Welcome to the Spring 2024 edition of your ‘Here at Horton’ newsletter. In this edition you will find our latest news, how you can have your say on Horton’s strategic priorities, fire safety tips, and our latest volunteering opportunities. We hope you enjoy reading this edition of your newsletter.
Santa and his elf made a special guest appearance to give presents to the children at Bradford Homeless Partnership’s Christmas party. Families at the scheme gathered to celebrate, enjoy the festive tunes and party food.
Our Fairmount scheme got into the festive spirit at their Christmas party with a game of ‘Pass the parcel’, a mountain of food, and presents for the tenants. Everyone was treated to a live guitar solo and drumming performance by two extremely talented tenants.
Everyone at Horton’s Managed Migration Services Christmas party had fun playing quizzes and a raffle with prizes handed out to the winners. There were lots of delicious food and homemade treats on offer. The children and young people were also pleased to be given Christmas art activities as presents from service staff.
Young people at one of our Group Living Services (GLS) enjoyed their Christmas together with a lovely Christmas dinner and opened presents under the tree. They had a great time dancing to music, playing games and eating delicious food.
A large number of people at Street Reach, Tenancy Sustainment, Next Steps and Craven Mount were treated to their own Christmas dinner and gifts. Staff across the services worked together to cook 50 individual portions of Christmas dinner and made gift hampers from items donated to the schemes.
Craven Mount tenants woke up on Christmas morning to some personalised gifts to open. During the day they tucked into a delicious breakfast and a Christmas dinner cooked by staff.
STARS (Substance Tenancy and Resettlement Service) and Spring Street enjoyed their trips to Toby Carvery for a Christmas dinner.
Crazy Christmas hats were worn and crackers were pulled at Harrogate Stay Well’s Christmas party. Everyone enjoyed a tasty buffet made by staff and played games of bingo with prizes for the lucky winners.
Kirklees IHM (Intensive Housing Management) were entertained by a visit from ukulele players Tony and David who performed a selection of Christmas tunes. As it was the festive season, they cracked open the Pringles and mince pies and everyone had a good old singalong.
Visitors at our Horton Wellbeing Café across Selby got into the festive spirit by making Christmas decorations.
Rocky my dog, watched over me, When I was in need of a rock,
He watched over me,
As I lay in the night upon my settee.
Coals burning in my fire, Rocky watched over me,
His silhouette comforted me in the dark of night,
Chilly tongues spoke voices in my head.
I was poorly and chilly tongues spoke. I’d choked with each breath.
So Rocky walked over to me, licked my hand and comforted me.
He silenced the voice and I slept contented with Rocky at my side.
HACS 4 Women also made bath bombs and homemade sweets in craft sessions during the festive period.
Both of our Housing and Community Support (HACS) 4 Men and HACS 4 Women services in Bradford made stunning Christmas wreaths in December.
Do you enjoy doing something creative, such as producing art, making crafts or writing poetry?
We would love to see them and share them here! Please email them to communications@hortonhousing.co.uk or talk to your support worker.
From October to December, we received 64 donations including a large donation of warm clothing, toiletries and food from Warrior Factory Martial Arts Academy. This generous donation helped us put together ten food parcels and starter packs for people moving into new properties.
We also received a large donation of toys, clothes, bedding and other items from the Social Justice Society at University of Bradford.
We would like to say a big thank you to all of the organisations and individuals for their kind donations.
132 people visited Horton’s Owt for Nowt shop in Bradford between October and December.
Our Volunteer Service staff kindly offered a collection of donations to services as part of their Christmas present campaign in December. An incredible total of 184 presents were wrapped by Volunteer Services staff Kristina and Shabana, volunteer Mark, and Horton’s Managed Migration services staff Esther, Mangaza and Nikki. The presents were sent out to children in our services to open on Christmas Day.
December was a very busy month for Volunteer Coordinator Kristina and the volunteers, but they are always happy to help and support people in Horton’s services.
We launched a new area of Horton’s website for you called ‘My Horton’ in January 2024.
‘My Horton’ gives you access to information, tips and advice, and links to other useful websites during your time with us.
You can access ‘My Horton’ via the QR code on this page or by visiting Horton’s website: www.hortonhousing.co.uk
We would love to hear what you think about your new area of our website. We welcome any feedback – good or bad – let us know!
We aim to make any changes and improvements that we can to make the site useful for you. You can give your feedback to your support worker or email communications@hortonhousing.co.uk
Paul Gartland will be retiring from his position as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Horton Housing Association on 31 March 2024. Paul has worked for Horton Housing for almost 36 years, the last nine as CEO.
During his time at Horton, Paul has seen the Association grow from very small beginnings to the thriving organisation it is today: employing over 350 staff across West and North Yorkshire and delivering services to thousands of people each year.
Paul said: “I am proud of the achievements of the Association and confident that the Association made up of its Board, employees, volunteers and people in our services will continue to grow and prosper in the years to come.”
Gudrun Haskins Carlisle will become the new CEO on 1 April 2024. Gudrun has worked for Horton for 24 years in various roles from support worker, manager, Services Director, and currently as Deputy CEO.
Horton Wellbeing Cafés in Selby, and Harrogate and Selby Stay Well have recently had their contracts extended by North Yorkshire Council. The services will continue to run until October 2024. Another year extension for the services will be reviewed by the council before October.
Both Stay Well schemes support people with mental health challenges and housing needs to maintain or find accommodation, and avoid homelessness.
Horton Wellbeing Café is held in community venues across the Selby district. The café runs
informal sessions and offers a safe space to people with mental health challenges. The café aims to improve people’s wellbeing, promotes meaningful activities, and gives people access to additional support.
Our Street Reach service in Calderdale was awarded 12 months of funding by Calderdale Council in December 2023. The funding will go towards the delivery of the service which supports people with experience or at risk of rough sleeping and street begging.
Allison is a Housing Support Worker at one of Horton’s services. She draws from her own experiences and education to connect with and help the people she supports.
This is her story.
Allison was brought up in a household that she describes as ‘chaotic’. Her parents battled daily with an alcohol and drug addiction and her father passed away before Allison turned 11. That lifestyle was something she felt she would never be able to escape.
Having had a daughter at a young age, Allison experienced years of domestic abuse from her partner. She had no formal education leaving her unable to find employment.
Her alcohol and substance misuse became more and more problematic. Aged 29, Allison became pregnant for a second time and knew something had to change.
Allison checked into different recovery services and became more determined to make a fresh start for her and her young family. Allison also focused on getting an education during her recovery. She enrolled at Bradford College in 2014, where she took her GCSEs and studied a Level 2 course in Health and Social Care.
“My spelling was around that of an eight year old. It was really hard and soul destroying doing that level when you’re older, but I tried really hard to make little steps at a time. I know that I wouldn’t have been able to study if I was still drinking because I couldn’t be reliable. I couldn’t wake up on a morning, I couldn’t attend appointments because it was still chaotic. I was always ill so I couldn’t maintain it.
I was trying to find a balance but I couldn’t.”
Allison continued to focus on her recovery and studies. In 2023 she graduated with a Youth and Community Development degree.
During her studies, Allison took a keen interest in social equality and human rights, expertise she now uses in her role supporting young people new to the country with their housing, training and employment needs.
“I understand that their self-esteem and confidence might not be there. People think that it is as easy as finding a job, but I know that before I could find a job, I needed confidence and belief. Coming from my background, you have a sense that your value is low. Imagine starting in a workplace feeling that you are lower than everyone else. That stays with you and you have to keep reminding yourself that is wrong. That is why education is so important for people like myself because it evens the playing field.”
You can read the full version of Allison’s story on our website:
https://hortonhousing.co.uk/allisons-story/
Before Horton I was facing health complications due to prolonged alcohol use. My alcohol use had impacted my tenancy and I was being evicted. I had a history of offending behaviour and had spent time in prison. During my time in prison I would complete detoxes for my alcohol usage but then on release I would return to my old property which had a lot of other users in and anti-social behaviour. This made it difficult to remain clean from alcohol and I would start drinking again.
My mental health was low and I felt isolated. I had lost people that were close to me and required some bereavement support. I wanted to reach out and have contact with my family but wasn’t in a good place to do this, and felt it would be unfair on them. I had no ID, I had debtors chasing me, I required a dentist and a local GP, and I needed to engage with probation. There were so many things that I was dealing with that it felt overwhelming and impossible to manage. My engagement was poor with services and I neglected myself.
I wanted to make significant changes and better choices. I felt this had to start with my environment. Initially, with Horton’s support, I moved into a dispersed property. Unfortunately I had a mental breakdown and my alcohol use was at an all-time
high. It was decided that I needed to be in supported accommodation where staff are on site to support me.
I learned that being around people that wanted to see me do better encouraged me to make changes. I benefitted from their reassurance and prompting, someone guiding me daily and showing me the benefits of the changes I was making. I knew I was able to complete an alcohol reduction and detox because I had done this in prison but needed the tools to remain detoxed.
I wanted to reduce my drinking. I wanted to get my health back to a good standard. I knew that I had to reduce my drinking in order to see my health improve. I wanted to live somewhere without anti-social behaviour and chaos so that I could focus on achieving my goals. I wanted to stop my offending behaviour and keep out of prison. I wanted to have my family in my life again.
It was when I moved into supported accommodation that I really started to make positive changes. I was supported to engage with CGL (Change Grow Live), I began a reduction plan and my alcohol use declined. I began to feel better and my health improved. I was referred to mental health services to deal with my low mood and received support around bereavement.
I was supported to register at a local GP and dentist. I got my ID in place. I worked with my support worker to reduce my debts and consolidate them to an affordable repayment plan. This helped my money management and I found I was able to save, so I now have a savings account.
I am completely discharged from probation services for the first time in my life. I have no current offending behaviour and I’m determined to keep it that way. Due to all these positives, I had the confidence to reach out to my family. My sister is now in my life and is a huge support for me.
I have not had a drink now for three months and I have been free from heroin and crack cocaine for eleven years. If I can do it, anyone can.
I am now looking to move on to more
independent living. I would like a council flat so I am secure and can put my own stamp on it. I have already started to buy furniture and things I need so I am ready to move when somewhere comes available.
Having a place to call home is like having a blanket around me. It makes me feel safe.
Although I am still reducing my alcohol use, I know that I am able to manage this more independently. Alcohol was a coping mechanism for me and that’s why when I normally reduced, my mental health would take a big knock. I’ve managed to reduce without any self-harm or serious decline in mental health and this is something I’m proud of.
All the goals I wanted to achieve seemed overwhelming but having Horton’s support made me feel like I wasn’t alone with it all.
Horton Housing Group signed up to be official adopters of the National Housing Federation’s Together with Tenants Charter in December 2020.
This means we want to make sure that:
• you are safe and listened to
• you can help shape our services if you want to
• the homes we provide are good quality
• when things go wrong, it is easy for you to tell us or make a complaint and we will sort it out quickly.
Our commitment applies to everyone using our services, regardless of whether you live in our accommodation or are using any other Horton service.
Board members visited some of our schemes in Bradford and Halifax in January.
The Board members support our senior management team to make decisions about the direction of the business. They usually join with experience from other housing providers or specialisms in certain areas of business such as accounting, IT, communications or risk management.
Some of them have experienced issues such as homelessness and mental health challenges themselves and want to use those experiences to make things better for other people.
The Board members visited our young people’s services, our home from hospital scheme and our accommodation for people who have experienced rough sleeping. The visits were a good opportunity for members of the Boards to meet both colleagues and tenants at the schemes. The visits gave them a much better idea of how the business works and what we could do to expand our services.
One Board member said: “I found it hugely helpful and a really positive experience.”
In December, our Together with Tenants Board Champion Ray Milne also visited a service in Huddersfield to chat to tenants and staff there.
We’d like to hear your thoughts about our plans for Horton next year.
Every January, we set ourselves some goals for the coming year (April to March). We work out when we want to achieve these goals, how much it will cost and what we need to do to get there. We call this our ‘Business Plan’ for the whole of Horton.
It’s a bit like support planning but for Horton! Planning in this way helps us keep Horton healthy
So let’s take a look at our plans…
Overall, we want to provide high quality services, and make sure you feel safe and listened to.
To help this to happen, our main goals for 2024/25 are:
and do our best for you. (Your scheme also has its own local plan, which we’ll share with you soon).
Below is a summary of our main goals for the next 12 months and we want you to tell us what you think of them. We’d like to know if you think we’re going in the right direction. And if we’ve homed in on the right things. It will help us to know what you think.
• We’d like to buy or build some new flats or houses.
• We have two shared houses at present. These two properties aren’t very modern, so we’d like to replace them with self-contained flats, with better facilities.
We’d like to make sure that we maintain your homes properly and they are safe, so:
• We have a budget for repairs and improvements.
• We want to complete repairs promptly, especially if they are urgent.
• We’d like to make sure our homes are energy efficient. Energy Performance Certificates give a rating from A (best) to G (worst). We’d like to achieve at least a C in all the properties we own.
We will look at how we can make our money go further and reduce waste.
We’ll try to collect all the rent due, as it helps pay for staff and for the other things we need to do.
• If anyone is unhappy with us, we want to respond quickly and put it right if we can.
• We want to learn from any mistakes and make things better in future.
We aim to act quickly to support anyone who has something worrying them, and help get it sorted out.
• We aim to take speedy action if you experience a problem from a neighbour.
• We will tell you how we’re performing.
• Sur vey – we will ask everyone we work with what they think of our support and housing.
• Tenant Incentive Scheme – we have an idea we want to ask you about soon.
We want to find out if the ways we consult works for you, or if we could do something better or different.
Your service is making arrangements to have these conversations on our strategic priorities with you. These will be a mixture of one to one and group meetings. Your answers will be kept anonymous. Feedback from the conversations will need to be returned to us by 31 March 2024.
Please speak to your support worker for further details or if you prefer, you can email your comments or suggestions directly to Dale Robinson on dale.robinson@hortonhousing.co.uk
We have set some questions below which your answers will help us to know what you think of our plans and suggestions.
• Do you think these goals are the right ones for Horton? [Yes / No / Don’t know / Comments]
• Do you think what we’ve said here is right for the people who access Horton’s homes and support? [Yes / No / Don’t know / Comments]
• Is anything missing?
• Do you have any other comments about our plans for next year? We’ll report back in the next edition of ‘Here at Horton’ what’s been agreed, and we’ll let you know how we’re doing.
• We want to hear from you about how you would like to be involved in discussing and feeding back on the things that matter to you.
(We will discuss and consult with you about this during quarter one – between April 1 2024 and 30 June 2024).
• We want to set up a tenants group in order to design and develop a Tenant Incentive Scheme. If you would like to be involved in a workshop group, please let us know by informing your support worker or you can contact Horton’s Together with Tenants Lead, Dale Robinson on dale.robinson@hortonhousing.co.uk
Below are some tips from the Government’s ‘Fire Kills’ campaign to help keep you safe and avoid the risk of a fire in your home.
More tips and advice on fire safety in the home can be found on Fire England’s website here: https://fireengland.uk/fire-safety/fire-safety-home
• Put a carbon monoxide alarm in rooms which have fuel burning appliances.
• I t is recommended that you should test your smoke alarm once a month and to change the batteries, if needed.
• If you think there is a problem with your portable heater, unplug it and contact the manufacturer. If the heater has been provided by your landlord, ask your landlord to repair or replace it.
• Keep por table heaters away from curtains, furniture and other flammable objects.
• Try to secure heaters against a wall to stop them from falling over.
• Avoid using them to dry clothes.
• Do not use gas or electric heaters in a bathroom.
• Do not use gas heaters in a bedroom.
• Only use gas or paraffin heaters in well-ventilated rooms to avoid the risk of suffocation.
• Always unplug heaters when you are not using them, before you go out or before you go to bed.
• Do not buy second hand electric blankets.
• Check your blanket for signs of wear and tear. You should replace your blanket with a new one every ten years.
• Never use a hot water bottle with an electric blanket, even if the blanket is switched off.
• Do not use or turn on the blanket if it gets wet.
• Unplug your blanket before you get into bed. Only leave it on if it has a thermostat control for safe all night use.
• Store electric blankets flat, loosely folded or rolled up to avoid damaging the internal wiring.
• Keep a mobile phone handy in case you need to make an emergency call.
• Do not use candles - use alternative lighting. Keep a torch and batteries handy or use the torch feature on your mobile phone if you have one.
Please help us to keep our staff safe from needle injuries.
If you use needles or syringes, either for drug or medical purposes, please use a sharps bin to dispose of your needles. If you do not have access to a sharps bin, please speak to your housing or support worker.
Please don’t leave needles in the property, for example in the sofa, cushions or bed. It can be dangerous when we clean the property after you have left or when we come to visit you.
Safely disposing of needles reduces the risk of blood-borne viruses. These are viruses that some people carry in their blood and can spread from one person to another. You may not know that you have a virus and it may not affect you, but it might affect someone else.
Examples of blood borne viruses are:
• HIV (human immunodeficienc y virus) which can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency virus) which affects the body’s immune system
• Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C which affect the liver.
If you injure yourself with a used needle you should:
• Encourage the wound to bleed, ideally by holding it under running water
• Wash the wound using running water and plenty of soap
• Do not scrub the wound while you’re washing it
• Do not suck the wound
• Dr y the wound and cover it with a waterproof plaster or dressing. You will then need to go to A&E if the needle is not your own to prevent infection.
At Horton Housing we aim to provide excellent services and always look for ways to improve them.
Every three months we look at our performance to see how we’re doing. We measure ourselves against targets based on the performance of a group of other good housing providers, where available. Other measures are set by Horton Housing’s Management Board and Senior Management Team.
Here are the latest Key Performance Indicator (KPI) figures for quarter two from 1 July to 30 September 2023. A KPI is a measure of how well we are doing. Properties
This is not a good result - being ‘in arrears’ means owing rent. We had not received all the increases in rent during this quarter.
For this reason, the percentage of arrears is higher than normal. Tenant
Our Property Services administration team contacted some of you who had repairs to ask for your feedback. During quarter two: 38 calls for feedback on repairs were made.
Of the 26 that answered the phone: 24 were ‘very satisfied’ with the repair 2 were ‘satisfied’.
You can tell us about how satisfied you are with your repairs by completing the repair satisfaction postcard or completing feedback online. Please see the next page for more details.
During quarter two, three cases of ASB were still open from quarter one. Two of the cases were settled and one case had ongoing actions. These cases remained open in quarter two.
There were six new reports of ASB during quarter two.
The six complaints were in relation to noise, threatening behaviour, invasion of privacy and disturbance to neighbours.
Four cases were closed before the end of the quarter. Two remained open and ongoing.
All six complaints were responded to within the timescale.
There was a total of five open cases at the end of quarter two. Out of the five:
• Two cases are settled and were expected to close in quarter three.
• Two cases continued to be more challenging. Multiple agencies have been involved as well as intensive support from Horton staff.
We received seven formal complaints in quarter two.
All formal complaints were answered within the target time.
If our maintenance team come to your home to carry out a repair, you will receive a repair satisfaction survey postcard from us.
Are you satisfied or unsatisfied about the repair? Let us know by completing the survey. Please send it back to us by using one of our pre-paid envelopes or give it to your support worker or key worker.
If you prefer, you can also complete the survey online:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MyRepair
All completed surveys we receive will be entered into a prize draw which takes place every three months.
Have you ever considered volunteering?
Volunteering can help you:
Gain confidence
Meet new people
Learn new skills
Gain work experience
Help others
We will provide:
Keep ac tive
Have a sense of purpose
Improve your mental health.
Induc tion, support, supervision and training
Out of pocket expenses, such as payment towards travel
A reference if you volunteer for more than three months.
You can keep up to date and apply for our volunteer roles by visiting the volunteering section of our website: www.hortonhousing.co.uk
If you are interested in volunteering and would like to find out more, please contact our Volunteer Services Manager on 07525 667874 or email volunteer.applications@hortonhousing.co.uk
All of the Bradford roles require an enhanced DBS Check, of which we will cover the cost.
Volunteer roles available:
Bradford
Activities support volunteer
You will support staff at Bradford Respite Intermediate Care Support Service (BRICSS) with scheme activities, cook and eat sessions and administrative duties. BRICSS is a home from hospital scheme for people discharged from hospital and who are homeless or living in unsuitable accommodation. You will help to improve the overall wellbeing of people in the scheme, many of who are affected by illness and disability.
Gardeners
Encourage and support our tenants to spend time outside in an allotment, helping to create a space for relaxation, exercise, gardening and activities. This role is in Shipley. This role is ideal for someone with some community experience, who enjoys working with groups.
Befrienders
We are looking for Befrienders to work with individuals across multiple of our services in Bradford. Experience working with people with mental health challenges, substance and alcohol misuse, and disability would be an advantage. Roles are flexible.
The volunteering opportunities below are available in Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees and North Yorkshire
We are looking to recruit more van drivers who can be on hand to visit different collection sites along with a Van Driver’s Mate. For this role, you must have a full valid UK manual driving license and be able to commit to one day a week.
Van
You will help our drivers with organising and collecting furniture or large item donations around the region. You will also help to keep accurate records of our collections and deliveries.
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Tick when found:
Airplane
Bicycle
Bus
Car
Caravan
Ferry
Helicopter
Motorbike
Ship
Train
Tram
Taxi
Our commitment
Horton Housing is committed to promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Our aim is for our organisation to be truly representative of all sections of society, for each individual to be treated fairly, to feel respected and be able to be their best. We are committed to ensuring that our services are appropriate and accessible to the people who need them. We are opposed to all forms of harassment and unlawful discrimination.
We have an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy which sets out how we will meet the needs of the people we work with and our equality duties. Every year we publish an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan which sets out our targets and how we will put our commitment to equality and diversity into practice.
We have been awarded the Housing Diversity Network Accreditation (DNA)
recognising our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
We are a member of the Housing Diversity Network.
If you have ideas on what you would like to see in the newsletter or to give any feedback, please get in touch.
You can contact us through your support worker or by emailing: communications@hortonhousing.co.uk
Or you can write to us at: Communications
Horton Housing
54 Little Horton Lane
Bradford BD5 0BS
Phone us on 01274 370689
Or connect with us on social media
Facebook: search for ‘Horton Housing
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