Housing News Spring Summer 2021

HousingNews Summer 2021

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News for Bristol City Council tenants and leaseholders

Hartcliffe gets a Big Tidy See page 6 COVID-19 updates Meet new members of the housing team

House building continues

News for all Bristol City Council tenants and leaseholders Summer 2021

Housing News

If English is not your first language and you need a translation, we can get one for you.

If you would like this information in another language, Braille, audio tape, large print, easy English, BSL video or CD rom or plain text please contact: 0117 352 1444

Welcome to the Summer issue of Housing News Foreword Hi everyone.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the new Interim Director of Housing and Landlord Services. As Covid constraints – hopefully – continue to lift, and we all find ourselves in a better place, I look forward to working with you to improve and sustain the quality of your homes and environment. The Moving Forward Together programme adopted by the council in response to your views will be at the core of what the Housing Service will offer. We need to make sure that resident engagement is genuinely at the heart of what we do.

Housing in Bristol is at a crossroads. Later in the year the council will be considering a housing investment strategy for the next 30 years.

This needs to be informed by what is needed to maintain and improve your homes. We must make homes more energy efficient, protect the environment, build new homes and, most of all, ensure this

investment will make a difference to the quality of the lives of Bristol’s tenants and leaseholders.

The unity and safety of the diverse communities where you live will be at the heart of this plan. To do this the council will need to borrow hundreds of millions of pounds.

This is an investment the council wants to make on your behalf.

Three of the key objectives I have been given are to produce this business plan, ensure we respond fully to your concerns as reflected in the Moving Forward Together agenda and estate regeneration.

As you know none of this easy, and it is always a work in progress.

I hope that my background as a tenants advocate, a director of housing and social services, and my commitment to equality of opportunity over 30 years, will allow me – working alongside a committed Housing Leadership Team and elected members – to lay the foundations for the future while delivering what is needed today.

I look forward to meeting you – without a mask – in the near future.

Donald Graham Interim Director, Housing and Landlord Services

Find out about your new local councillor On 6 May, four elections took place in Bristol including the Police and Crime Commissioner, Combined Authority Mayor (for the West of England), Mayor of Bristol and Local Elections (70 local councillors for the 34 wards of Bristol).

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To find out the results from the elections you can visit: www. bristol.gov.uk/voting-elections/ types-results-elections If you want to get in touch with your local councillor, you can find their details here: democracy.bristol.gov.uk/ mgFindMember.aspx Make sure you’re registered to vote in all future elections at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

www.bristol.gov.uk/housingnews visit our website www.bristol.gov.uk

Investment in our homes Over the next year we have plans to spend just over £80million on repairing, maintaining and improving your homes.

A number of our blocks across the city will be given a new lease of life. Our external maintenance programme will cover 2,300 houses and flats, many of which will be getting replacement double glazed windows or a new roof.

We will also be responding to your requests for repairs and doing the necessary work to bring empty properties back into use. All our lifts, electrical fittings, water and heating systems are regularly checked and maintained to make sure they meet all the relevant safety standards. This year we plan to refurbish six lifts and seven laundries, as well as making improvements to district heating systems and carrying out communal wiring and lighting upgrades.

Our fire safety works programme remains a priority for us.

This year we will carry out works to around 900 homes and replace 900 fire doors to flats and communal areas.

We will be replacing around 800 kitchens, including ones that we were not able to replace last year due to COVID-19 restrictions. We will be updating a

Meet Fiona Lester I started in post as the new Head of Housing & Estates in January. The council arranged an extremely helpful handover, which helped me to gain insight and knowledge about the key issues affecting both residents and staff.

I wouldn’t say that I’m fully up to speed, but my thorough introduction helped me to hit the ground running.

Unfortunately joining an organisation during a pandemic has limited my access to both colleagues and residents. I have however managed to have Zoom meetings with most of my team and I’ve even been out and about on our estates – socially distanced – visiting sites and meeting staff and some of our residents. I very much intend to do far more of this once I’m able to.

Before joining the council, I was Regional Manager at Sovereign Housing Association, where I led a team responsible for managing housing stock within the West of England. I worked for Sovereign for 11 years, and during that time I led a range of transformation projects.

My career in housing started just over 30 years ago when I became a PATH trainee. Positive Action

similar number of heating systems – replacing gas boilers with more renewable or lower carbon forms of heating, using the latest technologies.

This year we are also going to pilot a whole house retrofit project on a few homes to learn more about how we can make our homes more energy efficient and meet our zero carbon targets. We will be involving tenants in the process.

Our retrofit journey Over the last five years we have spent around £42m on modernising and updating our homes.

This includes: • Improved heating systems for 6,500 homes • New external wall insulation for 800 houses and 1,000 flats • New roofs with improved insulation for 1,000 homes • New double glazing for 2,500 homes • Wall cavity filling for 145 properties • Loft insulation top ups for 2,000 homes Our homes have an average EPC C energy rating, which makes us one of the top local authorities in the country. Work continues to improve the least energy efficient homes and ensure that we make heating homes easier and cheaper for everyone.

Training in Housing (PATH), focused on increasing representation from ethnically diverse communities in housing and other areas of underrepresentation. When I finished my training, I became an area services officer with the council at Ashely House. While I enjoyed my role and the people I worked with, my passion for the housing sector wasn’t ignited until some years later, when I took a role with Solon Housing Association as a housing officer.

This role allowed me to really engage with residents and helped me understand the difference I can make in people’s lives. I’m a realist; we’ll often face far more negative than positive feedback, but when you know you’ve really helped someone, there is no better feeling.

This feeling allowed me to recognise that I not only wanted a job in housing, but a career – I completed my Housing Degree while at Solon, and secured a senior role within the organisation, later moving to Sovereign in order to progress my career.

What next?

The work’s only just begun. I want to ensure I meet more residents, continue the great work currently being done to help meet the key priorities identified, and I hope to see improved performance and outcomes that make a real difference to the lives of residents and citizens. page 3

News for all Bristol City Council tenants and leaseholders Summer 2021

COVID-19 Guidance

Monday 17 May saw Bristol take another step forward to easing COVID-19 restrictions.

This next step was made possible by everyone’s individual and collective efforts, following the guidance and helping to drive down infection rates.

The roadmap out of lockdown

Bristol has taken another step to easing COVID-19 restrictions in the city and getting back to what we love. This means, from Monday 17 May: •P eople can meet outdoors in a group of up to 30 people • If you are meeting friends and family, you can make a personal choice on whether to keep your distance from them, but you should still be cautious • Six people (or two households) can meet indoors • You are allowed to stay overnight at someone’s house who is not in your household or support bubble

Entertainment •P ubs, restaurants and other hospitality venues can reopen indoors • Remaining outdoor entertainment, such as outdoor theatres and cinemas, can open • Indoor entertainment, such as theatres, cinemas and museums, can open • Performances and large events can restart, with limits on audience numbers

Other changes •A dult indoor group sports and exercise classes can restart • Hotels, hostels and B&Bs can reopen for stays in the UK • Up to 30 people can attend weddings and wakes • Legal limit on numbers of mourners at funerals has been removed, limits on capacity will depend on the venue or place of worship This next step is really positive for helping to reopen society and get back to our “new normal”, but it’s really important that throughout this phased unlocking we do not give the virus an opportunity to spread.

Remember: Hands, Face, Space, Fresh Air.

Rapid testing

Get free regular rapid testing in Bristol Regular lateral flow (rapid) testing is available to everybody in Bristol without COVID-19 symptoms. page 4

Where to get a test You can access regular tests through: • your employer, if they’re offering workplace testing • your school or college, if you’re a pupil or student • from a collection site or the Bristol Rapid Testing Centre 17 – 18 Wellington Road, BS2 9DA, to take at home • an onsite test at the Bristol Rapid Testing Centre • ordering tests online from GOV.UK • some pharmacies; find a pharmacy that’s offering tests on the NHS website For further information on where and how to get a test in Bristol, visit: www.bristol.gov.uk/rapidtest

How to take a home test You can download COVID-19 rapid home test kit instructions from the GOV.UK website. Once you have your test result, you must report it within 24 hours on the GOV.UK website under ‘report COVID-19 result’ or by calling 119. If your test result is positive, you must self-isolate and book a follow-up PCR test on GOV.UK or by calling 119.

www.bristol.gov.uk/housingnews

Vaccinations COVID-19 vaccine

The success of the COVID-19 vaccination programme has seen the vaccine given to tens of millions of people across the UK. The programme is a positive step in the fight against COVID-19 and will provide protection to some of Bristol’s most vulnerable and high-risk residents.

However, it’s important to remember that even if you’ve received a vaccine, your behaviour should not change and you must continue to follow government guidance.

Vaccination is the best defence against COVID-19.

Please book your vaccination appointment when you are invited. The first dose of the vaccine should give you good protection from the virus from three or four weeks after you have it. However, you need to have two doses of the vaccine to give you longer lasting protection.

Any COVID-19 vaccine that is approved has gone through clinical trials and safety checks and has met strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness set out by the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). So far, millions of people have been given a COVID-19 vaccine and reports of serious side effects, such as allergic reactions or clotting problems, have been very rare.

We continue to be grateful for everything that you are doing to keep yourselves and others safe as we take this next cautious step to getting back to what we love.

Find out more about the vaccine: bnssghealthiertogether.org.uk/covid-19-massvaccination/

Test and trace

Updates to Test and Trace support payments Are you on a low income or self-employed and unable to work from home? You may be able to apply for a £500 grant if you have lost income due to self-isolating.

You can now also apply for the grant if you are caring for a child who is self-isolating.

To be eligible for a Test and Trace Support Payment you must either: •h ave been told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace or the COVID-19 app • be looking after a child under 16 years of age who usually attends an educational or childcare setting

but is self-isolating on or after 8 March 2021 • be looking after someone under 26 years of age with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) who usually attends an educational setting but is selfisolating on or after 8 March 2021 You must also be receiving one of the following: Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit, income-based Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit and/or Pension Credit.

If you don’t receive one of the benefits, discretionary payments may be available if you meet all other criteria.

Visit www.bristol.gov.uk and search ‘test and trace’ to find out more and apply.

Housing update We all recognise the impact the COVID-19 has had on individuals, families and communities. It may have changed how you live your lives or use your home, increased isolation and loneliness, affected physical or mental health, or caused financial difficulties.

Throughout this, Landlord Services has been working hard to deliver services and support for all our residents. Some services were paused, as we were unable to deliver them safely and in line with government guidelines.

What next?

As government restrictions ease, our standard services are resuming. We will continue to ensure that services delivered are Covid secure, to protect our staff and residents. This means: • providing some services to residents via the phone or intercom • where possible we will phone ahead before we visit to check it is safe to do so, and to discuss any concerns you may have • in some situations staff may need to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) • we ask residents to observe rules regarding keeping your distance, and to provide ventilation (open doors or windows) if asked to do so • if staff feel that it is not safe to continue with a home visit or carry out works to your home they will not do so.

As we resume services there are likely to be backlogs, which may mean things take longer than normal to complete. Thank you to all our residents for your cooperation over this time, and thanks to our dedicated workforce who have kept our services running. page 5

News for all Bristol City Council tenants and leaseholders Summer 2021

Bringing the sparkle back to Hartcliffe The Big Tidy team of street cleansers and graffiti removal experts teamed up with our housing officers to bring the sparkle back to Hartcliffe.

They have been carrying out work such as cutting back overgrown bushes, clearing fly-tips, litter picking, jet-washing walls and replacing broken bins.

More than 23 tonnes of rubbish were cleared by the crew in the first three weeks!

In one communal garden 2.86 tonnes of fly-tip and litter including sofas, gas bottles, broken toys and bags of rubbish were cleared by the crew in a single day.

The Parks Department has been supporting the work by cutting back overgrown trees and vegetation in communal gardens and are looking into creating new easy-to-manage planted areas.

As part of the project a person was issued a fixed penalty notice of £100 after residents spotted them allowing their dog to foul without picking it up. The residents reported them to the Neighbourhood Enforcement team who were able to use council tax records to identify who they were.

The four-month-long project is part of the Big Tidy campaign which launched in October 2019 as a city-wide initiative. The team, who have already deep cleaned more than 900 streets, cleared over 500 tonnes of litter, fly-tip and debris and removed over 3,000 graffiti tags from public properties across the city, are now bringing their unique set of skills to bring the sparkle back to 18 locations in Hartcliffe.

The Big Tidy will also continue to work across the city in areas identified as high priority – the crew have page 6

been in Windmill Hill and Southmead recently.

The Big Tidy is part of the Bristol City Council and Bristol Waste Company Bristol Clean Streets campaign to make our streets cleaner and greener.

Locations are selected for the Big Tidy based on data including the local environmental quality survey, quality of life survey, litter tonnages and reporting.

If you live in the Hartcliffe area, or have previously lived in the area, then the Big Tidy want to hear from you. They want to know what you love about the area or happy memories you have from your time there. Email your thoughts to bigtidy@ bristolwastecompany.co.uk to be part of an exciting new project.

Feedback from residents: “I’ve lived here for nearly 16 years and whilst we’ve had works done, I’ve never had anything like this and its really good to see you all here. I’m really looking forward to seeing the outcome.”

“I live in Hartcliffe and it’s lovely to see you’re making the effort in Hartcliffe to make it tidier.”

“Wow what a difference you’re all making... hopefully people will now begin to put things in the bin instead of just throwing it anywhere!! Fair play for making an effort!”

www.bristol.gov.uk/housingnews visit our website www.bristol.gov.uk

House building continues

Willmott Dixon

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, our Housing Delivery team has remained committed to building sustainable affordable homes for the city with the main focus on providing more council houses.

Over the last year, we have completed 111 new homes at Hope Rise in St George, and at Ashton Rise in Ashton, with another 29 council homes at Ashton Rise due to complete soon.

As well as these sites, we have recently received planning permission for another 151 new homes at sites in Lawrence Weston, Brentry, Manor Farm and on the former Brunel Ford garage site on Muller Road, with these schemes due to start construction over the coming months.

The majority of the new developments will be built using modern methods of construction. They will be highly sustainable homes, using modern heating and ventilation systems, which will help reduce the running cost to the tenants while also moving towards the city’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

The team has also been looking to purchase additional homes through some developer-led developments.

We are currently in the process of acquiring 103 affordable homes on the Brooks Dye development in St Werburghs and on the BOKLOK scheme at Airport Road. In addition to these we are looking at other developments and are hoping to acquire a further 268 affordable homes working in partnership with Gorman Homes.

To find out more about our house building plans, visit www.bristol.gov.uk/housing/new-council-homes

Willmott Dixon

We also recently successfully got planning permission for 185 new homes at Bonnington Walk, Lockleaze, of which over 50% are set to be affordable homes. This site will be developed by L&G Modular using off site housing. These are homes built in a factory and brought to site, speeding up the delivery of the new homes.

development over the coming years. These sites could deliver more than of 240 new homes.

Top: Brunel Ford (artist’s impression) Above: Ashton Rise Below: Bonnington Walk (artist’s impression)

On top of these we have submitted planning applications on a further four sites, at Hengrove, Knowle West, Lockleaze, and Henbury. Once permission is granted, this will see the delivery of a further 169 affordable homes.

The Housing Delivery Team has also started working on a further 10 projects and are anticipating that these will be submitted to planning during 2021, ready for page 7

News for all Bristol City Council tenants and leaseholders Summer 2021

Keeping healthy and well over the summer months Most of us enjoy the sunny, warm weather that the summer months bring, but things could still be a bit different this summer.

The coronavirus outbreak has meant big changes in the way that we all live, and although things are opening back up, there will still be some restrictions in place over the coming weeks. However, there are still plenty of fun things you can do to enjoy the warmer months including; gardening, picnics with friends and visiting some of our parks and green spaces.

Volunteering roles in parks include:

Visiting Bristol’s parks and green spaces

• giving guided walks and talks

Getting out into nature is fantastic for both our physical and mental health and, we are lucky in Bristol to spoilt for choice when it comes to parks and nature reserves.

From Victoria Park to Badock’s Wood, and from Stoke Park to St George Park there are wonderful green spaces all across the city. To find out more about what is open in our parks and what to expect, visit: www.bristol.gov.uk/ museums-parks-sports-culture/parks-changes-due-tocoronavirus-covid-19

Volunteering in our parks

There are many benefits to volunteering, including; gaining new skills to improve job prospects, meeting new friends and improving your physical and mental well-being.

• wildlife conservation projects and surveys • landscaping work alongside our staff • horticulture projects, such as working in our rose gardens • picking up litter • holding fun days and events You can volunteer to work in one of Bristol’s parks by joining your existing local Friends of Park Group www.bristolparksforum.org.uk/parks-forum-members/ Friends of Park Groups help improve parks and green spaces and create opportunities for members to learn new skills. There are Friends of Park Groups all around the city. Each has specific activities and regular meetings.

To find out more visit www.bristol.gov.uk/museumsparks-sports-culture/volunteering-in-parks/volunteerin-our-parks Hopefully we will enjoy a sunny and warm summer – something we could all do with this year! If the sun does shine and temperatures rise, make sure you keep an eye on your fluid levels, slap on the sun cream, keep socially distanced from others and stay sun safe outdoors.

Do you know about the Housing Ombudsman Service?

As a resident of social housing you have a right to use the Housing Ombudsman Service when unhappy with how we have handled a complaint.

They offer a free complaint resolution service and have recently been reformed to be given a more important role in housing.

You can also contact them for general advice about housing complaints and your rights when complaining.

Their website has data and reports on complaints in social housing, including on Bristol City Council at www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/ You can call them on 0300 111 3000 Monday to Friday, 9.15am to 5.15pm or email info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk page 8

Last year they asked all social landlords to look at how they currently handle complaints. We were pleased to find that we resolve most of your complaints at the first stage of our investigation, however we are aiming to improve how quickly we respond when things go wrong. We have published our self-assessment at www.bristol.gov.uk/complaints-and-feedback/ complaints-procedures We always want to improve and learn from our mistakes.

If you have any feedback about how we have handled a complaint or service we would love to hear from you at www.bristol.gov.uk/complaints-and-feedback/housing

www.bristol.gov.uk/housingnews

New citywide Housing Forums

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Summer Housing Forums for Bristol council tenants

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Afternoon: Wednesday 16 June 2021

Evening: Monday 14 June 2021

1.45pm – 4pm

5.45pm – 8pm

Your opinions help us make decisions! Discuss your local housing services with the council: • Find out more about the varied role of a housing officer and how we are working to support our residents.

• You can have your say on how the housing service is run and can make suggestions about improvements.

• Places must be booked – you can do this online at www.bristol.gov.uk/LocalHousingForums or for more information about how you can access the meetings contact Tenant Participation 0117 352 1444 or email tpu@bristol.gov.uk

Improving our services – Moving Forward Together

We know we need to make improvements to parts of our housing services – you told us in our residents’ survey in 2019.

We wanted to find out more, so we carried out four further surveys with a group of residents at the end of 2020. We asked which of the improvements would make the biggest difference to you. Our Moving Forward Together programme is now working on making these improvements happen.

We still have our six resident priorities, and these won’t change: Local

Being more visible and having a local presence

Listen

Listening to what residents say

Easy

Making it easier to contact us

Trust

Keeping our promises

Safety

Managing and reducing anti-social behaviour

Security

Improving the security and appearance of our homes and estates

What have we done so far: • Introduced regular daily catch-ups for housing colleagues from all our services to discuss issues that have come up, to share information and to

make quicker decisions - something residents said they wanted to see.

• We are working with our call centre to make contacting our housing officers easier. We know this can be frustrating for residents sometimes.

• We’ve started training our colleagues to work in better ways and we’ll be starting a programme of customer service training for housing teams, which will focus on how we behave when we are working.

• We will be reviewing and updating lots of our policies and procedures and communicating them in a better way, to make it clearer from the start what services you can expect from us.

We want to hear from more residents, about what you think we could do better. We want to provide services that keep getting better and better. We will be working with survey company Acuity who are national experts in resident surveys, to get feedback from you on an ongoing basis. We’re going to be asking you to tell us about your experiences more regularly through short surveys when you’ve recently received a service from us. We will be looking at what you and other residents say to help us make ongoing improvements.

Please take the time to let us know how we did.

Don’t forget you can always let us know any feedback you have through our feedback channels, including our Facebook page www.facebook.com/ bristolcouncilhousing and the Housing Forums.

Find out more: www.bristol.gov.uk/housing/tenantparticipation-ways-to-get-involved page 9

News for all Bristol City Council tenants and leaseholders Summer 2021

Clean air for Bristol

Around 300 people die every year because of toxic air pollution in Bristol. The council has a legal and moral duty to reduce pollution in the shortest possible time. The government has directed Bristol and other cities to do this through a Clean Air Zone.

A Clean Air Zone will help improve air quality by reducing harmful levels of air pollution caused by traffic.

It will also help us make sure everyone in Bristol benefits from a healthy and natural environment.

The government is reviewing our clean air plans and we hope to have their approval soon. The earliest we’d introduce the zone is October 2021.

No vehicles will be banned from entering the zone.

Only older and more polluting (non-compliant) vehicles will have to pay a daily charge. We estimate over 71% of vehicles travelling into the zone won’t have to pay the charge as they’re already clean enough.

• C harges would not apply to Euro 4, 5 and 6 petrol vehicles (roughly 2006 onwards).

• C harges would not apply to Euro 6 diesel vehicles (roughly end of 2015 onwards).

We appreciate that the introduction of the zone will be challenging for some people. We will support those most affected. There will be one-year exemptions for some people to give them time to change to a cleaner vehicle or adapt their existing vehicle.

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We’re also making it easier for people to use public transport and walk and cycle.

There will be exemptions for: • people earning less than £24,000 a year (and no more than £12.45 per hour) who need to travel into the zone to work • disabled drivers and blue badge holders • hospital patients and visitors We will also offer loan and grant packages to help people and businesses to replace and upgrade their vehicles.

We’ll share more information about these support packages when the government has approved our clean air plans.

Visit www.bristol.gov.uk/caz to find out more about the Clean Air Zone.

www.bristol.gov.uk/housingnews visit our website www.bristol.gov.uk

Communities responding to a COVID-19 Pandemic

Over the last year, residents in neighbourhoods across Bristol have been supporting each other to access essential services such as shopping and prescriptions, as well as providing visits and other social contact during the COVID-19 pandemic. The feeling of community spirit has been amazing – here are a few stories from communities across Bristol.

Barton Hill

At one stage Barton Hill had the highest number of coronavirus cases in the city. Local community champions, Samera Muse and Mohammed Sayagle, worked alongside community workers and housing officers to take action to stop the high numbers of cases.

They raised awareness locally at schools and shops and within the high rise buildings, encouraging a community response and supporting people to stick to the rules and social distancing measures.

The community champions worked with residents to ensure distancing in communal areas, provided sanitisers and face masks to residents, and also visited local schools to raise awareness. Through this work, the number of cases dropped dramatically in just two weeks.

Beyond this, community champions have been supporting people to access vaccines in the area and hundreds more people have now been vaccinated through this work.

Knowle West

During a weekend in April 2020, volunteers used their digital skills as part of a Hackathon, where they created a digital app which would help connect people needing support because they were shielding or self-isolating with volunteers offering help in Knowle West. The app is called To/ Fro and was designed by Knowle West Alliance, based on the needs and priorities of residents. A team of volunteer coordinators have

been trained on To/Fro which is organised by the community for the community.

Hannah, a resident volunteering since March, uses the app, fitting opportunities alongside her work.

She said: “It’s simple to use, offering easy access to requests and upcoming and ongoing actions. It gives a clear picture of what help is needed, and once assigned, provides full task and contact details. I can log actions, feedback and hours. I like being able to have instant access, without the need to store personal details.”

Hannah volunteering

Avonmouth

Throughout the pandemic residents and community organisations have been working tirelessly to support vulnerable residents and ensure people who are shielding and self-isolating are safe and supported. Resident John Woolnough has produced a short video about having a vaccine and encouraging his neighbours to get one. This went viral on social media and has helped to tackle the anti-vaccine messaging locally. fb.watch/3rG4i1H5vQ/

Bedminster

Olivia, a resident of BS3, was worried about her son who started suffering from anxiety because of COVID-19. When visiting the hospital they suggested she should use arts and crafts to engage her son. This got Olivia thinking ‘If

Olivia and Angelo Nava my son is suffering, maybe others are too?’. Olivia reached out to other parents to see if there would be any interest in arts and crafts sessions during the summer holidays. Following this, Olivia opened her café for a few socially distanced arts and crafts sessions in partnership with Fun4Families.

She successfully ran a number of sessions until the second lockdown.

She said: “I feel there is a lack of accessibility and opportunity on East Street, I feel that every child should have the chance to do fun and creative things outside of school, where they feel inspired and relaxed.

“Making art accessible and interesting for everyone is something I have always felt passionate about. As the Bubble Cafe sessions are flexible and affordable, I hope they will reach a broader range of people and hopefully inspire children to join who maybe before felt like art wasn’t for them.”

All these activities have been supported by the Community Development Team in Bristol City Council. If you have something you have always wanted to do in your community but didn’t know where to start, then why not contact one of our community development officers who can support you on your journey, or connect you with other likeminded tenants. Please contact us at communitydevelopment@bristol. gov.uk

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Get in touch

You can contact us in several ways. Information about our services is available on our website 24 hours a day, seven days a week at: bristol.gov.uk/councilhousing www.bristol.gov.uk/caretaking

Citizen Service Point

100 Temple Street, Bristol.

Opening hours Monday: 9am to 5pm Tuesday: 9am to 5pm Wednesday: 10am to 5pm Thursday: 9am to 5pm Friday: 9am to 5pm We don’t deal with all housing services face-to-face at our citizen service point, but we will help you contact services online or by telephone.

Complaints or feedback

www.bristol.gov.uk/complaints Email: complaints.feedback@ bristol.gov.uk Tel: 0117 922 2723 (Monday to Friday,10am to 4pm).

Emergency repairs

Please call the Emergency Control Centre: 8.30am to 6pm (office hours): Tel: 0117 922 2200 (option 1) 6pm to 8.30am (out of hours): Tel: 0117 922 2050 Textphone: 0117 922 3892

Estate management

www.bristol.gov.uk/counciltenants Tel: 0117 922 2200 (Option 4)

Find it in Bristol

maps.bristol.gov.uk/pinpoint

Get Involved

Find out about Local Housing Forums and other resources: www.bristol.gov.uk/ tenantparticipation

Grounds maintenance

Email: bristolparks@bristol.gov.uk Tel: 0117 922 2100 (Option 4)

Housing benefit and council tax reduction

www.bristol.gov.uk/benefits

My Account

Register for ‘My Account’ Using ‘My Account’ is quick and easy. Find out how you can manage your Council Tax, Rent, Housing Benefit and Landlords services all in one place! Visit: www.bristol.gov.uk/sign-in

Rehousing

www.homechoicebristol.co.uk Email:hcb.enquiries@bristol.gov.uk Tel: 0117 922 2400

Rents and housing payments

www.bristol.gov.uk/payrent

If you are struggling to pay, call: Tel: 0117 922 2200 (Option 3) (Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 6pm) Manage your tenancy online: www.bristol.gov.uk/ tenantaccount

Report repairs

www.bristol.gov.uk/housing/ repairs Tel: 0117 922 2200 (Option 1)

Report street problems

www.bristol.gov.uk/report-astreet-issue

Social media

facebook.com/ bristolcouncilhousing

twitter.com/BristolCouncil i nstagram.com/ bristolcouncil

youtube.com/ bristolcitycouncil

Smell gas?

Report gas immediately to National Grid Gas Emergency Service. Tel: 0800 111 999

Tenants energy advice

www.cse.org.uk/bristoltea

Tenancy fraud

Email: tenancy.fraud@bristol.gov.uk Tel: 0117 922 2470

Tenant services online Available 24/7 www.bristol.gov.uk/ councilhousing

Travel planning

journeyplanner.travelwest.info/ directions www.betterbybike.info

What’s on

Bristol museums and galleries: www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/ whats-on

Designed and printed on sustainably sourced material by Bristol Design, Bristol City Council (May 2021) BD13653

Caretaking