news
Spring issue: April 2014
Your magazine from New Charter
We're recruiting apprentices
8 Treat yourself to a new hair style at Beatrix House
91 Enter this year's garden competition
Neighbourhood plans make your communities even better! Pages 6 & 7
Also inside: Could you be one of our apprentices? Page 8
12 We could give you the keys to your door
Plus
Feed a family of 4 for ÂŁ5 with our easy recipe Page 21
16
Welcome to your spring magazine! We’ve got lots to tell you about in this edition but first, we have to start with some very sad news. On 3 January, our friend and fellow member of the Customer Communications Group Ann Walton passed away. Ann, from Ashurst Gardens in Ashton, was a very involved tenant who was always looking to make things better for others. She was a lovely lady and she will be sadly missed by everyone. We’re continuing our work through CCG on behalf of Ann and here’s a bit about what’s packed into this newsletter.
There’s a fantastic update about improvements to neighbourhoods with new star ratings for some areas. New Charter will also start its apprentice recruitment from April and entries for the annual gardening competition are open. As always, there’s some really useful information on the benefit cuts and advice on how to make your money go further. We hope you enjoy this edition and the start of the better weather (hopefully!).
A reminder of our out-of-hours service Sometimes things go wrong at home outside of our working hours and you need our help. It could be a serious water leak, power cut or another problem which could put you and your family at risk in your home. Our out-of-hours service deals with these kind of emergencies to make sure we're always there to help you, 24 hours a day. Sometimes we get calls that could wait until normal working hours and these calls, if attended, could result in costs to you.
For this reason, please think carefully if it really is an emergency before you ring us out-of-hours. If it is an emergency please call us as soon as possible. If it’s not, you can contact us over the telephone, through our website, or on Facebook or Twitter during normal working hours. Take a look at the back of this magazine for all of our contact details.
Ann Walton
Get involved in our
Great Community Walk!
We’re holding a Community Walk in Tameside on Sunday 27th July. Keep an eye on our website, Facebook and Twitter pages and in your communities nearer the time for more information.
Look for this icon: If you have a smartphone you can also find more information on our website by scanning this barcode with a QR code reader app.
2 The Communications team at New Charter writes your newsletter. You can contact them on 0161 331 2470.
Contents 15
16
18
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Don’t forget, you can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter facebook.com/newcharterhomes @NewCharterGroup
Money matters
4-5
Neighbourhoods shoot for the stars
6-7
Looking for an apprenticeship?
8
Treat yourself to a new hair style or beauty treatment at a snip of the price
9
The great storm
10
Green Charter award win
11
Tell us what you think about our customer service
11
Is your garden the best in town?
12
Community contribution - could you be part of a residents' group? 13 Tenant Management Team news
14
Rogue electricians - do you know the score?
15
Students are TV stars
15
Have you got the Keys to Your Door? 16 Getting people into work, training and volunteering
17
Work clubs
18
Discount card: We need your help
18
Puzzles page
19
The Dukinfield East new community minibus is here for you 19 How we’re doing
20
Feed 4 for £5
21
Get knitting for babies
22
Events and classes
23
April 2014
3
Money Matters Are your belongings protected?
New Charter believes it is important that your personal belongings are protected.
NEW
We know that some of our tenants do not have access to contents insurance and if the worst did happen (eg. fire, flood or theft) they would not be able to replace essential items in their home.
It’s only open to people whose rent account is up to date, but it could be an easy and affordable way for you to protect the important items in your home. Think you might be interested? Contact our Home Contents Insurance section on 0161 331 2221 or pop in and see us at one of our offices or hubs.
That’s why we introduced New Charter Crisis Protection Insurance. We have worked with Aon and Aviva to bring you an affordable insurance policy that can protect your contents. It will cost just 50p a week (which you can pay along with your rent) and, if the worst happens, it will pay out up to £3000 to replace important items in your home such as washing machines and cookers, furniture and electrical goods.
Could you become a HomeSwapper? Almost a thousand New Charter tenants have registered with our HomeSwapper service. HomeSwapper helps people to find a home that's right for them, by swapping with someone else - whether they want to downsize or move to a bigger home. It covers all of Tameside and can help people who are struggling to cover the costs of the ‘bedroom tax’ or people who need a bit more space. 4
April 2014
Since last April we have helped
156
families swap homes
Register for HomeSwapper at www.homeswapper.co.uk, by calling 0161 331 2000 or visiting one of our Hubs.
My Home Finance affordable loans Last year, 1200 of you completed a survey to help us understand how you manage your money. This has been really useful and is helping us to offer the services that you need. One of the things you told us is that many of you take out loans and some of you are using very expensive options like pay day loans, doorstep lenders and even illegal money lenders. To give you another choice we're working in partnership with My Home Finance to give tenants and leaseholders an alternative to doorstep and payday lenders. If you are looking for a loan, all you need to do is call My Home Finance on 0845 519 7237 where staff will talk you through the process and see if this is the right option for you. For more information please call into any of our Hubs or log on to www.myhomefinance.org.uk
Smarterbuys
The Smarterbuy Store is supported by New Charter Homes.
Find quality household products and buy smarter, with affordable weekly payments and prices up to 40% cheaper than other weekly payment stores. Visit www.gm.sbstore.org or call 0300 500 0975 to find out more or pick up a catalogue at one of our Hubs.
Money Care Need some help managing your money and benefits? Give our Money Care team a call on
0161 331 2456
for free, confidential and impartial advice.
April 2014
5
NEIGHBOURHOODS THE STARS!
It’s one year since we launched our star-rated neighbourhood plans to help improve your neighbourhoods and what a difference a year can make. We’ve seen much needed investment in your neighbourhoods and are pleased to report some excellent results. When we launched our plans in March last year, we only had 8 five star neighbourhoods and now we have 20. We also had 8 three star neighbourhoods but now we only have two because the majority have moved up to four and five stars. Our four star neighbourhoods have gone from 16 to 10. Over 800 of the 1,500 actions we said we'd deliver over the next three years have been completed in the first year with some of your neighbourhoods shooting from three to five stars. It’s an incredible achievement and it’s all thanks to you and our partners who’ve helped along the way. Here’s how our star ratings have improved over the past 12 months.
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April 2014
20 8 16 8
FIVE STARS
10 FOUR STARS
2 THREE STARS
Your neighbourhood plans and our achievements are being used nationally as an example of best practice for other companies to follow.
SHOOT FOR What’s improved?
Almo st 6 neigh 2% of our b are no ourhoods w five s an im prove tar – m ent of 150 %.
e urhoods hav Two neighbo three stars rocketed from e straight to fiv (Stanhope St Annes and Gorse Hall).
In 2013, four neigh bourhood s had five s tars for satisfa ction. In 2014, w e now have eigh t.
Anti-
o Only tw in at three ema hoods r r tral u o b h g ish Cen k). d nei n e v a a C stars. ( Broado & w a h alls and Sm e have lots W s vention r e t n i f o ove to impr planned s this year. rea these a
Rent a r time ta rears and ken to homes le have im t our proved despit e the impac to benefi f the t cuts.
socia l have behaviou f r cas neig allen in es all hbou rhoo with ds s impr ignifican acro ovemen t ts ss th r neig hbou ee star rhoo ds.
ourhood The neighb helped to plans have ents ber of resid m u n e th eir increase olved in th v in g in tt e g hoods and neighbour e year, we’v e th g in r u d new set up nine . sociations s A ’ ts n e id Res
rovements Overall imp ade have been m in health, t, employmen income and education.
So what’s next? The results are very positive and have had a huge impact on your neighbourhoods in such a short amount of time. Through the neighbourhood plans we can run tailor-made and long lasting work with residents and partners. The plans are helping us to better understand the needs of our communities and we will be targeting more resources to ensure we achieve five stars We're also developing a five star plus so we can continually improve your neighbourhoods!
April 2014
7
Looking for an apprenticeship? We could help! An apprenticeship is an excellent way of learning a new profession while earning a wage and studying for an NVQ. We're going to be recruiting from April for apprentices to work across Tameside in business administration and trade roles.These positions will start in September. Successful candidates will earn the minimum wage for their age and get time off to go to
college one day a week. We also help people to find a job at the end of their apprenticeships. Keep an eye on our website at www.newcharter.co.uk and our Facebook and Twitter pages over the coming weeks to register and find out more.
School drama studio hosts moving play about death of Sophie Lancaster New Charter Academy’s school dance and drama studio was transformed into a mini-theatre for a day to welcome actress Julie Hesmondhalgh (Coronation Street’s Hayley Cropper) and a special tour of a poignant play about the death of gap-year student Sophie Lancaster. Students and residents were invited to an intimate showing of the Royal Exchange Theatre’s Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster.
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April 2014
In August 2007, Sophie Lancaster was beaten unconscious in Stubbeylee Park, Bacup and later died from her injuries in hospital. She was 20 years old, had just passed her A-Levels and was working out what to do with her life. She was killed because she dressed differently. Written as an elegy to Sophie by poet Simon Armitage - alongside the words of Sophie's mother Sylvia Lancaster, Black Roses visited the New Charter Academy as the first stop on its new North West tour. The project is part of the work the academy is doing with the theatre under a three-year partnership set up by New Charter Homes.
The Royal Exchange project gives people opportunities to raise their aspirations and develop new skills to help them back into work, further education and training or volunteering. Casey Alexander aYear 10 student said about the show:“No words can describe how heart felt I was by the performance and the subject. Sophie was a beautiful young woman who will be sadly missed by all.The subject was a strong emotional point to watch. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to watch this performance.”
Fancy getting beauty treatments at just a snip of the price of a high street salon? Come along to The Salon at Beatrix House
Tameside College opened a new salon in our sheltered scheme Beatrix House in Dukinfield last year and since then it's been a cut above the rest! The Salon offers a wide range of hair treatments, manicures and pedicures and is open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday to meet all of your beauty needs. There’s even a special offer on a Thursday with a wash and blow dry with a cuppa and a cake for just £6.25! Call 0161 303 9261 to book an appointment or find out more. Address: Beatrix House, Gorse Hall Road, Dukinfield.
A customer gets a hair cut a t Beatrix Hou se
April 2014
9
ThE grEaT sTorm Most of you will know about the really bad weather across the country at the beginning of the year, the worst happening in February.
Well, it’s definitely kept us busy too with reports of walls falling down, fences blowing over, missing roof tiles and uprooted trees. Greater Manchester saw winds of up to 80mph which damaged lots of your homes and neighbourhoods. The worst day was 13 February with calls coming into our Connect centre from about 6pm. Green Charter and CleanCare started to clear debris away in the early hours of the morning and when the sun came back up, we were back at work to assess the damage. We worked over the weekend to help people affected and started repairs to over 350 damaged buildings. Our building company also played a huge part in the fixing walls and roofs and in the few days after the storm, over 100 roof inspections were done.
We also handled more than 200 repairs needed due to the bad weather. Thankfully most people kept themselves safe and well during the storm with just one home evacuated and one person suffering a minor injury. We heard a lot of interesting stories during the storm. One tenant from Ashton said she had ‘lost’ the roof from her outhouse.The hunt was on to find
it and eventually it turned up, mostly undamaged, 100 metres away having flown over six houses. A big thank you to everyone for your patience while we dealt with all of these calls. We’re very pleased nobody was seriously hurt and we were able to get things sorted as quickly and as safely as possible.
A wall on th is h It’s now bee ouse in Ashton collaps ed during th n repaired e bad w
eather.
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April 2014
Green Charter wins top award Our grounds maintenance team Green Charter has won a national customer service award for its excellent work in your communities.
We are the only housing association to come top in the history of the UK Customer Satisfaction Awards, fighting off tough competition from private companies to win the Best Customer Service Co-Creation category. The team travelled down to London to collect the award which is judged based on feedback from customers. Members of the team joined the likes of Boots, Amazon and Tesco Bank for the awards ceremony in London which was attended by around 600 people. Emma Wilson, New Charter's Director of Communities said: "I'm so proud.This is a real testament to the hard work that has gone into Green Charter and the dedication of both staff and residents. "A special thank you goes to our Tenant Management Team who made the recommendation to bring the grounds maintenance service in house and for helping us create the award winning service!"
The Green Char ter team collecting their award in London
What do you think of our customer service? Throughout April we’ll be giving you the chance to tell us about your experiences of the customer service that you receive when you contact us. If you have phoned, emailed, tweeted or visited us, we want to hear from you. As part of our commitment to great customer service, we have teamed up with the national Institute of Customer Service to run a short telephone survey of our customers.This will help us to understand what we are getting right and where we can improve. The results of the survey will also allow us to compare our customer service experience against some of the best performing companies in
the UK including John Lewis and Marks and Spencer. Some customers will receive a short phone call from our Connect team this month to ask if they are able to take part in the survey. If you do receive a call, the member of staff you speak to will clearly identify themselves as being from New Charter Housing Trust Group and will take you through the survey or arrange a suitable time to call back and speak to you. This is a really great opportunity for you to share your experiences
as a customer of New Charter and for us to learn from them, so please do get involved if you get a phone call. If you have any questions about the survey or wish to check that the person contacting you is a genuine New Charter employee, please call us on 0161 331 2000, we’ll be happy to help. April 2014
11
Is your garden the best in town?
It's time to put your green fingers to the test again as we're back with our annual gardening competition.
The gardening competition is taking place between April and July and we want to get as many of you involved as possible.Whether it’s individual submissions or group ones from special neighbourhoods, we want to hear about it. We’re bringing back the same categories as last year so take a look to see if you think you could enter. We'd really like to see our sheltered schemes get involved this year too. ● Best individual front or back garden ● Best communal/shared garden ● Best individual shrub/plant/ hanging basket
Best sheltered scheme residents’ garden ● Best young gardener (under 16s only) ● Tallest sunflower ● Best improved garden (you’ll need to show us before and after pictures so we can see the transformation) Make sure you send us your entry by 28th June. Judging will then take place and winners will be announced on 11th July. ●
You can enter by contacting us on Twitter or Facebook, by email at contact@newcharter.co.uk or by completing the form below and returning it to us at: NC gardening competition, Cavendish 249, Cavendish Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, OL6 7AT facebook.com/ newcharterhomes @NewCharterGroup
Name:..........................................................................................Address:......................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................................................................. ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................Telephone:.............................................................................. Category/categories you’re entering:................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................................................................................
It’s getting greener out there! We have now started our summer programme of works which will again see your individual and communal grassed areas maintained to our usual high standards. We are aiming to cut the grass in all of our neighbourhoods every two weeks during the summer and, despite the challenges our British
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April 2014
‘summer’ brings, we are on track to achieve this with a productive start to the year. As we continue to improve your service we now have a new manager, David Wrigley who will be working with us for the next few months to see how we can make the service even better for you.
Welcome David! If you need any help with your Green Charter service please give David a call on 0161 331 2000. If you'd like to know when we'll be in your area, please contact us or visit our website.
Community contribution - could you be part of a Residents’ Association? You might already know about the changes that we have made to the way that we let our homes last year. We've explained that we will be letting some of our homes based on the community contributions people make.This includes how people are helping out in their area either by working or volunteering, for example. One way to give back to your community is by joining a Residents’ Association.
At the moment we have 36 residents’ groups, all of which have volunteers who are trying to improve their neighbourhoods.
Could you get involved? The map below shows all of the groups that are looking for volunteers.
1 Ashton: Assheton Residents Association,Ashurst Garden
5 1 4
6
2
8
Group, Cavendish Residents Group, Garden Walk Action Group, Hazelhurst Residents Association, Gorsey Garden Group, Higher Green Residents Association, Hindley Close Residents Association, Smallshaw Residents Association, Somerset House Residents Association, St Petersfield Residents Association 2 Dukinfield: Central Residents Action Group, Dukinfield
7
3
East Residents Association, Reece Court Community Garden Group, Hunters Court Residents Association 3 Hyde: John Grundy House Residents Association,
7 Denton: Dixon & Forrest Road
Garden Group,Tophatters,WDF Residents Association,Yew Tree & Pendle Road Residents Association, Pendle House Social Group, Grange House Garden Group, Friends United Group Forrest Road 8 Audenshaw: Audenshaw
Community Association, Hobson Court Garden Group
Want to get involved?
Give the Resident Involvement team a call on 0161 331 2000 for more information.
The Newton Group, Booth Street Garden Group, Ashton House Garden Group
4 Stalybridge: Copley Residents Association, Friends of Crowswood Action Group, Richmond House Residents Association, Millbrook Residents Association 5 Mossley: Micklehurst Estate Residents Association,
Waterton Estate Residents Association
6 Droylsden: (Pathways) Ashton Road Residents
Association, Lincoln Area Residents Association
We recently welcomed an external review of our policies around resident involvement and have been assured that we've took the right steps to make our processes more efficient and effective. We're really pleased with this as it means we're delivering good practice for our tenants and we can put money we've saved into improving other services. April 2014
13
Tenant Management Team news Service Charge Scrutiny
As we told you in the last newsletter the Tenant Management Team (TMT) is looking at service charges and, as you can imagine, this is quite complicated. The team should be ready to publish the results really soon, but some interesting points have already come up. One of these is that many of you aren’t sure what is included in the charges that you pay, and this is something that we are now working on. The team wants to produce an easy to read guide that explains the charges in plain English, so keep your eyes peeled for more information soon.
setting out achievements and, in exceptional cases, the reasons why any of the recommendations have not been met.
Joint working between TMT and Homes Board
In January members of the team met with the New Charter Homes Board to make sure we are in touch with what customers want and to improve how we run and govern the business.
Scrutiny Reviews
Have you ever wondered what happens to the work once the team has submitted its findings? After the report has been agreed by the New Charter Homes Board and Group Management Team, it’s time to get down to business and we have to deliver the recommendations that were made. TMT then schedules a review to make sure that progress is being made against its recommendations and off the back of this a report is presented to Board,
A
TMT
bigger voice for tenants The Co-regulatory Champions are putting on two conferences for tenants, by tenants. These are funded through Tenant Central and aim to encourage tenants to be part of Co-regulation and have a say in their housing associations. Back in March the champions spoke at a conference in Leeds and some of them are off to London in October to run workshops at a national conference.
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April 2014
New Charter tenants will be running workshops and Vera Anderton, a member of TMT will be joint Chair. If you are interested in attending the conference please contact Sue Cox on 0161 331 2000 or email sue.cox@newcharter.co.uk to register your interest.
Congratulations to three members of the TMT scrutiny panel; Jill Kupczak, Susan Aktas and Wayne Jones, who have successfully completed their CIH Level 3 Award in Resident Scrutiny. Well done!
RogUe electRicians - do yoU know the scoRe?
We have heard that some of our tenants are turning to rogue electricians to by-pass the electric meter in order to get free electricity. We want to remind you that this is extremely dangerous and illegal.
A number of Greater Manchester people have died in fires caused by by-passing electricity meters because the circuits become overloaded, leading to melt down and eventually a fire. By-passing your meter is a criminal offence and is also a
serious tenancy breach which may result in eviction.You will also be faced with the power company cutting you off, removing your meter and charging you around £800 before they put you back on. We understand the causes of debt and see the consequences, but there are ways that we can help you. For free, impartial and confidential debt advice please contact our in-house Money Care team on 0161 331 2456.
Students from New Charter Academy were on TV in February!
You can also call these national numbers for more information: National Debt Line 0808 808 4000 www.nationaldebtline.co.uk Step change debt charity 0800 138 1111 www.stepchange.org Payplan 0800 280 2816 www.payplan.com Christians Against Poverty 0800 328 0006 Citizens Advice Bureau 0161 342 5005 www.adviceguide.org.uk/ england.htm
Students are TV stars!
A group of Year 8 students appeared on a special One student, Lydia, said:“It was one of the best Children's BBC Newsround show about cyber-bullying. experiences I have ever had. Being able to share my problems to let others be aware of the dangers It was all part of Safer Internet Week 2014, was brilliant.” something which the Academy was really keen to be a part of. The students shared some really great tips on what young people should do if they feel they are being cyber-bullied and a few of them shared stories of people they know who have experienced it. They also got pretty excited when they got to meet the Newsround Year 8 stud ents go in fr Some of the students with presenter Ricky! ont of the camera for Newsround Newsround presenter Ricky April 2014
15
Have you got the Keys to Your Door?
Back in 2012 we started our Keys to Your Door project to help people aged 18 to 39 to find a home and become great neighbours.
Keys To Your Door supports people to move into their own home for their first time and gives them training to make the most of their home and their neighbourhood. It highlights the responsibilities of being a good tenant and what can happen if things go wrong. It also offers workshops around cooking, managing money, avoiding antisocial behaviour and how to look after your home properly.
So far, 167 people have completed the project.A total of 77 of these people now have a home with us and a further 13 will move in soon. Our results have shown that Keys To Your Door is working! We have reduced the number of failed tenancies and 65% of people who’ve taken part in the programme are more likely to live happily in their new home. If you think the course is
Emma Wilde wor ked towards the keys to her new front door on th e programme
for you, or you know someone who’d benefit from it, please contact Christina McBride on 0161 331 2000.
Is your garden getting too much for you to manage?
Would you like some help with maintaining it for the year? Whether it's grass cutting, hedge or shrub pruning, one off jobs or complete garden makeovers, Green Charter's low cost garden service can help. Whatever you decide, we can spread the cost of the service over 12 months. This service has been running for a year now and we have many satisfied customers thanks to our dedicated team.
Contact Green Charter on 0161 331 2000 or on Green.Charter@newcharter.co.uk to arrange for a member of the team to come and discuss your requirements.
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April 2014
Let us take the pain out of gardening, you just sit back and relax!
We’ve created more Great Opportunities In our last newsletter we told you all about the great work that our employment and skills programme, Great Opportunities, has done in your neighbourhoods. We’ve now helped even more people so we wanted to share some more successes with you.
168
198
Local people have gone back into paid work
People have volunteered with us
23 People now work for New Charter after volunteering with us
53 People who attended a New Charter work club are now in paid work
426 People have come to our work clubs for help and advice
50 People are now doing apprenticeships with us or one of our contractors
13 We now run 13 work clubs across Tameside to help people develop their skills, find jobs and write a CV. We help residents get help from other partners with things like health, finances and family problems. Along with partners, we were given £8000 by the Job Centre Plus to do this. One of our above work clubs has been set up specifically to assist people aged 18 - 24 in Crowswood, Stalybridge who are not in education, employment or training.
25 People have been helped into work by The European Social Fund Families Programme
18 People are now back in work through other projects like volunteering, Future Jobs Fund and social enterprises
April 2014
17
Want a job? Come along to our work clubs
If you'd like to come along to one of our work clubs for help and advice to develop your skills and build your confidence, please contact John McGlynn on 0161 331 2000 for more information.
rst Home The work club at Hazelhu and Community Hub.
Lots of people find jobs through these clubs and opportunities to try out something different (see more on p.17). In October last year, six work club members from Hazelhurst in Ashton-under-Lyne went top the Royal Exchange for a five day voluntary work placement, joining nine Year 10 students from New Charter Academy.While they were there they got the chance to work in the lighting, sound, marketing, wardrobe and customer service departments.This fantastic opportunity helped them to learn new things that will improve their chance of getting a job.There are many other exciting projects to get involved in too so keep an eye out for more.
Help Shaid find great discounts for you! Hi, my name is Shaid and I work in the neighbourhood team. I’m taking part in New Charter’s talent management course and as part of this I'm working on a project to benefit tenants like you. I am creating a discount card that will get you offers in local shops and businesses. This will help you to save some money while supporting our local shops that you love. Do you know a business that might want to take part?
Want to know more?
Give me a call on 0161 331 2444, write to us on Facebook or Twitter, or email me at shaid.hussain@newcharter.co.uk
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April 2014
Shaid wants your help to introduce a discount card fo r New Charter te nants
Just for fun! This is a zigzag word search puzzle. Words go left, right, up, down, not diagonally, and bend at a right angle. There are no unused letters in the grid, every letter is used only once. We have found the first word for you!
The DukinďŹ eld East new community minibus is here for you Dukinfield East Residents Association (DERA) recently bought a minibus that not-for-profit organisations can hire out at a lower cost than traditional rental companies. The DERA community minibus can carry 16 people or it can be adapted to include a ramp to carry a wheelchair plus 12 passengers.
Find all these words (ignore spaces and dashes): CHEETAH CHIMPANZEE CROCODILE ELEPHANT FLAMINGO GIRAFFE HIPPO
KOOKABURRA LION OSTRICH PORCUPINE PYTHON RHINO ZEBRA
is ready The new community bus
for action
It is insured for any driver over 30 years old or DERA may sometimes be able to supply a driver. If you think you might like to use the bus then get in touch. Call Kathy Inglis on 0161 303 7465 or email her at kathy.inglis@btinternet.com for more information or to book the bus.
April 2014
19
How we’re doing Performance
Our traffic light system tells you how we’re doing:
Our performance matters to us.
On target, going well
We are proud of the service we offer you, our customers, and we regularly check that we’re on target.
OK, work in progress
We set goals for each area of the company and here we tell you how we’re doing in the areas which matter most to you. Our target
% achieved
Satisfaction with our repairs service
95%
95.2%
Repairs completed within timescale
98%
99.86%
Satisfaction with improvements to your home
96%
97%
Satisfaction with handling of anti-social behaviour cases
92%
92%
Satisfaction with outcome of anti-social behaviour cases
89%
89%
Telephone calls answered from you first time
95%
95.7%
Performance areas
20
Below target, looking to improve
April 2014
Are we on target?
Your R
ecipes
This budget recipe was shared by a tenant to help other families
Grille d chi cken Feed w 4 for ith side s alad just £ 5 ●
I crun chy le ttuce 1 can of sw ● eetco 1 lem rn o n ● Table spoon ● of oliv Peppe e oil r ● Salt ●
Meth od: ●
Ingred ients: ● 4
● ●
chicke n fille ts 1 teas poon o f salt I teas poon o spices f mixe d
Meth od: ●
Chop t cucum he tomato es, ber, le and p t t u c e ep ,o size p pers in to nions ieces b and ad ite sweet ● Place d c c olive orn. Garnis the griddl hicken on a oi h e & pep l, lemon, an with 3-4 m pan and co p d er to in Toss t o taste. salt he sal side.Y utes on ea k for ad and o c ● oil to u may use h You m voila! olive line th a desire carro y use extr e pan as ts d. if whate or nuts or like v er you Slice t desire he ch icken or lea if v with s e as a steak preferred alad a . nd en Dish up joy!
Place c of bak hicken on a in sprink g paper an piece le ove d spices r salt a . baking Fold over t nd h p the ch aper and e b i Ingred pin, in cken with a ash ients: fusing r o with t the ch lling ● 2 t omato h i es sides. e spices on cken ● 2 sma both l l onion ● s 2 pep p e r s ● 1 cuc umbe r
Got a recipe? Contact the Communications team on 0161 331 2470
Now the salad ...
Feed 4 for just £5! April 2014
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Get knitting for babies
The Neonatal Knitters are a fantastic, independent group in Ashton who knit and crochet items for the babies on neonatal and premature units at Saint Mary’s and Tameside Hospital. They need more members to join them to help make clothes for new borns. 13 of our tenants already pop along to meetings every week to knit beanie hats, blankets and cardigans but could you help them to make more? The group meets every Wednesday between 11am and 2pm at Pavilion, Oxford Park, Stockport Road, Ashton-under-Lyne. For more information call Sue on 07582151600 or Jenny on 07551606001 or email them at neonatalknitters@outlook.com
The Hospital Discharge Project helps people when they most need it Last year, we launched a new service to help homeless people when they leave, or when they are discharged from hospital. Homeless people often leave hospital with nowhere to go.This can lead to further illness and possibly having to go back to hospital. To try and help with this, our Temporary Homeless Accommodation and Tameside Housing Advice services joined forces after being awarded funding from the Department of Health. The Hospital Discharge Project launched in November and ran until the end of March. Katie Kleban and Stephanie Lyons were appointed as hospital discharge prevention officers. It aimed to help people who are leaving hospital with nowhere to go by working with them, doctors and accommodation providers to find somewhere suitable for them to stay.
Officers did this by: ●
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Visiting hospitals to speak to patients at risk of becoming homeless when they leave
April 2014
Hospital discharg e prevention officers Katie an d Stephanie
Holding housing advice surgeries and finding patients who need a housing need assessment. ● Supporting these customers until there is no longer a threat of homelessness. The project helped 42 applicants when they left hospital and customers saw real improvements in: ● No inappropriate discharges of homeless people ● Anyone identified as homeless was assessed and a discharge plan put in place ● A big drop in the number of people having to go back to hospital due to not being adequately housed. This project will be carrying on until at least March next year so keep an eye out for updates in future newsletters. ●
Events and classes Free for all New Charter tenants
Why not tear this out and stick it on your fridge?
April 2014 Wednesday 16th April 2pm - 4pm
Mystery Shopping Venue: Cavendish 249 New Charter’s head office (Silver Birch meeting room)
An overview session for becoming a mystery shopper.
Tuesday 22nd April 9.15am - 4.30pm
Basic First AidTraining Venue: Cavendish 249 New Charter’s head office (Sycamore meeting room)
Accredited first aid course learn the basics to help you in a crisis at home, work or in your community.
Friday 25th April 10am - 12pm
Risk AssessmentTraining Venue: Cavendish 249 New Charter’s head office (Silver Birch meeting room)
Learn how to minimise risks in your home and arrange a safe event.
Friday 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th May 1pm - 3pm
Basic IT Venue: New Charter Building Company office, Globe Lane Industrial Estate, Dukinfield, SK16 4XP
Can’t use a computer and want to learn? This four week programme will help you get started.
Wednesday 14th May 6pm - 8pm
Jewellery Making Cavendish 249 - New Charter’s head office (downstairs area)
Join our resident expert to create a unique pair of earrings or an individual bracelet.
Tuesday 27th May 9.15am - 4.30pm
Food Hygiene Venue: Cavendish 249 New Charter’s head office (Sycamore meeting room)
Learn the basics in food hygiene and preparation. You’ll get a recognised certificate which can be useful to help you cook at home or help find a job in catering.
Wednesday 4th June 6pm - 8.30pm
Residents Quarterly Quiz Cavendish 249 - New Charter’s head office (downstairs area)
Come along to our quiz with your local residents group and go for the trophy.
Thursday 12th June 11.30am - 1.30pm
Sheltered Forum Forrest Road Sheltered Scheme, Forrest Road, Denton, M34 7RL
Residents from sheltered accommodation meet for a brew and a chat about any issues. Lunch is provided.
Tuesday 17th June 9.15am - 4.30pm
Basic First AidTraining Venue: Cavendish 249 New Charter’s head office (Sycamore meeting room)
Accredited first aid course learn the basics to help you in a crisis at home, work or in your community.
Friday 27th June 9.15am - 4.30pm
Food Hygiene Venue: Cavendish 249 New Charter’s head office (Sycamore meeting room)
Learn the basics in food hygiene and preparation. You’ll get a recognised certificate which can be useful to help you cook at home or help find a job in catering.
May 2014
June 2014
April 2014
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Contact us
HOMES LIMITED
Our Hubs • 2 Henrietta Street, Ashton • 9 Albert Street, Denton • 12 Clarendon Street, Hyde • 63 Grosvenor Street, Stalybridge Our Hubs open at 9am Monday to Friday (except Tuesdays, when they open at 10.30am). Please note, Denton and Stalybridge Hubs close daily between 12.30-1.30pm. All Hubs close at 5pm Monday to Wednesday; 4.30pm on Thursday; and 4pm on Friday. These opening times are for our Home and Community Hubs (town centres). We also have Neighbourhood Hubs across our areas that are only open when we need them for classes and meetings.
Main switchboard:
0161 331 2000 Remember, we now have just one number for you to call to access all services - 0161 331 2000. This single number will be the same 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and all calls are dealt with by New Charter staff at our offices. In the evenings, at weekends and on Bank Holidays our services operate for emergencies only - dealing with emergency housing issues and emergency repairs. Email: contact@newcharter.co.uk www.newcharter.co.uk facebook.com/newcharterhomes @NewCharterGroup English
If you need help understanding this document, please call us on 0161 331 2000 and we will arrange for somebody to help you. Polish
Jeśli potrzebuje Pan/Pani pomocy w zrozumieniu tego dokumentu, prosimy o kontakt pod numerem 0161 331 2000, a my zorganizujemy kogoś do pomocy. Portuguese
Se necessitar de ajuda no que respeia à compreensão deste documento, queira por favor contactar-nos no nº. 0161 331 2000 e iremos colocar alguém à sua disposição para o ajudar French
Si vous avez besoin d’aide pour comprendre ce document, s’il vous plaît appelez-nous au 0161 331 2000 et nous nous chargerons de quelqu'un pour vous aider Resource Housing Reg. No. 2111
Bengali
Urdu 0161 331 2000
Head Office: New Charter Housing Trust Group, Cavendish 249, Cavendish Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, OL6 7AT