Hello
A message from Tim Mills Community Voice Secretary
T
his year we are celebrating our 10th birthday. It’s been 10 years since we transferred from North Lincolnshire Council which is a big milestone for us. We’ve come a long way since then, not least in the millions of pounds we have invested in upgrading our homes and improving neighbourhoods. I’d like to say a big thank you to all of our staff, tenants and partners for making the last 10 years a success. We’ve achieved a lot in this time and we couldn’t have done it without support from all those we work with.
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’ve been involved with Ongo as a volunteer for about four of its 10 year history on the Scrutiny Panel and have just been elected for my second year as Community Voice Secretary. It’s a very involved and responsible job, but a great honour to hold the post. Community Voice is the tenant led operational decision maker for Ongo. We have a very important role in the governance of the company. Like Ongo, we’ve evolved over the last ten years, from a group of involved tenants just making our voice heard to being a fundamental part of the organisation. We have opened our membership to all involved tenants.
Andy
Following the news back in 2015 about the Welfare Reform policy, we’ve provided you with an update on Universal Credit and the Benefit Cap and ways in which we can support you with these changes. If you are affected please see information on page 8. You’ll also find lots of our other news in this edition of your magazine. As an organisation, we have been successful in achieving the Gold Standard Award for Investors in People, as well as being ranked 16th in the top 100 UK companies for our commitment to diversity (which beat our ranking of 23rd in 2016). Fifteen local community groups have also recently received a share of a £20,000 community pot after they submitted a short video to explain what they would spend the money on if they were successful. We launched this exciting programme to continue our support to the local community and our tenants.
Over its ten year history, Ongo has changed the way it involves tenants in a ground breaking way. Community Voice has been an integral part of that. We challenge and help shape the way Ongo works. We are decision makers. We shape policy and provide a tenant outlook on operational procedures. This helps keep Ongo’s feet on the ground and makes them accountable to us. I strongly believe that Community Voice is a leader in tenant participation within Housing Associations and our unique way of working with Ongo will help keep the company vibrant and innovative for the next ten years to come.
It doesn’t stop there for us, we’ve got ambitious plans for the future too. We want to build more new homes, create more opportunities for local people and invest more in North Lincolnshire and surrounding areas. So look out for more news coming soon.
Andy Orrey, C.E.O.
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Tim
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