CCHA Residents' Voice Report May 2023

Residents’ Voice Report

Introduction

Welcome to the fourth edition of Castles and Coasts Housing Association’s (CCHA) bi-annual Residents’ Voice Report. We are committed to always listening to your feedback and have further developed this report to give you more in-depth information on resident involvement, engagement, feedback and some of the partnership working we have carried out across CCHA communities from October 2022 to March 2023, as well as performance information for 2022/23 (1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023).

You can read our update on the complaints, compliments and satisfaction data we’ve received, and, just as importantly, how we’re using this feedback to improve the services we deliver to our residents.

It’s really important to us that we carry on working in your communities to help improve where you live and continue to build local partnerships, so we’ve also featured some case studies and other examples of this. We hope you find the report interesting and useful. If you have any feedback, please do not hesitate to contact us with your thoughts and suggestions. Please see the back cover for details of how to provide us with feedback.

Complaints

The Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code

In 2022, the HO issued an updated Code, with additional recommendations for complaint handling and a new self-assessment. We reported our self-assessment to the Board in September 2022 and published it to residents. We also updated our Complaints Policy again, to reflect the new requirements.

To make sure we meet all of the requirements, one of the biggest changes we made was the removal of ‘Stage 0’ Complaints within our complaint procedure. This means we’ve seen an increase in the number of ‘formal’ complaints, giving more transparency to our complaints process.

We’re really pleased to report that in 2023, one of our Board Members Erica Morriss was appointed as the Board Champion for Customer Complaints.

You can view our current complaints policy and self-assessment on the CCHA website by clicking here

Don’t forget, if you’re ever unhappy with the way we’ve handled your complaint, you can contact the Housing Ombudsman. Details of how to do this are available on our website using the above link.

Meet our Board Champion for Customer Complaints

Hello Residents

I’m delighted to introduce myself in this publication and give you an update on my new role as Board Champion for Customer Complaints. I have been on the Board of CCHA for around three years and have recently taken on this new and very important role.

CCHA really do strive to provide a safe and well-maintained home for all our residents, but we acknowledge that at times we can fall short of this, and we embrace feedback from our residents. I see my role as a ‘channel,’ making sure that the Board are fully reassured of the robustness of the complaints service and that we aim to continuously improve how we provide our important services.

I have recently carried out my first ‘deep dive’ of the complaints system, looking at the journey from start to finish for a number of resident complaints. I am delighted to advise that the system is resilient and gives undoubted priority to keeping the resident informed in a respectful and helpful manner. I also reviewed the lessons learnt and changes made to improve our overall delivery of services.

This was not a one-off exercise and I look forward to updating you on progress in future publications.

Best wishes

Erica Morriss

The importance of complaints data

Complaints provide us with an opportunity to listen to our residents, to help inform and understand how we can improve the services we offer. Our annual target for complaints is to receive no more than 2.1% of complaints of our overall number of properties. In numbers, this is around 155 complaints per year, or 13 complaints per month.

You can see in the below table that we received 106 complaints during 2022/23 (1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023), which is 1.4% of CCHA properties, and is below the target.

Between October 2022 and March 2023 (Quarter 3 and Quarter 4), 52 complaints were received. The tables below provide a breakdown of the complaints we received during this period and the service area they related to.

We hold quarterly review meetings with service managers, to scrutinise resident satisfaction results and complaints data to:

• Identify any trends

• Make sure that any learning from complaints is captured

• Make sure that if changes are needed, they happen, and track that they happen, so we improve services and help prevent recurrence of complaints

Primary Cause of Upheld Complaints

We always take complaints seriously and investigate each one thoroughly. Each complaint is seen as a chance to identify where our services may have fallen below expectations and can be used as a chance to learn, so we can carry on improving the services we deliver for you.

Primary cause of upheld complaints Oct 22 – Mar 23

Lessons Learned from Upheld Complaints

Examples of lessons learnt in more detail:

The issue:

We received a complaint from a resident living in one of our newly built homes. Most of the issues raised seemed to be covered under the terms of the after-care service provided by the developer.

How we resolved it:

During the complaint investigation, it became clear that the timescales the developer was working to were longer than we would usually expect our residents to have to wait. We decided to use our own contractors to resolve the issues for the resident, to avoid any further delays. We used the learning from the complaint to make sure future development agreements would avoid a situation like this from arising in future.

The issue:

A resident made a complaint about a faulty communal door at one of our schemes, stating that the door had been faulty for quite some time.

How we resolved it:

The CCHA colleague who investigated the initial queries visited the scheme, as well as consulting the manufacturer, to try to understand the cause of the fault which was stopping the door from opening some of the time. This led to many visits by engineers who could not find a fault, even though residents were still reporting the issue. The complaint investigation uncovered the fact that the door had a ‘reset’ button. When this was pressed, the door would stay closed for a short period before working as normal. The reset button was moved so that it couldn’t be pressed in error anymore, and the door now works as it should.

The issue:

A complaint was received from a resident about the handling of an anti-social behaviour report made to CCHA. The resident felt that they didn’t know what was happening with the case and hadn’t had feedback on any progress to address the issues raised.

How we resolved it:

The complaint investigation triggered a review into the ways we keep residents informed after they have made complaints about ASB. We now give much improved and regular updates to residents. The team is performance managed to make sure these contacts are made for each ASB case we manage.

The issue:

A resident contacted CCHA to make a complaint about their grounds maintenance service, as they felt the service could be improved.

How we resolved it:

CCHA were carrying out regular visits to the site, but there was an area of the scheme fenced off that was only cut back a couple of times a year. The complaint manager worked with the Grounds Maintenance Team to adjust the timings of these maintenance visits, to make sure they were at more effective times of year. The resident was pleased to see that their concerns had been taken on board, and that the grounds of the scheme are now better maintained.

The issue:

A resident made a complaint about the design of their home because their rear garden could only be accessed by walking through their house.

How we resolved it:

The resident kept their garden waste bin at the front of their house and was struggling to carry lawn clippings and other garden waste through the house without making a mess. The complaint manager found that the design of the garden couldn’t reasonably be altered, so found an alternative solution. In agreement with the resident, we provided a composter for them to use to recycle their garden waste instead of having to carry it through the house. This resolved the issue of any mess in the home and has helped recycle the waste for the good of the environment. The learning for CCHA is that innovative solutions like this should be considered in future for complaint resolution.

Compliments

We’re really pleased to report that between October 2022 and March 2023, we received nearly six times more compliments about the services we deliver and our staff, compared to the number of complaints.

“The guys are fantastic, always arrive when they are supposed to and get the job done. Friendly, helpful lads.”

“My Housing Officer was absolutely lovely, she kept me updated with information about my property and was very helpful during my tenancy period.”

“Everything was prompt from Castles & Coasts. They dealt with my inquiry most professionally whilst adhering to GDPR. They were polite, prompt, friendly and informative.”

“She is a credit to Castles & Coasts and all tenants. Honest, reliable, trustworthy and approachable.”

“That repair man was brilliant, knew exactly what he was doing and fixed the issue quickly and efficiently. Very happy with the work.”

“We’re absolutely delighted with the repair, and the workman was polite and respectful to both of us and our home.”

“Excellent service all round from the first contact with Castles & Coasts to the repair job being done.”

“The workman was very good and was very professional. He was punctual and his attitude and cleanliness were excellent.”

“Everything was great. Went like clockwork.

Electrician was polite, friendly and explained everything that he was doing.”

“Thank you so much for allowing me to have my little dog - he has helped my mental health so much and is changing my life for the better. ”

Resident satisfaction

Tenant Satisfaction Measures – a new way to provide feedback

From 1st April 2023, all social housing tenants are being provided with a new way to give valuable feedback on the services provided by their landlords.

The Regulator of Social Housing has created the new system, called ‘Tenant Satisfaction Measures’ (TSMs), for assessing how well social housing landlords in England are doing at providing good quality homes and services.

The Regulator of Social Housing conducted a series of consultations between December 2021 to March 2022 to develop the TSMs, and we’re pleased to report that members of our Resident Scrutiny Panel were involved in these consultations.

Starting from the beginning of April 2023, like every social landlord in England, we began sending out TSM surveys to people that rent homes from us, usually on the anniversary of their tenancy.

The main aims of the TSMs are to:

• Let residents see how well their landlord is doing

• Give the Regulator of Social Housing an idea of which landlords might need to improve things.

The survey has 12 questions for residents to answer, and starting from Autumn 2024, the results will be published annually, to show residents how their landlord compares to others.

Adam Gould, CCHA’s Head of Customer Service and Engagement, said:

Colleagues in the Customer Experience Team started piloting the TSMs with a small number of residents from January 2023 and are happy that the system is working as it should in readiness for the launch on 1st April 2023.

The TSMs have been developed as a result of the 2020 Social Housing White Paper: Charter for Social Housing Residents, which you can find out more about by following the link

You can also find out more about the new TSMs and why they have been introduced here: Introduction of tenant satisfaction measures – GOV.UK (w ww.gov.uk)

Alongside the TSMs, we’ll continue to carry on sending you our service satisfaction surveys. These are sent to residents each time a service is received from us. The only exception to this is grounds maintenance and communal cleaning, where we will invite all residents who receive this service to provide satisfaction feedback once a year, due to the number of visits carried out.

Adam continued:

“As a housing association, we see TSMs as really important for us and our residents, as a vital way to make sure we’re listening to your views, to find out how we’re performing and to learn where we could improve. We’re urging as many residents as possible to complete the survey when they receive it.”

“Our service satisfaction surveys and other feedback mechanisms, like complaints and compliments, are still really important to us, as they help us to quickly identify issues and make service improvements.”

Satisfaction survey feedback

It’s really important to us that we monitor the feedback we receive on the services we deliver, as it helps inform how we can make improvements. The table below provides an overview of the resident satisfaction feedback we received during the 2022/23 (1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023), from our service satisfaction surveys.

As you will see from the table above, the overall satisfaction with CCHA services is in line with the targets set, with all service areas meeting or exceeding the targets we’ve set, with the exception of communal cleaning. As this is slightly below target, we’re quality monitoring it closely, to identify where improvements can be made.

Resident satisfaction data is shared with our Resident Scrutiny Panel. If feedback for a service area is falling short of expectations, they may choose this area as the topic for their next scrutiny exercise. This was the case when they chose to scrutinise the CCHA Aids and Adaptations service, which was below target during 2021/22. Thanks to the findings and recommendations from this exercise, the satisfaction is now above target.

During 2022/23, we had a target to achieve 90% or above for overall satisfaction with CCHA’s services. The graph below gives an overview of resident satisfaction throughout the year, during 2022/23. On average, resident satisfaction was above the target set, which is extremely encouraging.

Overall Resident Satisfaction Against Target

Other Resident Satisfaction Surveys

Between October 2022 and March 2023, as well as our service satisfaction surveys, we’ve also asked for views of residents on other areas through Resident Feedback Groups:

• We asked for feedback on how effective the process has been for arranging a repairs appointment over the last 12 months. This feedback is being used to inform and improve the processes for residents.

• We asked for views on rent or service charge statements, to add more evidence for an exercise undertaken by our Resident Scrutiny Panel.

• We wanted to find out what residents’ priorities were for their local area (outside of the boundary of their home) and asked for views. We did this to help us better understand what matters most to residents about their neighbourhoods.

• We surveyed existing, and potential future, residents in our Independent Living schemes. We did this to make sure the services we provide are meeting the needs of our valued residents and those who may choose to live in these schemes in future.

If you would like to be part of our Resident Feedback Groups, or would like to find out what’s involved, please get in touch with our Customer Experience Team by emailing feedback@castlesandcoasts.co.uk or by using any of the other contact details on the back cover of this report.

Resident involvement

Our Residents’ Charter

Our Residents’ Charter, which was co-created with feedback from over 1,000 residents, outlines CCHA’s commitments to residents, along with how these commitments are measured. There are six key commitments within our Residents’ Charter:

• Communication

• Accountability

• Quality

• Relationships

• When things go wrong

• Voice and Influence

Our Resident Scrutiny Panel will carry out a review of our performance against these commitments, which will start in April 2023. Their findings will be reported to our Audit & Risk Committee and will be published in a later version of this report.

Our Residents’ Charter can be viewed by clicking on the following link: Residents’ Charter - Castles & Coasts Housing Association (castlesandcoasts.co.uk)

An update from our Resident Scrutiny Panel

Our Resident Scrutiny Panel (RSP) is a team of residents, whose main goal is to help improve services for all residents. They meet monthly, and around four times a year they’ll review a specific area of our service.

For every scrutiny exercise, the findings and recommendations are reported to our Audit & Risk Committee, which is a sub-committee of our Board. The outcomes are also published within the Residents’ Voice Report and on our website. Progress on delivery of any recommendation is also reported to Audit & Risk Committee and the Scrutiny Panel are kept up to date, to make sure all actions are completed.

We’ve recently recruited three new members to the Panel and have members from across a wide range of property types and locations.

The next two pages provide an overview of the most recent scrutiny exercises.

Scrutiny exercise 7 – aids and adaptations

The aim of this exercise was to examine the current CCHA processes for responding to requests from residents for aids and adaptations (A&A) to be fitted in their homes, and to recommend measures that could improve the service. The panel felt it was important to make sure the service was available to all, and that residents receive the same level of service wherever they live in CCHA’s region.

Recommendation

We recommend that urgent consideration should be given by CCHA to ending the current arrangement, where aids and adaptations jobs are given a 90day window for completion in some areas, as this may give residents living in these areas a lesser service than that experienced by residents living in CCHA properties in other areas.

The Aids & Adaptations Team can’t raise jobs of the correct type (ADAPS) for a variety of IT related reasons. This means jobs have to be recoded after being raised, wasting valuable staff resources. We recommend that this be investigated and put right to improve efficiency of the service.

We recommend that CCHA considers ‘future proofing’ newly installed components wherever possible, by replacing taps with lever taps for example.

We recommend that CCHA considers ‘future proofing’ newly developed homes, where possible. For example, fitting them with widened doorways - to ultimately save money as and when adaptations are required by the resident at a later stage in their tenancy.

We recommend that CCHA considers the relative lack of suitable properties for residents with disabilities when developing new schemes, to increase the likelihood that the needs of current residents can be met when the need for rehousing arises.

We Did

We are taking action to have the average days to complete jobs back within our expected time frames by the end of the year. The 90-day target date allows us to complete jobs in the most efficient way possible. The job times are longer than we would like, but the ability to group repairs will provide cost efficiencies in the future and we need to assess this option further by utilising appointments.

We are currently working with our IT Team to improve two-way data between the systems. This will include the ability to pass these ‘ADAPS’ jobs to contractors. It is our aim to get this functionality within the system. There are around six jobs like this raised per month.

We specify lever taps on new installations.

Further action being taken if required

This has been discussed at our regular meetings with our contractors and rectified in April 2023 .

The latest Building Regulations and Planning system requirements encourage this approach to entrances, doorways, and circulation space, therefore our land led schemes will consider this.

The IT team have a work plan in place to resolve this issue.

We try to incorporate where possible, including some schemes which will have fully adaptable bungalows, and will continue to do so.

No further action required.

No further action required.

No further action required.

We recommend that CCHA reviews the relationships and responsibilities between itself, local authorities and contractors in delivering A&A, considering the forthcoming local government reorganisation (in Cumbria).

We recommend that CCHA delivers more prominent and focussed publicity of the A&A services available to promote tenancy sustainment and the health and wellbeing of residents, through the website, social media, and awareness events.

When the A&A policy is reviewed over the coming months, we recommend that the revised policy covers the CCHA position on:

(a) A&As for leaseholders and shared owners

(b) The approach that CCHA will adopt when residents want to seek permission to install A&A at their own cost.

Adaptations carried out by local authorities and contractors outside of the control of CCHA are larger scale works. A local authority carries out these works as they are recommended and funded by them, with a contribution from CCHA. We will assess this process following the forthcoming reorganisation.

Our Communications Team will ensure regular campaigns to promote this service, and the process to follow for applications and enquiries.

We will make sure we continue to maintain excellent communication links and working relationships with our partners in local government, to ensure we are working together to achieve the best outcomes for local residents.

The Policy has been reviewed and updated to incorporate these recommendations.

Regular communications scheduled.

No further action required.

Scrutiny exercise 8 – rent and service charge statements

CCHA provides rent and service charge statements to residents, to let them know how much they need to pay, to provide a breakdown of charges, and the balance of their account. The aim of this scrutiny exercise was to review the effectiveness of the rent and service charge statements provided to residents by CCHA.

You Said

When the new format for leaseholder and shared owner statements is designed, the RSP would like the template to be shared with the Resident Feedback Group (RFG), so all involved residents have the chance to make comments before they are issued to residents.

We recommend that the contact details for residents to use if they would like help with their finances should be more prominent across every statement and review document issued to residents.

We recommend that font size 12 is the minimum size used on rent and service charge statements, to make sure they are easy to read by residents.

We recommend giving more detailed explanations to leaseholders and shared owners when their service charge items have gone up or down.

We recommend adding a sentence to the statements and review documents explaining that CCHA can provide the document in other languages or formats as required.

We Did Further action being taken if required

We will provide a copy to residents in advance and endeavour to take their comments on board.

The documents will be reviewed by the RFG, ahead of being produced in 2024.

We will ensure this is implemented for the next Statements.

The documents will be amended for the 2024 Statements.

We will ensure this is implemented for the next Statements.

The documents will be amended for the 2024 Statements.

We will ensure this is implemented for the next Statements.

The documents will be updated to reflect this when the next Statements are produced.

We will ensure this is implemented for the next Statements.

The documents will be updated to reflect this when the next Statements are produced.

The RSP is currently reviewing our performance against the commitments set out in our Residents’ Charter. The findings of this review will be reported in the next Residents’ Voice Report.

If you’d like to be part of our Resident Scrutiny Panel, or want to find out what’s involved, please get in touch by emailing our Customer Experience Team on feedback@castlesandcoasts.co.uk or by using any of the other contact details on the back of this report.

CCHA’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy

Our five-year Equality Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) Strategy was launched in 2022 and our vision is:

To support the Strategy, we have a Delivery and Communications Plan. The Delivery Plan has 35 key actions, to support the delivery of the strategy.

These actions include the creation of an ED&I Charter, which was co-designed by our Resident Feedback Group. All CCHA Staff and our key delivery partners have signed up to this.

In line with this, we run events to celebrate diversity such as LGBT+ History Month in February 2023, where we raised awareness of LGBT+ communities through news items and promotion, meetings and interactive quizzes.

We’ve also created an updated equality impact assessment process. This is a tool we use to make sure all new policies, services, and procurement of goods and services are assessed, to ensure they are inclusive.

We’re pleased to report that all actions which were due to be completed within the ED&I Delivery Plan for 2022/23 have been delivered on time.

We also recently also undertook ED&I training with ED&I specialists, our staff ED&I Champions and our Board ED&I Champion, Helen Forsyth.

Key strategies to ensure we provide excellent services, that meet the needs of residents

‘Celebrating diversity and ensuring an environment where residents, staff and communities can thrive.’

Meet Helen Forsyth, Board ED&I Champion

Hello Residents

As a CCHA Board member, I was very honoured to be asked to be the ED&I Champion. All my life, I have tried to focus on the individual and what they need, to make sure they share the opportunities we all should have. This means thinking about all the parts that make someone who they are.

I was lucky to attend a really excellent day with a fabulous group of CCHA colleagues from a range of ages, backgrounds and life experiences that they shared openly. They really wanted to know and understand how we include people who may be feeling different for whatever reason. It might be age, gender, race, religion, sexuality, neurodiversity or something else, but we all talked about our experiences and those of others around us.

I really felt that this was a group of people who care deeply about involving people, making sure they feel safe and comfortable enough to contribute and say what they need.

A good course stretches you and makes you recognise you can always do better and be kinder and more thoughtful. I was thinking about people I am working with and how I can improve the experience of life for them. I know I don’t always succeed but I will keep on trying and CCHA is good at always asking questions in a safe way about how we do things.

Customer Service & Engagement Strategy

Our five-year Customer Service & Engagement Strategy was launched in July 2022. The vision for this strategy is:

This Strategy is also supported by a five-year Delivery Plan. Progress is monitored by both our Board and the Audit & Risk Committee.

There are currently 25 actions in the plan, including actions such as:

• Continuing to increase the choice of communications channels available to residents, including a new digital service offer for residents

• Resolving as many customer enquiries as possible at the first point of contact

• Continuing to involve residents in helping us to shape and improve our service at every opportunity

• Providing further opportunities for Board Members to engage with residents and frontline services directly

We are pleased to report that all of the 21 actions which were due to be completed in 2022/23 are either complete or completed and on-going.

The Delivery Plan is a ‘living’ document that we will keep reviewing and updating, with resident and stakeholder feedback, including making sure we are prepared for the future changes in Consumer Regulation, best practice, and new innovation.

‘A truly customer-driven housing provider, which puts our residents’ voice at the heart of everything we do.’

Customer contact, repairs and ASB

Improving our digital service offer

At present, residents can use our Residents’ Portal to go online and report a repair, make a payment, view your rent account, update contact details and contact us. Through carrying out a resident feedback survey, residents told us that they would like an improved digital service offer, that allows you to do more online, so we are currently delivering a project to provide an improved digital service offer for residents.

We are currently co-designing this service with residents. During March and April 2023, we worked with over 50 residents to gather feedback on how they would like each aspect of a digital service to look and function.

We had some wonderful feedback from these sessions, including this comment below.

Work will continue on this project, and we’ll involve residents again to trial any new digital platform and provide crucial feedback before we launch it.

“I think what I’ve taken away is the fact that Castles and Coasts haven’t just gone and done something and not included the people who rent from them. I think it’s very good that they actually went out of their way and asked and did marketing to see what we would like, rather than just put something up and expect us to get on with it.”

Resident at a Newcastle session

Focus on... dealing with damp and mould issues

In the last Residents’ Voice Report, we told you how we quickly acted following the launch of the Housing Ombudsman Spotlight on Damp and Mould Report, and outlined how we were working to implement all of the recommendations.

This was brought into even sharper focus for the housing sector following the tragic death of a toddler in Rochdale.

The health and safety of our residents is our highest priority. We have a dedicated ‘damp and mould taskforce’ set up, led by our Directors of Property and Housing Services, and involving key colleagues. The main focus of the group is to ensure we have the most robust and timely processes in place, to respond to any reports of potential damp and mould.

If you have any concerns around damp and mould, please contact us straight away on 0800 085 1171:

There is also lots of helpful advice and guidance on our website, which can be found here.

How we support residents

At CCHA, we provide more than just a home. Our dedicated Financial Inclusion Team is on hand to support any residents who may find themselves struggling with their finances. They can offer help and advice on a range of issues. Below are two examples of support provided by the team over the past year.

Council tax exemption a huge relief for local resident

A resident who lives alone and pays their rent on time every month was having trouble paying their council tax bill. They had built up a large debt with their local authority, who had sent a letter saying they may take legal action.

CCHA’s Financial Inclusion Team received a referral for help to claim Council Tax Support. The Recovery Team at the local council informed us that the next stage would be to request action towards imprisonment. Neither us nor the local council wanted this to happen. Therefore, a member of our team visited the resident at home, to speak with them in-person and offer support and guidance.

When the team member arrived, the resident answered the door and confirmed that they had a medical condition. They had previously completed a Severe Mental Health Impairment Exemption Form but had not provided proof of disability benefits. We explained that we could help to get this, by contacting the relevant agency on their behalf. They agreed to this and gave us permission to do so.

We were able to get proof of Personal Independence Payments dating back to 2017 when the tenancy started. We emailed this to the local council, and as a result, the debt was cancelled, and the resident is now exempt from paying Council Tax. This was a big relief, as the debt had been over £7,000.

By working with the team and providing proof of the medical condition, the resident cleared their debt and avoided any further action being taken.

£23,000 benefits ‘overpayment’ debt cancelled

A couple had been claiming sickness and disability benefits for many years due to health needs. In 2014, one of the residents took on a small part-time job, working 8 hours per week. They did not realise that they had to declare this to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

This year the DWP found out about the wage, stopped the couple’s Employment and Support Allowance, and calculated that they had been overpaid by more than £23,000.

The Financial Inclusion Team were told that deductions from ongoing Housing Benefit would be made. Over several weeks, we worked with the couple to calculate their household income and to see if they were entitled to any other support.

We passed this information to the local council, and it was agreed that full Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support should be awarded. This cancelled the overpayment, meaning that the couple did not owe anything.

How we are supporting local communities

Our Community Fund

Our Community Fund provides much-needed funding to local organisations and groups, to create opportunities for projects across our communities that support the following objectives:

• Sense of community – bringing communities together

• Training and employability – supporting residents to gain or develop skills

• Health and wellbeing – improving the health and wellbeing of residents

• Improving communities – reducing Anti-Social Behaviour

• Increasing financial and digital inclusion for residents

Since the last Residents’ Voice Report, our funding has helped support over 2,500 people in local communities across Cumbria. You can see a summary of the funding that’s been allocated below. Details of the how to apply for the fund can be found on our website by clicking here

Here’s the difference the funding has made to three local communities:

‘Team Tanzumbria’ youth exchange programme

Local charity, Cumbria Rungwe, provides a link between the communities of West Cumbria and Rungwe in Tanzania. It’s been running a successful youth exchange programme for over 30 years to give young people the chance to experience other cultures and the young people themselves get involved in fundraising activities. The charity’s work with young people from Workington and North Copeland includes peer mentoring and young leader development culture, as well as awareness raising and involvement in local West Cumbrian schools.

CCHA funding has helped reinvigorate this programme, which had to pause during the pandemic. Mary Kipling, Fundraiser, said: “The CCHA funding is being used for our first youth exchange programme in West Cumbria since the pandemic. We’re hosting a group from Rungwe, Tanzania, and the funding is helping us build a team of young people and community volunteers from West Cumbria and Rungwe - ‘Team Tanzumbria’. They’ll visit schools and community groups across the area, involving people of all ages and abilities in the joy of diversity and multiculturalism. Our young people and volunteers will gain skills, confidence, and an insight into how their own communities work.”

Supporting youth work

North Allerdale Development Trust Limited (NADT) in Wigton acts as a resource for young people of a range of ages to develop life skills, build confidence and to take part in society as independent and informed individuals.

More than 20 schools and organisations benefit from EIP, a youth work-led, emotional and social wellbeing programme for young people aged 8 to 16 that are struggling in education. 133 young people were supported in 2022 and the charity is facing increasing demand from primary school age group.

Rural outreach sessions started in April 2022 in response to local need. Sandra Keaveney, Chief Executive Officer, said: “The CCHA funding has helped NADT provide access to youth work in areas where young people have little or no access to facilities. This is so important as it gives young people the chance to meet friends, join activities and go somewhere safe.”

A lifeline for people with autism and their families

Autism Support Allerdale and Copeland (ASAAC) is a local support group for parent carers, relatives and friends of children and adults in Allerdale and Copeland who have, or are waiting for a diagnosis of, autism.

Based in Workington, this highly used service is a vital lifeline for many people supporting a family member with autism. Just some of the services offered by ASAAC include welcoming speakers from local organisations, arranging activities and group visits to local attractions, and providing training.

Shirley, Founder and Chair, said: “The funding from CCHA has made a huge difference. A three-year grant from a major funder was coming to an end and we wanted to be able to keep running all the clubs and activities we’ve set up because they’ve become a lifeline to people with autism, and their families. The new funding is helping us continue and we really are grateful to have been successful in receiving it.”

Kitting out community volunteers

Ford Park is a charity run park in Ulverston with lovely open spaces, nature trails, a playground, an orchard, walled garden and much more. Volunteers are at its heart, and with support from CCHA in October 2022, the team were kitted out with some much-needed new clothing and equipment as part of its inclusive volunteer programme.

Suzanne Edgley, Grants, Trust & Fundraising Officer at Ford Park, said: “The Castles & Coasts funding was very much appreciated by us as a charity, and by our amazing volunteers. Our volunteers are essential to the upkeep and development of our charity owned eight-acre community park. We really couldn’t do it without them, so being able to supply them with the necessary clothing and equipment to safely and effectively carry out jobs on the park is really important. It also makes them very visible in the park as volunteers proudly serving their community.

Pictured is the Thursday morning volunteer group with their all-weather hats and fleeces, protective headgear, goggles, gloves and hi-vis.

Working in partnership across our communities

Activities in our Independent Living schemes

CCHA’s Independent Living schemes support older people to live independently, whilst also offering spaces for social activities to promote inclusion and health and wellbeing. Below are two examples of the many activities we have delivered throughout the year.

Craft for wellbeing

In partnership with Cumbria County Council, the team at Catherine Mill in Whitehaven have been running ‘craft for wellbeing’ sessions including one where they made Christmas gifts and cards.

The residents enjoyed creating bookmarks, Christmas tree decorations with felting, cards and trinket boxes. This was followed by a further programme of crafty sessions in January 2023, demonstrating how popular the programme has proved to be.

Getting together after a challenging year

Christmas well and truly arrived at Wadham Court in Sunderland in December, as CCHA Independent Living Wellbeing and Compliance Officer, Sue Clark (pictured right, centre), hosted the traditional annual Christmas lunch for residents and members of the local community.

A delicious three course meal was followed by cheese and biscuits, coffee, and mince pies, all served in the communal lounge by Whitburn Caterers.

Allison Allison (pictured adjacent, right), Independent Living Manager at Castles & Coasts, said: “After what was a challenging year for everyone, it was so lovely to be able to see residents and local community members coming together to celebrate Christmas. Thank you Sue and everyone else involved in making this such a special day.” Within our schemes, residents have also enjoyed a range of other activities in the past few months including gardening sessions, gentle and seated exercise classes, arts and crafts, games and puzzle afternoons, coffee mornings, pie and pea nights, movie nights, ‘knit and natter’ groups and regular entertainment from local performers. At the time of writing, there was much excitement within many of our schemes as they planned events to celebrate the upcoming Coronation.

New homes: consultations and other events

CCHA’s Development Team sought local views on two proposed affordable homes schemes in November 2022, holding public events in Hexham and Brampton.

The proposed housing developments would see around 62 new homes in Hexham and 60 new homes in Brampton, near Carlisle.

Jo

Winters, Development Manager for CCHA,

said:

“We’re committed to investing in new affordable homes, in the locations where we know communities would benefit most from them. To deliver this, it’s really important that we hear the views of local people, as our projects are shaped and tailored by community comments and insight. We held consultation events in person for both of these proposed developments, so local people could meet our design team and ask us any questions, before we submit planning applications during 2023. We also gave people the chance to give us their views online, who couldn’t attend in person.”

In the Autumn of 2022, we held an open day at one of our newest developments in the north east, Adlam Court in Newsham, Blyth. The event gave new residents the chance to meet colleagues from our development and housing teams, the site’s developers and builders, and members of CCHA’s Resident Scrutiny Panel.

The 27-home development is made up of 2 and 3 bedroom family homes and 2 bedroom bungalows. The open day was a great way for the new residents to provide valuable feedback on the scheme to CCHA colleagues, and it got everyone together to socialise, get to know each other, and to start building strong community foundations.

Partnership working: Spotlight on Workington

Our largest concentration of homes is in the Workington area of Cumbria, and we do lots of work in partnership with other local agencies, to focus on building strong communities.

Working with the local Police

Colleagues from CCHA’s Lettings & Neighbourhoods team recently joined PCSO Luke King in a joint patrol around Northside. They engaged with local residents while they were out and about, to introduce themselves and to talk about their roles and services to residents. The aim is to build trust with local people, so that they feel confident in raising any issues or concerns.

Allerdale Local Focus Hub multi-agency event

Colleagues from CCHA took part in a special event in Northside in January 2023, which aimed to boost community spirit, by providing residents with access to support and advice.

Over 100 people attended the event, organised by the Allerdale Local Focus Hub, a partnership between local organisations including CCHA, Cumbria Police, Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service, and Cumbria County Council.

The event offered Northside residents the chance to engage with others in their community, to access advice and guidance on services, and to discuss any issues in their area.

Residents attending had access to free resources and food donated by local businesses, with the event acting as a temporary Warm Spot, offering residents the chance to get warm and enjoy a hot drink and a friendly chat. Colleagues from CCHA gave out wellbeing packs throughout the event and chatted with residents about housing options and services.

CCHA worked in partnership with the Allerdale Borough Council Enforcement Team, and we have been part of the award-winning ‘Operation Respect’ campaign.

‘Operation Respect’ scooped the prestigious Keep Britain Tidy ‘Community Engagement’ award in February 2023 for its work in keeping local communities clean and tidy.

The campaign has involved engagement with a number of agencies, including education and enforcement activities, with the Allerdale Local Focus Hub Partnership leading on the Operation Respect days, including a Northside Community Day, and coordinating with key local partners including CCHA, other housing providers, Cumbria County Council, Cumbria Police, Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service, Active Cumbria, Allerdale Community Development, Cumbria Family Support Network, Active Cumbria, the DWP, and Family Action.

The collaborative engagement activities have had a hugely positive impact and there has been a significant decrease in fly-tipping as a result.

Managing Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)

We believe everybody has the right to the peaceful enjoyment of their home, which is why we are committed to working with our residents and local partners to tackle ASB and neighbour nuisance. We take reports of ASB very seriously at CCHA.

Below are some examples of the work we have undertaken to reduce ASB recently:

• We have been working very closely with Cumbria Police and restorative justice charity, Remedi, to work with young people involved in hate crimes, including going into local schools to raise awareness.

• Thanks to support from residents, we currently have 102 active cases of ASB, following over 600 reports. We investigate every report of ASB and aim to work with residents to reach a satisfactory resolution.

• With support from residents and intelligence provided, we’ve been able to serve four ‘Section 21’ notices in the past year, which means those people have to give up their tenancies, due to serious ASB, which has had a serious detrimental impact on local communities. Section 21 notices are an absolute last resort and are only served in cases where no other resolution can be found.

Volunteering

CCHA’s Charity and Volunteering Committee have been busy over the last few months.

Transforming outdoor spaces

The outdoor spaces at our Independent Living schemes at Brownsea Place (Gateshead) and Dickinson Court (Whitehaven) were transformed for residents by a team of 24 staff volunteers, with the support of our partners Bell Group. Gardens were given a makeover, and other areas cleared and painted.

A relative of one of our Brownsea Place residents sent us this wonderful feedback:

“I must say a massive well done to everyone who was there today helping do the gardens and the patio area. Everyone worked non-stop and have transformed the whole look of the area and made it a lovely place to sit.

“Not only has very single person there worked their socks off; they were friendly and chatty to any resident they spoke to and deserve recognition for all their hard work and dedication today.

“Thank you all for brightening up the place for the residents to enjoy.”

Foodbank Support

The Charity and Volunteering Committee extended a huge thank you to CCHA colleagues for making generous donations of food, toiletries and other essentials throughout December 2022, to benefit two of our local foodbanks in Carlisle and Gateshead.

Foodbanks provide emergency food and support to millions of people every day. They work with a wide range of agencies such as doctors, health visitors, social workers, police and housing associations, to identify people in need and issue them with a foodbank voucher, which can then be used for a foodbank parcel.

The foodbanks were hugely grateful for the donations and made sure they were distributed to those in need across our local communities.

Improving the ways you can get in touch with us

We’re always looking at new ways for you to get in contact with CCHA, aiming to make it as easy as possible for residents to access our services, in a way that meets individual needs and preferences.

New ‘callback’ service

Request a callback

At the time of our last Residents’ Voice Report we’d just launched our webchat service. To makes things even easier, we’ve now also launched our ‘request a callback’ service.

To use this service, just visit the ‘Contact Us’ page on our website and click the ‘Request a callback’ button (picture above). You’ll be asked for your name and the number you’d like us to call you back on, free of charge, and as soon as a Customer Services Officer is available, they’ll give you a call back.

Website accessibility tool

Our Resident Scrutiny Panel reviewed our website and made some recommendations that have all been implemented. This included making sure our website was as inclusive and accessible as possible. We’ve now introduced the ‘ReachDeck’ website accessibility tool.

You’ll now see the icon below on every page of the website, clicking on it gives you the options of adding a ‘screen mask’ in different colours, having the page read out loud, translated, displayed in larger text or simplified.

You can also get in touch with us in the following ways:

Visit us at our offices at 5 Paternoster Row, Carlisle or Stoneleigh, Park End Road, Workington every Tuesday and Thursday between 10am and 2pm

0800 085 1171

cs@castlesandcoasts.co.uk

Visit the ‘Contact us’ page on our website at castlesandcoasts.co.uk/contact/

You can also view your account, pay your rent and log a repair anytime via our Residents’ Portal, which can be accessed here