Together Summer Edition 2020

Y CARTREFI CONW

2020 N IO IT D E R E M M SU

Pg 6 l a m r o n o t k c a b g n i t t e G our e to do with y k li u o y t a h w of enjoying more re n. a u o y e p o h out of lockdow We e s a e e w s a s nd family and frie

Your Repairs Service Explained Lock-down Phase

Recovery phase 1

Emergency repairs Fuel Servicing

Emergency repairs Fuel Servicing

Emergency repairs Fuel Servicing

Essential repairs to keep you safe Work on our empty homes

Essential repairs to keep you safe Work on our empty homes

Non-essential repairs that are safe to carry out (take less than 1 hour and can be done by 1 person) Planned Improvement programme work (except kitchens and bathrooms)

Non-essential repairs that are safe to carry out (take less than 2 hours and can be done by 1 person) All Planned Improvement programme work Aids and adaptations

Aids and adaptations Groundworks

Groundworks

Essential repairs to keep you safe Work on our empty homes

Also inside...

Chester Avenue Green Fingers Pg. 2

We wanted to update yo we can and can’t do and manage the backlog of r coming months.

Recovery phase 2

Domestic Abuse You are not alone

We are making repairs a priority

Pg. 5

Pg.7

No non-essential repairs

Long wait times expected for Wait times should improve over non-essential repairs as demand time. Once you log a repair we w All calls with Customer Services are recorded • Audio and print copies of this newsletter increases and prioritise backlog are available tell you when to expect a visit email enquiries@cartreficonwy.org or call Customer Service on 0300 124 0040

Chester Avenue Green Fingers Chester Avenue green fingers’ group didn’t change plans because of Covid 19 .

The group had already bought materials before lockdown to make a new community notice board in their orchard. So their Chair, Stan Barrows spent the first few weeks of lock down getting the job done. Stan also kept busy strimming the grass and caring for the fruit trees.

Chester Avenue Green Fingers

Waste and Recycling We know it was difficult to keep on top of waste and recycling because our household recycling centres were closed. But they are open again so start making use of this mostly free service.

We know that many tenants already use the household recycling centre and bulky item collections but this is a message to other tenants who don’t and are regularly fly tipping where you live. Please stop it - when you fly tip it is not nice for anyone.

Visit or get in touch with your local authority for more info and get rid of your items today.

Do you have bulky items to get rid of?

We all have a duty of care to make sure we get rid of our waste legally and prevent fines or even prosecution.

Did you know Conwy County Borough Council offer all households in Conwy one free collection of one bulky waste item per year. They can collect five more items at the same time at £5.00 per item. To claim your free collection, phone their customer advice team on 01492 575337.

www.flytippingactionwales.org/en/its-your-duty-to-care

The costs are similar if you live in Denbighshire with five items costing £23 or in Gwynedd £27.

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Recycle, reuse and donate where possible If your items are of a good enough quality think about donating them to family, friends, neighbours or a local charity or community group instead.

We are still here for you.

Lydia

Laura

Megan

Emma

Nerys

It’s great that many of you have been in touch with our Community Involvement team to help you: • to get online to connect with family and friends • to deal with stress or anxiety • if you are feeling lonely • to make plans for where you live and find funding for your community group

Colleagues in our wellbeing team told us how rewarding it is speaking and supporting tenants during this time. It’s fab that tenants volunteering with Creating Enterprise are now helping the team out by giving regular calls and shopping and picking up prescriptions for tenants who still can’t get out and about.

Between April and June they have made 1006 calls and are still giving on-going support calls to over 100 tenants 80 people told us they were struggling with something affecting their health and wellbeing

49 people gave us updated info about their household to correct our records

21 people didn’t have everything they needed

9 referrals made to external agencies for support

If you are worried about how you are going to cope financially we are here to help! Give us a call on 0300 124 0040 (ask for the money support team) or drop us a message on Facebook.

0300 124 0040

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Lockdown Bingo It was eyes down at the garden gate for our community involvement team’s new lockdown Bingo.

Nerys Veldhuizen has been the Queen Bee caller and Megan Eldon helping her bang on the drum to roll out bingoing mad sessions across the county.

Tenants tell us they love this mad-cap idea and we love the pictures of you and the team playing social distance bingo.

At the Llanddulas session Lee and Fran Williams and their three children were thrilled after winning a bag of Haribo sweets.

Lee said: “We have lived here since 2013 and I can say that lockdown has brought the street closer together. It’s been a long time, too long, but it has helped neighbours to make friends.

Get the most out of being a tenant with Cartrefi Conwy Get in touch with the team and have a chat about what they can do for you and what you can get involved in – you may well be surprised to find out they run Pilates, Mindful Movement, Meditation, Vision Boarding, Bingo, Coffee and Chat sessions and lots more… .

Call 0300 124 0040 or email get.involved@cartreficonwy.org and follow them on Facebook 4

www.cartreficonwy.org

At home shouldn’t mean at risk. If you or someone you know is suffering from #Domestic Abuse, isolation rules do not apply. Police response & support services remain available.

Domestic Abuse

Find support at gov.uk/domestic-abuse or call 999 if you are in immediate danger. #YouAreNotAlone Get help for #Domestic Abuse. Call 999 if in immediate danger. If you can’t speak and are calling from a mobile, listen to the operator and, when prompted, dial 55 to connect to the police, who will help.

Find support at www.gov.uk/domestic-abuse

Stay safe at home

Message from North Wales Fire and Rescue Service

Being burgled is a scary prospect and recently a few tenants have reported this happened to them. There are a lot of things you can do to stop burglars from targeting your home. North Wales Police have a great campaign called The Big Easy giving you security advice on the safety of your home, shed, caravan, car, van or bicycle. Take the time to learn and review your own security, you could save yourself from becoming a victim of crime.

We have seen an increase in kitchen fires – please stay alert when cooking. Plan ahead and avoid cooking when you are drinking alcohol.

Visit www.north-wales. police.uk/ and click on campaigns.

Call 101 to report non urgent incidents or 999 in an emergency.

We have also seen an increase in burning rubbish, putting yourself and others at risks.

Here is some basic advice to stay safe in your home and help us to protect our communities.

• Test your smoke alarm – look after your alarm so that it can look after you • Many fires start in the kitchen – just one distraction is all it takes • Smoking is a common cause of fires – so put it out, right out • With a full house, make sure your electrical sockets are not overloaded • Switch off everything before you go to bed - many house fires start at night.

• Farmers and landowners are urged to avoid burning on their land – if you absolutely must, please notify our control room on 01931 522 006.

For more advice follow us on Facebook and Twitter Call 999 in an emergency

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Getting back to normal

We hope you are enjoying more of what you like to do with your family and friends as we ease out of lockdown. We have loved hearing about what you have been doing during lockdown and the great community spirit in many areas.

We also say huge thanks for working with us over these last months with the changes to our services. It’s great to be getting back out and about and returning to more normal services.

We are making repairs our priority.

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Our Customer Service Team are working from home but are still here to help you with repairs.

Give them a call on 0300 124 0040, describe your repair and they’ll let you know how we’ll handle it for you. If we can’t give you an appointment straight away we’ll log the details and call you back when we’re able to give you a date.

www.cartreficonwy.org

Your Repairs Service Explained Lock-down Phase Emergency repairs Fuel Servicing Essential repairs to keep you safe Work on our empty homes

Recovery phase 1 Emergency repairs Fuel Servicing Essential repairs to keep you safe Work on our empty homes Non-essential repairs that are safe to carry out (take less than 1 hour and can be done by 1 person) Planned Improvement programme work (except kitchens and bathrooms) Aids and adaptations Groundworks

No non-essential repairs

Long wait times expected for non-essential repairs as demand increases and prioritise backlog

We wanted to update you on what repairs we can and can’t do and how we plan to manage the backlog of repairs over the coming months.

Recovery phase 2 Emergency repairs Fuel Servicing Essential repairs to keep you safe Work on our empty homes Non-essential repairs that are safe to carry out (take less than 2 hours and can be done by 1 person) All Planned Improvement programme work Aids and adaptations Groundworks

Wait times should improve over time. Once you log a repair we will tell you when to expect a visit

Recovery phase 3 Emergency repairs Fuel Servicing Essential repairs to keep you safe Work on our empty homes Non-essential repairs that are safe to carry out (take up to a day with multiple trades) All Planned Improvement programme work Aids and adaptations Groundworks

This timeline is subject to Welsh Government advice and guidance and may change if the COVID-19 pandemic enters a second wave.

We will keep you updated if and when anything changes

Back to normal

We are making repairs a priority and our teams are working hard using this traffic light system to put our repairs into groups in order of urgency and date logged.

Keeping you safe when we do a repair Here’s what to expect when we come and do a repair in your home ...

We will Wear PPE

Wash and sanitise our hands

Keep 2 meters from you and your family

Clean the work area and wipe any touch points

We ask that you: Let us know if anyone in your home has the Coronavirus or is isolating

Avoid the area we are working in and stay in another room

If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch.

0300 124 0040

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Job Search Support

Our Job Search service is looking very different these days, but nothing will stop us from doing our best to help you back into employment! We can offer support over the phone, online and in person according to social distancing guidelines.

Get Ready for Employment It’s back! Our hugely popular and successful ‘Get Ready for Employment’ programme is back... with a difference! Join our online training and support sessions, where we’ll be covering budgeting, confidence building, communication skills and much more.

Jordan’s Story Congratulations to Jordan who is working full time with Brenig Construction as a Trainee Bricklayer Jordan always knew he wanted to work in construction but felt he needed to brush up on his employability skills first. When he heard about our Get Ready for Employment programme he signed up straight away. After this he then signed up for our Passport to Construction course and gained his CSCS qualification.

Jordan approach is always positive and professional.

He attended every session on the two courses plus work experience with Brenig Construction on the Ysgol Maelgwyn site followed by a work trial. His hard work and dedication paid off and Jordan is now delighted to be working with Brenig Construction in a full-time paid Trainee Bricklayer role.

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Wellbeing Calls We’re happy to share the good news that the work of Cartrefi Conwy’s Wellbeing Team is set to continue with the help of our brand new ‘Wellbeing Volunteers’.

Our volunteers will be making regular telephone calls to ensure you’re safe and well. They will also be offering a shopping and prescription pick-up service to tenants who can’t get out and about during these times.

www.cartreficonwy.org

Making Work: Work For All Our project for working families has had a busy few months delivering fun activities for children and their parents to do at home.

We’ve loved seeing the photos of children showing off their creativity and culinary skills with the help of our craft and baking packs. There’s plenty more planned for the coming months, including the launch of a brand new discount scheme in partnership with local businesses.

Take a look at the Making Work: Work for All YouTube channel for more information and inspiration!

For more information give us a call on 01492 588 980, email us at employmentacademy@creatingenterprise.org.uk or send a message to our Facebook page.

We are closing our Llandudno office As the lease for our Llandudno office is up for renewal, we have been looking at what services our customers were using at this office before lockdown. We found that most of the visits to the office could have been done over the phone, online or with a home visit. That’s part of the reason we’ve decided not to renew the lease and not to reopen this office. We also know: • Our customers now use and access our services differently

But as the doors close on Madoc Street the good news is we will soon be sharing a new community hub with Creating Enterprise our social enterprise company - at Llandudno train station.

• Our staff are working differently and always adapting what we do to give better support to customers

It’s so important this hub gives our customers access to services they need the most. We are asking you to let us know what services you would like us to run from the hub.

• It makes sense financially - we will use the money we save to offer more of the services our customers need

Get in touch with us, call 0300 124 0040 or email enquiries@cartreficonwy.org.

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We have had to put our Home Reward prize draws on hold during lockdown. We know it’s been a tough time financially for many people during lockdown and still is for some people.

That’s why we’re holding a one off special COVID-19 prize draw on the Thursday 27th August.

Tenants will have 15 chances to win £100*.

We will enter all tenants in this draw, so keep your fingers crossed and wish yourself good luck to win. We will get in touch with the winners. *Normal terms and conditions apply – you can find these on our website or get in touch to find out.

Look out for more Home Rewards news in the coming months. ions and , jobs, competit ts en m p o el ev d agram. st news, Twitter and Inst with all our late k, te o a o d b ce to a p F u n p o s Kee d follow u our website an g n ti si vi y b re mo

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