath Estate
18th September
Poolfields Estate
Clayton North Estate
19th September
Butt Lane Estate
of the PIB Group.
2nd October Silverdale Estate
8th October Crackley Estate 10th October
Upper & Lower Milehouse Estates
Are you protected if something goes wrong?
No matter how careful you are, there’s always a risk that your belongings could be broken, damaged or stolen. Having the correct contents insurance set up is vital in helping you protect your possessions.
To help you decide whether home contents insurance is right for you, we’ve teamed up with Thistle Tenant Risks and Great Lakes Insurance UK Limited who provide the MyHome Contents Insurance Scheme – a Tenants Contents Insurance policy designed for people living in social housing.
The MyHome Contents Insurance Scheme can offer you insurance for the contents of your home, including cover for things such as furniture, carpets, curtains, clothes, bedding, electrical items, jewellery, pictures and ornaments.
To find out more, head over to:
aspirehousing.co.uk/home-contents-insurance
Enhancing your online experience Introducing accessiBe
We are thrilled to announce the addition of accessiBe, a state-of-the-art accessibility toolbar, to our website. This exciting update comes in response to valuable feedback from one of our engaged customer groups.
At the heart of our mission is a commitment to providing the best possible experience for all our customers. When our customers highlighted the need for improved accessibility on our website, we took it seriously. We researched various solutions and found that accessiBe stood out as the perfect fit. By introducing this helpful new tool, we are taking huge steps to ensure that our website is accessible to everyone.
accessiBe is specifically designed to enhance the browsing experience for individuals with disabilities. This toolbar provides a range of features that make navigating our website easier and more efficient for all users. Here are some of the key benefits:
1. Screen reader adjustments: accessiBe works seamlessly with screen readers, providing clear and concise content for visually impaired users.
2. Keyboard navigation: The toolbar allows users to navigate the website using keyboard shortcuts, ensuring smooth access for those who cannot use a mouse.
Yousaid, we did
3. Content adjustments: Users can modify the font size, spacing, and colour contrast to suit their preferences, making content more readable.
4. Colour adjustments: For users with colour blindness or visual impairments, accessiBe offers customisable colour settings to enhance visibility.
5. Focus and highlight: This feature helps users with cognitive disabilities by highlighting links and focusing on selected elements, improving navigation.
6. Mute sounds: Users sensitive to audio can easily mute all sounds on the website, creating a quieter browsing environment.
The implementation of accessiBe is a testament to our ongoing commitment to listen to our customers and improve what we do based on your feedback.
We invite you to explore the new accessibility features on our website. Simply click on the accessibility icon to access the toolbar and customise your browsing experience to meet your needs.
We are confident that accessiBe will make a meaningful difference in how you interact with our website.
You said, we did
Enhancing your mobile experience
We are excited to announce several new updates to our website, thanks to the invaluable feedback from our engaged customer groups.
Some of you have reported an issue where the menu on our website disappears when trying to scroll on mobile devices.
We’re pleased to share that our team has now fixed this to ensure the menu remains visible and functional, providing a smoother and more reliable navigation experience on your mobile devices.
We’ve enhanced readability.
We have enlarged the text size on all Aspire Housing web pages on mobile devices. This adjustment ensures that our content is more legible, making it easier for you to find the information you need.
These improvements are part of our commitment to listen to your feedback and continuously enhance our website. We’re excited to see the positive impact these changes will have on your experience.
Hawaiian summer fete -
Mill Rise is 15!
This year marks the 15th anniversary since we first opened the doors and welcomed customers in to Mill Rise. It’s incredible how quickly time has flown by! To celebrate this milestone, we held a big Hawaiianthemed celebration in the Mill Rise communal room and gardens on Friday 26th July.
The event was a fantastic success, with customers, friends, and families joining us for a summer fete. The festivities included refreshments, outdoor games, live music, and a tombola. We were also honoured to have Alzheimer’s Research join us throughout the day.
It was a memorable day filled with fun, laughter, and community spirit.
Dementia Awareness Week 2024
In May 2024, we observed Dementia Awareness Week. During the week, community events took place around all our Community Living locations, with people making heartfelt memory boxes jampacked full of messages from loved ones.
We were proud to see the memory boxes being placed in the gardens at Holborn Place, helping to raise awareness for this important cause.
During the course of the week, our communities raised £512 between Dementia UK and Alzheimer’s Research UK.
80th
Birthday
We’d like to wish a huge happy 80th birthday to Dereck from Holborn Place. Many happy returns!
Newcastle-under-Lyme in bloom
Britain in Bloom is coming back to Newcastle-underLyme this year, and it’s fantastic to see the flowers and gardens on display once again! Newcastle first entered Bloom as a small city in 1991, and this year will have been involved with the campaign for 33 years.
Last summer, Newcastle-under-Lyme won its 21st consecutive gold award and were ‘Overall Winners’ in the Heart of England Regional small city category. They also had the great honour of being nominated for the RHS National UK Finals, received a gold award and were crowned ‘Overall Winners’ out of 44 finalists from across the whole of the UK. A fantastic achievement!
We are proud to do our part to support this campaign, and we work hand in hand with our talented customers and communities across a number of our Community Living locations to create some truly fabulous gardens.
We are delighted to share that Kent Grove, Durber Close, Porthill Green, Mill Rise and Hollinwood Close Community Living locations have shortlisted in the finals for the RHS in Your Neighbourhood Awards.
A big thank you to all our talented customers across our communities that have made the gardens blooming marvelous.
Eat and Greet
A warm welcome to financial wellbeing
Over the past year, our Community Living team and Money Advice team have been visiting our communities with the Eat and Greet roadshows; bringing warmth, support and useful advice to people across our region.
Since last autumn, these events have welcomed 147 customers from our Community Living schemes and over-55s homes.
The Eat and Greet roadshows focus on helping older people navigate the rising cost of living. Along with offering valuable financial advice, we provide delightful freebies like winter warmth packs, slow cookers, slow cooker sachets, tins of soup, fridge refreshers, and, of course, plenty of tea and cake.
To add some excitement, we also hold a free raffle, giving attendees a chance to win an air fryer or heated blanket. Plus, there’s a wealth of useful information available to everyone who attends.
Our events often feature appearances from the local Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) and a Community Development Coordinator from Staffordshire County Council, who demonstrates practical aids and gadgets that can make life at home easier.
How can the roadshows help you?
Recently, one of our customers joined us at her local roadshow after receiving an invitation. She’d never sought financial advice before, but decided to book a private, confidential appointment with one of our money advisors. During this session, we completed a thorough money and benefit health check, resulting in an increase of £190.05 per week (tax-free) in her income. An amazing result!
So far, our team has helped customers achieve a total of £22,245 in financial gains. These events are open to all customers over the age of 55. We invite local customers from our communities through email and leaflet drops, but the events are open to everyone in the community.
If you’re over 55 and looking for support, a warm community, and maybe even a few freebies, come join us at our next Eat and Greet roadshow 11.00am - 1.00pm. We’re here to help!
Durber Close - Thursday 12th September 2024
Hollins Grange - Thursday 3rd October 2024
Park Road - Thursday 7th November 2024
Kimberley Grange - Thursday 5th December 2024
Holborn Place - Thursday 16th January 2025
Celebrating Pride Month
During June, we celebrated Pride Month across all our communities and made an appearance at Stoke-on-Trent Pride, hosting an information stall at Hanley Park. It was great to see so many of you during the day, despite the very wet and windy British weather. It was a great day, and we were proud to support the event, helping to make a difference and celebrating diversity, equality and inclusion every day.
HomeSwapper
If you fancy a move or a change of scenery, did you know you may be able to swap homes with another customer through mutual exchange?
Through HomeSwapper, you could move to a different home from Aspire or any social landlord –all you need to do is find a property and customer that you could swap with, and ensure you both meet the eligibility requirements.
To find out more about home swapping and mutual exchange, head over to our website: aspirehousing.co.uk/mutual-exchange
Everyone should feel safe in their own home
We want everyone living in or around our Aspire Housing communities to be able to go about their everyday life without feeling upset, scared, or intimidated.
We know that sometimes anti-social behaviour, also known as ASB, can stop this from happening. When it does, we want to know about it! There are lots of things we can do to help.
Visit our website aspirehousing.co.uk/asb to see what is classed as ASB and how we can help.
Making life simpler through aids and adaptations
We understand that everyone has different needs and challenges, so we’re committed to supporting our customers through aids and adaptations. These changes help make your home safer and more accessible, allowing you to maintain independence.
Home adaptations are categorised as either minor or major. Minor adaptations include grab rails, banister handrails, and lever taps. Though small, these significantly improve safety and ease daily living. We can quickly arrange minor adaptations to enhance accessibility. You can request these directly, or they can be made by a family member or a third party, such as a support worker or medical professional.
Major adaptations involve more significant changes like wet rooms, ramped access, stairlifts, hoists, and adapted kitchens. These require a request through your Local Authority’s Social Services Occupational Therapy team, funded by a Disabled Facilities Grant.
If your home isn’t suitable for adaptation, our team will explore other options, including a possible move to a more suitable home. We’re currently reviewing our aids and adaptations service to better serve you.
Find out more about minor and major adaptations or make a referral on our website www.aspirehousing.co.uk/aids-and-adaptations
If you’ve been a victim of hate crime, we understand that you may feel too scared or threatened to speak to the people who are causing the problem, and you should never put yourself in danger.
If you experience or witness an act of hate crime, report it to the Police immediately. You can report a hate crime even if someone else is the victim.
National Stop Hate Helpline: 0800 138 1625
For more information about what we can offer visit: aspirehousing.co.uk/hate-related-behaviour
Condensation, damp and mould Getting ready for winter
Drying clothes releases moisture, so drying clothes outdoors helps to prevent excess moisture in your home. 01.
Opening windows or turning on your extractor fan when cooking, showering, bathing and drying clothes on a drying rack indoors helps moist air escape.
Keeping your home heated helps to prevent condensation from forming on surfaces.
Radiator valves control the temperature in each room. You can turn to a higher setting in rooms you want to be warmer and lower in rooms you don’t use as often, using your energy more efficiently and cost-effectively. Typical settings are 4-5 in living areas and 2-3 in bedrooms.
If you can, setting your thermostat to the lowest comfortable temperature (recommended between 18 – 21°C) will help to keep you and your home healthy while keeping your energy bills down.
Closing internal doors and using draught excluders reduces the amount of heat moving into colder areas of your home. This helps keep the heat in the rooms you use most often, making them feel more comfortable.
Curtains and rugs help to keep your home warm. Curtains should stop between the edge of the windowsill and above radiators. Opening them in the morning and closing them at dusk helps to let warmth in and keep the cold out.
Moving sofas and other furniture away from radiators or heaters helps the heat to travel more effectively around the rooms in your home.
Putting lids on pans when cooking prevents excess moisture in the air (and helps save on your energy bill!)
Don’t get bitten by a loan shark
Your guide to safe borrowing
With the current cost of living crisis, you may find yourself in need of a small, short-term loan to cover essential expenses or sudden emergencies. But beware – loan sharks are lurking, ready to exploit those in financial distress.
We’ve partnered with the Illegal Money Lending Team and Moneyline to shed light on the dangers of loan sharks and offer safer alternatives.
Loan sharks prey on vulnerable individuals, offering quick cash with a friendly smile. However, the Illegal Money Lending Team’s research shows that these illegal lenders often target people needing money for basics like food, rent, mortgage payments, and utility bills, and the results of borrowing money from a loan shark can be disastrous!
This year, with money being tighter than ever, we urge you not to fall into debt to pay your bills or handle household emergencies. If you need extra cash, be very cautious about where you get it. Loan sharks operate illegally and can become extremely aggressive when collecting their money.
If you suspect you’re dealing with a loan shark, don’t hesitate to contact the Illegal Money Lending Team:
Call: 0300 555 2222 Text: 07860 022116
Email: reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.co.uk
If you need a small, short-term loan and can’t get one from a bank, Moneyline offer small cash loans to help you spread the cost of things, even if you don’t have the best credit score. You can borrow from £200 – £1,000 and pay it back between 14 and 32 weeks.
Moneyline will be available every Wednesday from 9.30am to 1.00pm at the Kidsgrove Community Hub. For more information, visit the website at moneyline-uk.com.
Need money advice? We’re here to help
Facing financial difficulties can be overwhelming, but you’re not alone. Our Money Advice team is here to help. Drop by one of our weekly sessions for personalised support:
Monday: Chesterton One Stop Shop and the Kidsgrove Community Hub, 9.30am – 1.00pm
Tuesday: The Guildhall, 9.30am – 1.00pm
Wednesday: The Guildhall and the Kidsgrove Community Hub, 9.30am – 1.00pm
Thursday: The Guildhall, 9.30am – 1.00pm
Friday: Ramsey Road Community Centre, 9.30am – 1.00pm
Remember, you don’t have to navigate financial challenges alone. We’re here to support you every step of the way. Together, we can ensure that no one gets bitten by a loan shark.
Moneyline is the trading name of East Lancashire Moneyline (IPS) Ltd, registered office The Globe Centre, St James Square, Accrington, BB5 0RE, registered in England and Wales 29282R. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority FCA Reg Number: 660597
Regenerating communities Development updates in our area
We have exciting news in Knutton, where we have been granted planning permission for 54 homes around Knutton High Street. We are also proposing to build 21 brand-new homes on the site of the former Knutton Clinic, which is currently with Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council planning department. The former Community Centre site has also been submitted for planning, and is due to be presented to the Planning Committee in August.
Bath Road
Helping to meet the need for more housing in Silverdale, we are awaiting planning approval on our Bath Road redevelopment, which we anticipate to be granted in August.
This project will introduce 12 two-bedroom houses and two two-bedroom apartments for social rent to replace the parade of vacant shops on this site.
Former Blythe Bridge Police Station
Heading over to Blythe Bridge, we will soon be starting work to redevelop the former Police Station into a scheme of 12 affordable rent apartments for older people. We are aiming for completion of this project in 2025.
The Parks, Uttoxeter
Last but not least, we will be starting work this autumn on nine homes at The Parks in Uttoxeter. Completion is expected for October 2025.
St Lukes Close
We have begun redevelopment on this site in Silverdale, with the intention to build a general needs housing scheme. A planning application was submitted in February 2024 for a block of 30 apartments and 12 walk-up maisonettes.
Cross Street (phase 3)
We’re looking ahead to the next phase of our Cross Street regeneration project in Chesterton and Crackley, where we expect planning approval to be granted in August. We plan to create a mixed scheme of 39 homes, including a block of 23 one-bedroom apartments, eight single access apartments and six bungalows for older people.
Cross Street (phase 2)
Meanwhile, we’re making progress on the second phase of this site, which our selected contractor Keon Homes is about to start work to develop eight affordable rent apartments and 35 affordable rent houses.