Shout it from the Rooftop 2020 - Issue 94

Shout it from the

EDITION 94 2020

Magazine

Caring Callers

Turning Lives Around

Be Safe at Home

Young at Art

Emergency repairs and anti-social behaviour can be reported even when we are closed.

Call us free on 0800 0421 800 or visit our website at www.rooftopgroup.org Rooftop Magazine AUTUMN 2020 Edition94.f2.indd 1

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COVID-19 HAS NOT BEEN KIND! People in our communities have been badly hit with furloughs, zero hours, lockdowns, and most tragically we have lost loved ones.

This issue of the Rooftop Magazine looks back over what we have done, with your help in the wider Rooftop community.

We have been there to support and help where we can, and we have been there to guide people to get the right help where we can’t.

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Emergency repairs and anti-social behaviour can be reported even when we are closed.

Call us free on 0800 0421 800 or visit our website at www.rooftopgroup.org

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IN THIS Our colleagues’ lives have been changed, we’ve seen the effects of COVID-19 first-hand, we’ve lost people close to us and with about a week’s notice, we completely redesigned how a 200 person (mainly office-based) organisation operates.

ISSUE Gypsy and Traveller History Month Neighbourhoods New Normal Safe Office Based Working

page 5 page 6-7 page 9

In the last issue of the magazine, we asked what you would like to see in future issues. We have not forgotten that, and we will be making those changes soon.

Turning Lives Around

page 10-12

Build Build Build

page 15-17

This issue is different, produced under different circumstances… we hope it will be a completely normal issue next time.

Be Safe When Staying at Home

page 20-21

Young at Art

page 22-25

Positive Pen Pals

page 26-27

Rooftop Caring Callers

page 28-31

Puzzles

page 32-34

Some of the pages may not be in order due to this being the second version NOT the final agreed design but should give a good reference to what needs changing!

Stay safe

Rooftop Customer App Coming Soon

page 18

Coronavirus Symptoms Alert

page 36

Rooftop Christmas Opening Times

page 36

John Rockley Head of Communications and Marketing

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LOOKING FOR YOUR NEXT BIG ADVENTURE?

We would love to meet you in the future Whilst we have halted our volunteer recruitment during the Corona Virus, we look forward to welcoming anyone with community spirit, to join us in making a dierence to the lives of others.

We are helping people all year round.

For more information visit www.rooftopgroup.org/volunteering or contact our Volunteer Co-ordinator on 01386 420800

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Gypsy and Traveller

HISTORY MONTH Every June, since 2008, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) History Month has been celebrated, and Rooftop are very proud to support this as we have a proud connection with the GRT community.

This year, due to Covid-19 restrictions, events to mark the month were not possible, but many articles and resources have been made available online.

Rooftop has worked on projects with the Travellers Times in recent years, and their publication is full of interesting heritage and news stories.

The Gypsy and Traveller population in Worcestershire accounts for the largest single minority ethnic group within the county. Rooftop Housing Group is an active member of the Worcestershire Gypsy and Roma Traveller Partnership, which aims to improve the lives and life chances of the county’s Gypsy and Traveller community. es The Tra vell ers Tim

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Tony Henderson, our Gypsy andTraveller Project Manager was appointed chair of this group in 2013. Part of this role is to promote a better understanding of the culture and needs of the Gypsy and Traveller population amongst partners and the wider community.

33 plots for Gypsy and Traveller families Our sites at Houndsfield Lane and Gables Close provide 33 plots for Gypsy and Traveller families. We are involved in a number of projects, such as undertaking the refurbishment of and extension to the caravan site at Houndsfield Lane in Wythall, delivering a new 11 pitch site at Gables Close in Solihull, and are currently negotiating (subject to approval) to undertake the management of a second site (7 pitches) also in Solihull.

Rooftop provides advice and guidance for other organisations that wish to deliver their own affordable housing for Gypsies and Travellers, and we are proud to support their community.

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Neighbourhoods New Normal Rooftop’s Neighbourhood Team are usually out and about dealing with our customers face-to-face and sorting out problems that people have.

They also organise community events, lead on customer engagement and work to bring people together.

COVID-19 has caused many difficulties.

At the beginning of lockdown, it was decided that faceto-face contact with customers was not possible. There could be no home visits, no mutual exchanges and issues that Neighbourhoods usually deal with, such as complaints about antisocial behaviour, were going to be a challenge.

Keeping customers and staff safe is the absolute priority.

The Neighbourhood Team set about establishing a system of welfare calls and began to identify vulnerable people, where there were known issues such as safeguarding concerns, then they began to look at our older customers, who may be shielding or feel isolated as a result of not being able to see family or friends. Neighbourhood Officers were tasked to contact everybody that had been identified within their patch.

Emma Cornock, a Neighbourhood Team Manager, says that the team have had positive feedback from the welfare calls “a lot of people are touched that their landlord is checking in on them.”

In the early days of the pandemic, many customers were nervous about any face-to-face interaction, even at a social distance, so there was a great deal of understanding from our communities that we were doing the right thing.

Some of our Neighbourhood Officers did drive bys, just to be able to do visual inspections, to make sure there were not any obvious problems or eyesores, and to deal with issues such as fly tipping, which unfortunately didn’t stop.

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Peter Stock is a Team Leader in Neighbourhoods, among other things he is responsible for filling voids in our properties. Before anything else could be tackled, Peter says he had to deal with Rooftop’s main reception closing, as many customers come into our office.

“It was important to get Reception agile” he says, “to get posters explaining how our services would operate and to get communication channels like the phones set up with correct messaging. As we settled into lockdown, we prioritised voids and had regular meetings with local authorities about housing needs.”

Rooftop stopped advertising empty properties as viewings were not permitted under the restrictions.

This allowed us to be able to step in and help people who were street homeless, or at risk of becoming so.

We partnered with St Paul’s Hostel in Worcester, an organisation that helps to house people who have been long term rough sleepers who have complex needs, such as addiction and failed tenancies, and who are often side lined because people don’t want to take on the challenge. St Paul’s are part of the Housing First Project.

Usually, Rooftop, as with other housing associations, carry out pre-tenancy assessments before an agreement is signed. These could not be carried out as it was important to get people off the streets as quickly as possible. After a brief settling in period we then brought in Rooftop’s support services, our Money Advice Team, Mental Health Support and the guidance of the Neighbourhoods and Income Teams.

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Of course, occasional emergencies still had to be dealt with and the restrictions had to be factored in. For example, a lady in Cheltenham had to be moved out of her property because of a leaking roof and she was temporarily housed in a hotel with vouchers to cover her costs, while we dealt with repairs. Another person had to be moved quickly because of a problem with sewerage, the pandemic did not mean that other crises stopped.

The Neighbourhood Team manage hospital accommodation as well as general and specialist housing.

In Shrewsbury, we have rooms for medical students, but we changed use quickly so that on-call doctors could use them. This sounds like it should be simple, but there are accommodation agreements with the hospital Trust and there are agreements with the Housing Regulator regarding how a property is being used, so the Team managed the changeovers and formal paperwork in super quick time.

Lisa Sutton, Rooftop’s Neighbourhood Manager says this is one of her proudest achievements in lockdown as it was brilliant to be able to actively help NHS staff and provide comfortable accommodation for them to access immediately.

As lockdown restrictions have eased, Rooftop is still very aware that the pandemic is not over, and the virus is still present out in the community. We are continuing to be cautious. Our routine services have begun to resume, such as viewings and face-to-face meetings with customers who have maintenance issues, or complaints about nuisance. We still have temporary protocols in place and when we make a site visit, we ask that there is only one adult present and the windows of the property are kept open. Most customers are still understanding that we are in a new normal, and Rooftop still needs to put the health and safety of customers and staff first.

Neighbourhoods will continue to review protocols and follow Government guidance.They are still working hard for you, but we ask that you remain patient as there are still delays and restrictions in what we can do.

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NEED HELP LOOKING FOR WORK?

Our Job Coaches can offer you support if you are looking to move into or closer to work or training.

You can be supported by a dedicated Job Coach and offered a personalised package of support that's based on your own strengths, needs and circumstances.

We may have had to change the way we work but our job coaches are still available to work with you to help you with your move closer into work or training.

Job Coaches will help you with your CV, your cover letters, completing applications, getting ready for interviews, using computers or any other support you and your Job Coach feel you need.

Interested? Want to know more?

Contact our work advisors on 01386 420800 or Email bbo@rooftopgroup.org Rooftop as part of Fusion, a collaboration of local Worcestershire organisations, have created Building Better Opportunities. This project is funded by the European Social Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund to offer an employment support program for local residents.

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SAFE

OFFICE-BASED WORKING It is important that Rooftop, as employers, implement the required health and safety measures to keep not only our customers safe, but our staff too.This doesn’t just mean ensuring that they have all of the necessary PPE which is quite a task in itself.

Throughout lockdown we carried out frequent reviews of our offices so that when the government said we could return to office-based working as long as they were ‘Covid secure’, we were prepared.

Here are just some of the things we have done to make our offices safe places for staff to work.

We have: • reduced the number of desks that can be used to enable social distancing • created ‘desk bubbles’ to support with staff safety while working in the office environment • put an electronic booking system in place and numbered spaces so that staff can find their space easily • introduced Covid stewards to check and make sure colleagues are following the required health and safety measures • created sanitiser stations throughout the offices • a range of poster instructions to follow throughout the offices.

Though the new rules and restrictions make the way we work very different to what we are used to, and though times are very strange, we are working together as one team to keep everyone safe.

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TURNING LIVES

AROUND Leigham Stephens is an articulate and friendly young man. When you meet him you feel at ease, but he has not had it easy.

He describes his life as good days and bad.

Thankfully, the good days are becoming the norm since he became a resident at one of Rooftop’s Young Person’s Schemes (YPS) in the summer.

Leigham grew up in Lydney in the Forest of Dean. His parents had split up and he lived with his mum, his three sisters and his younger brother. His mum had her hands full with five children and running her own business. At 16 he left school and enrolled on a carpentry course. He was quite an entrepreneur and sold items that he made at Taurus Crafts. At 18 he moved into doing loft conversions via a friend of his mum. At this point the good and the bad days began to affect him.

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He says he was becoming a nuisance at home and had ongoing arguments with his mum’s partner. It became intolerable and he went to live with his dad. He had intended, and hoped, that it would be a short-term move. Sadly, it did not become so, and he began to lose contact with his mum.

His dad was always out, there was rarely any food in the house and Leigham was not in a happy place. He would have friends round for company, but his dad did not like this, so SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOP 14/12/2020 21:39

TURNING LIVES

AROUND he started going out and began drinking too much. People he met took advantage of him, knowing that he was often home alone, and tried to get Leigham to let them hang out in his house. Leigham’s drinking worsened.

Money was an issue and Leigham would regularly have to open the door to bailiffs trying to collect debts.

As his dad was usually out, Leigham was left to deal with it. One day his dad said he needed to sell the house, but it would be OK, they would find somewhere together. This did not happen as his dad moved in with a girlfriend.

supposed to be shared facilities, but things like the washing machine did not work and complaining to the landlord changed nothing. Leigham started drinking more and as people in the property regularly had narcotics, he started taking drugs.

Every weekend something would happen, and the police would come round to deal with anti-social behaviour, loud music, or drugs. Being drunk became a coping mechanism for Leigham, and he was often in a terrible state. One day, he was arrested on a drug offence and he said that’s when alarm bells rang, he really needed to do something and to change his circumstances. He contacted his mum and said he needed help.

During an interview at the police station he said to the police that he needed and hoped to get into supported housing. PC Dean really helped him and without his support, Leigham is not sure he would be here. He was emotionally and mentally drained, he was living in a place where the possibility of violence was palpable and he had to learn to defend himself as he was hit on several occasions.

He was living off foodbanks, taking out hardship loans and was constantly trying to cope without money.

One day the police knocked on the door.

Leigham became homeless, sofa surfing or staying with the organisation Nightstop. His Grandfather agreed to take him in for a bit, but Leigham’s drinking was too much and the upset meant he again had to move. He thought he’d found something good in private rented accommodation, but that was short lived when that house was sold. Again, he found himself sofa surfing or with Nightstop. They helped him to get a phone so that he had some contact details, and he regularly found himself in the Council’s offices trying to find somewhere to live.

A room in a shared house run by a company came up, so Leigham moved there. It was £411 for a room, then you had to feed a meter to get any power. There were

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Leigham thought, oh no, not again, but it was PC Dean saying pack your bags, you are moving, we have got you a new place.

In July 2020, Leigham moved into one of Rooftop’s Young Person’s Schemes, Lydney Gateway. Our YPS are supported schemes where we offer advice and guidance to allow young people with troubled lives to address any issues they have, and move on to be able to lead independent and hopefully happy lives.

As often occurs, it can be difficult for someone who has been through trauma and addiction to settle in straight away and Leigham received warnings about his behaviour several times. He was given a Notice to Quit if his attitude didn’t change.

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TURNING LIVES

AROUND Leigham said the fact that staff at the Gateway had time to listen, would chat to him and offer understanding and guidance, made all the difference and was everything he needed to start to turn his life around. He had no one to talk to before, but now he had support.

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He took some tests, and these showed that he had become reliant on alcohol, so he was referred to Change, Grow, Live. CGL is a nationwide charity that pioneered taking a holistic approach by looking at everything going on in someone’s life.They realised early on that drugs and alcohol played a role in the cycle of homelessness and offending, so started to look for ways to provide support with those issues. Medical reviews have also made sure that Leigham is now prescribed appropriate medication.

Leigham on my team, I am happy to be able to be a part of his journey. “

CGL’s support and that of Rooftop staff at Lydney Gateway has had a massive positive impact on Leigham. He says it has given him more focus and he has been volunteering at Lydney Hub where they hold Youth Sessions.

A member of the Hub says “Leigham conducted himself brilliantly. He was polite and interacted with the young people in an excellent manner, he talked to them on their level while still leading the conversation for the youngsters to best get involved with the activity.These comments were echoed by my team and the Hips staff unprompted”

He is now involved with Young Gloucestershire, a project overseen by the Princes Trust.

He is currently helping to refurbish a community centre in Gloucester.

The Princes Trust group leader for the area, Sophie, says “Leigham is performing brilliantly on The Prince’s Trust TEAM Programme so far, he has given 100% attendance and effort during all sessions and activities. He has been happy to try everything and encourage others to get involved, he has been welcoming to all his team members and is always the first to volunteer and help. It is an absolute

Leigham says he feels a purpose by being part of the Prince’s Trust project, has enjoyed being part of team building exercises and working on the community centre.

He took the lead on a presentation to leaders from Young Gloucestershire, the council and representatives of the community centre, and felt a real sense of achievement. He feels more confident and comfortable in himself.

When this project is over, he will move onto CV writing, practices for job interviews and he has a job placement lined up with the Salvation Army. He feels positive about his future and after a long absence, he has been able to see his younger brother. He had not seen his siblings in a long time, and this left him feeling cut off and lonely.

The support from Rooftop has really driven him on and one positive side effect of Covid he says, has been not going to pubs.

“Leigham has fully embraced all the support and encouragement he has received during his time with Rooftop.” Says Gemma Freeman, Rooftop Life Skills Worker.

“When he came to Lydney Gateway, he was struggling with his life. Together with the support of the staff, he now has clear goals for where he wants to go. He is achieving more and more as time goes on and is seeing the benefit of his hard work. We are all very proud of him.’

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To report a loan shark call the 24/7 confidential hotline on 0300 555 2222 • Text a report to 078600 22116 • Visit the website www.stoploansharks.co.uk • E-mail reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk • Private message us on www.facebook.com/stoploansharksproject

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Abuse can come in many forms, don’t suffer in silence

Even in these difficult times abuse of any nature should not be tolerated and we can still help. Call the West Mercia Women's Aid helpline 24/7 open to men and women on 0800 980 3331 or Worcestershire Male Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0800 014 9082 – Tuesdays between 11am – 3pm.

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BUILD

BUILD

BUILD

To borrow the Prime Minister’s slogan, “Build, Build, Build”, an important part of Rooftop’s work is the development of well-designed, good quality, affordable homes.

The COVID-19 lockdown meant any developments already in construction were faced with new requirements to ensure safety.

Any Rooftop schemes in the planning stages went into temporary limbo, likewise, any developments that were still being discussed and designed also went into semi-hibernation.

Andrew Warner, Rooftop’s Head of Programme Delivery in The Development Team says; “we have to work with many partners and different agencies; building contractors, suppliers, planners, architects, surveyors, local communities and many others. At first the Government did not tell construction sites to stop, so there were some places where work continued, but the guidance was vague and contractors that Rooftop worked with began to put staff onto the furlough scheme.”

Walkinshaw Court, Gloucester, a Rooftop development completed at the end of 2019 Nicky Baker is our Sales and Marketing Manager, she said; “At the beginning of lockdown, there was a bit of panic throughout the housing sales industry. Some people were suggesting that sales programmes should be pulled all together and it was a very rough week or two at the start.”

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BUILD

BUILD

BUILD New Rooftop homes at Staverton The Rooftop Sales Team recorded video tours of properties so that we could safely market without people needing to view properties in person. Under Covid-19 restrictions, Rooftop staff have visited the property alone, made notes about any potential snagging issues, cleaned down any surfaces and door handles etc. and then left the keys for new buyers in the property inside a plastic bag.

Nicky argued that sales and marketing could continue in an online environment and she said it was heartening when the company Rightmove announced that they were slashing the costs of advertising between the 1st of April and the 1st of July.

She says it was very quiet in sales when lockdown was first announced, as people put any thoughts of moving on hold.

But a few weeks into lockdown, for no particular reason that Nicky can explain, enquiries for our shared ownership properties began to pick up and she says; “we’re now getting huge numbers of enquiries, because one thing that lockdown has shown people is that where you live and the quality of your home is incredibly important.”

Nicky says that sales have gone crazy now and when asked why she says; “perhaps first time buyers might have been able to save a little bit more during lockdown because of being unable to go out, also Rooftop has homes that are in pleasant rural areas and COVID-19 has shown people that having outdoor space is incredibly important.”

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Shared ownership properties and good social housing is more important than ever she says. Shared ownership can be beneficial for those who are uncertain about the economic future and can allow first time buyers to afford to buy their own home.

New Rooftop bungalows at Cheltenham Road, Evesham Apart from the challenges of adapting the way that they work, Katherine Portman, Development Manager, says that in many other ways the Development Team have been able to continue much as they did before. Many of the people they worked with from external organisations, such as Consultants, were furloughed, but Rooftop has dealt with remaining members of staff at these companies, such as Directors. So things have carried on, and during lockdown Rooftop has had a planning development approved and we are delighted that we will be able to build 27 affordable apartments on Swan Lane in Evesham.

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BUILD

BUILD

BUILD

Images for new Rooftop flats to be built at Swan Lane, Evesham

Kempsey We recently had hand over on properties in Staverton and we also have properties completed at Kempsey. Covid-19 has highlighted how important good quality affordable homes are. Unfortunately, Coronavirus has appeared to be more prevalent within areas where there is poor housing and not enough social housing available.

The building contractors that Rooftop works with tend to be on the medium to small scale and Katherine said the challenge moving forward will be that bigger contractors will potentially get their supply chains up and running faster so, for example if local sand and gravel pits have shut during lockdown, then the builders we work with may have difficulties getting materials. To provide more homes the Development Team have been in talks with developers who have what is known as standing stock, that is completed properties that have not been sold.

Rooftop will continue to bid through the Matrix Partnership, a partnership of housing associations, for monies made available by Homes England to build good quality affordable homes for our rural communities.

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Customer

App

is coming soon...

Ever wanted to have a portable way of getting in touch with us or accessing our services?

Well, we are delighted to announce that the Rooftop customer App is coming soon. For some time, we have been working on an App that you can download onto your smartphone or tablet, so that you will be able to access key services wherever you are. Very soon you will be able to interact with us in a way that you never have before.

The App is designed for use by all our customers and to make approaching us and accessing services faster and easier than ever before. The App will be available via the Google Play store for Android smart phones and tablets in the first instance. We are also working on an iPhone version which will follow soon afterwards.

When you register on the App with your customer details, you will be able to access many Rooftop services. Amongst several features, you will be able to log a repair and request a visit by choosing from the time and dates offered, as well as check your repair history. A quick click and you will be able to check your rent account balance and statements, make any payments, and update your contact details. You will also be able to access support services, such as our Money Advisors and submit requests for information regarding benefits, such as Universal Credit. Gas checks and other essential services will be bookable too. You can even look into moving home.

The launch is imminent but we are not quite ready, so, as we put the App through its final paces and make sure it’s as good as it can be, keep following us on social media or via our website for further details.

You will also be able to contact us via the App with any general queries, or if you need to report an issue that you want our help to deal with, and so much more. Of course, we will still be operating our phone and email services, the App will be another way that you can get in touch.

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Be safe when staying at home This year the single most important action we have all been taking in fighting coronavirus is to stay at home, helping to protect the NHS and save lives. But with the increased number of people at home during the day, there is the potential for more fires as people adapt their daily routines and others are in isolation.

Fire Services throughout the UK are warning that common causes of fires in the home such as cooking, smoking, electrical items and heating sources could become even more prevalent as people are spending more time indoors than usual. They are calling for people to think, take action and avoid becoming a further casualty for the NHS. It’s absolutely vital that in these uncertain and unprecedented times people don’t forget about basic fire safety in the home. Clearly, with increased numbers of people indoors for much longer periods of time, there is a heightened risk of fire.

The isolation is about keeping you and your loved ones safe and we must all do what we can to not add pressure to our already challenged NHS. There are simple things we can all do to ensure we are keeping safe while we are all spending more time at home.

You should ensure that you have smoke alarms installed on all levels of your home, as working smoke alarms can give you the vital time needed to escape in a fire. These alarms should be tested regularly and never remove the batteries.

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Plan an escape route in case there is a fire in the home. If there’s a fire, you need to act quickly. Make sure you are prepared and that everyone in your house knows exactly what to do.

Once you are out of the property call 999 and don’t try to re-enter the property. If you have been self-isolating due to one or more residents having symptoms of COVID-19 please let the operator know when you make contact.

Your local Fire and Rescue Service may offer free Home Fire Safety Checks and can provide advice on creating an escape plan for your home.

Cooking fires are a major concern as people are expected to cook more during the day and with work continuing, it can be very easy to get distracted. The majority of fires start in the kitchen so this is a high-risk area and you should never leave cooking unattended, and always turn off kitchen appliances when you have finished cooking.

As people who don’t usually work from home set up temporary offices, there is also a risk of an increase in electrical fires. Hazards include overloading plug sockets, using counterfeit or incorrect chargers for tablets, laptops and mobile phones and “daisy-chaining” – plugging multiple extension leads together or plugging many multi-socket adaptors into a single socket. Make sure that there is only one plug per socket, and always turn off plugs when they are not in use, except those that are designed to be left on, like freezers.

If you smoke, when finished put your cigarette out and make sure it’s right out! Take care when under the influence of alcohol or if you are tired. It’s very easy to fall asleep while your cigarette is still burning and set light to furniture.

It’s still chilly, especially in the evenings and most of us will be using central heating or portable heaters to keep us warm.

Heaters can start fires when things are placed too close to them. never use heaters to dry clothes. and keep them well away from curtains, clothing and furniture.

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And remember NEVER try to tackle any fire yourself.

GET OUT STAY OUT AND CALL

999 These basic fire safety checks take just a few minutes to carry out and will help to keep you and your family safe.

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Young at Art ‘The Lady in Pink’ by Nicola Covid 19 hasn’t just led to restrictions on our lives, it’s created anxiety and contributed to mental health problems.

In the summer Rooftop launched an art project in our Young Person’s Schemes (YPS) with the help of Artspace in Cinderford. All of the people who live in our YPS accommodation have suffered from fractured, disjointed lives, through family breakups or traumatic events, so the idea of the art project was born to allow them to share, communicate and connect with people.

Derry Cleaton is Rooftop’s Team Leader for Gloucestershire and it was because of the death of her sister in law, more than thirty years ago, that this project began its journey. Nicola Brain was a talented artist who was awarded the Henry Moore Bursary to study for her Masters in Art at the Chelsea College of Art in London. Nicola then won the prestigious Pris de Roma to study at the British School in Rome. Tragically, while in Italy, Nicola took her own life.

The family still have many of Nicola’s works in their possession, including some very large canvases that have been stored in the garage. For years they’ve wondered what to do with them and Derry suggested they could be used for some fun for young adults in our YPS scheme and a distraction in these difficult times. Nicola’s mother, sister and brother have agreed.

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‘Wonder Train’ On a practical level, the customers get something to do that’s creative, but it has become a concept where young residents are able to express themselves and release their emotions.

Each of our four YPS schemes, 2 in Gloucester, 1 in Tewkesbury and 1 in the Forest of Dean, received three canvases. They already had Nicola’s original work on them.

The idea was for them to create their own work and paint on top of what’s there, but to leave a section of the original artwork visible, incorporated into the new design. Nicola did not have the benefit of good pastoral support when she tragically killed herself more than three decades ago.

Her work and canvases will now be a help in a day and age where it is recognised that help with mental wellbeing is essential.

Funding was secured from Tewkesbury Borough Council by Rooftop’s Health and Well Being Team and a partnership was formed with Artspace in Cinderford to help the young people create artworks they are proud of. Artspace provided tuition over the six weeks of the project through artists Bela Kielt, Warren Day and Cheery Lyne, so the residents benefitted from experts and completed a course that may help them with future work.

Tracey and Natalie Ceremony had to be held virtually to ensure everyone’s safety.

The Rooftop Recognition Award, as voted for by Rooftop staff, was presented to Summer from one of our Gloucester sites for her work entitled “The Lady in Pink”. This painting represents growing from one thing to another, desperation to inspiration, the flower represents coming back to life, whereas the girl with her hands over her eyes represents despair.

Derry Cleaton, our Team Leader for Gloucestershire, has been delighted by the results of the project “Our young people have completed a 6-week long project and their hard work, talent and skill in producing the artworks has been a challenge for them – the results have been inspirational.Thank you to all the staff and our partners Artspace and Marie Brain, for the wonderful donation of 11 canvases for our residents to work on, and for all their support to make The Canvas Art Project a success.”

After many weeks of hard work and creative effort, the Canvas Art Project came to an end in the Autumn and our Young People received well-deserved Awards. Sadly, as we are still in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Awards

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‘Mess, Life’ by Nicola This work, called “Mess, Life” has been awarded the “Nicola Brain Award” as chosen by Nicola’s mother, Marie Brain.

The painting is by Warren from our Tewkesbury site.

Warren says the project allowed him “to express his mind on the canvas” and the best thing about it was that he felt he was shown respect for his achievements.

This painting shows that life is a mess. The original artist’s work has been incorporated into the fire element of this painting. The blue represents the sea and calming whereas the fire shows the heat and anger.

The Bravery Award, chosen by one of the Artspace Tutors, Bela Kielt, has been awarded to Amber from Gloucester for her work “Caged Up”. One of the key reasons for the project was to help the young people in our schemes cope with lockdown, as well as teach them some new skills.

Amber says that the art project helped, “it allowed me to express my emotions” and she loved the process of painting.

This piece was formed from feelings of being bullied at school and feeling like being trapped in a cage. All of the bad memories and name callings have been expressed within this painting. The painting also reflects how many of us have felt throughout lockdown.

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‘COVID Angel’ by Rita Bela says “the best aspect of this project was to work and connect with young people during this difficult time and get them to create things they liked and enjoyed working on.

Visual art helped to express their thoughts and feelings and it helped for all of us to connect.”

The painting “Wonder Train” has been given the Perseverance Award by Artspace tutor Warren Day. The artist is Keaton from our Lydney scheme. He says “I took photos of Lydney and the local area to show what’s around and to keep the memories of my time here from when I was younger and to now. Lydney Railway is historic, it used to be connected to all of the towns – I am glad to have painted this before I move on to independence soon.”

“COVID Angel” by Rita from Lydney is a tribute to the NHS. “I wanted to produce this piece for the NHS staff who have been angelic throughout lockdown and COVID. The painting shows a key worker wearing a mask with wings, to show how key workers have protected us all during this time.”

This piece is a favourite of Rooftop’s Group Chief Executive, Boris Worrall.

“I am always inspired by the courage, determination and positivity of the young people we work with to overcome the challenges they face in their early lives. They can and should all be very proud of their involvement in this project,

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Young at Art

‘Caged Up’ by Amber and the wonderful artwork they created, in many cases expressing difficult and complex issues through the creative process. “ Cherry Lyne a tutor from Artspace says the project presented challenges as the teaching had to be done via Zoom and sometimes it proved difficult coordinating attendance and explaining ideas, but “Seeing the young people finally get paint on to the canvases was great, and hearing that it was an affirming and positive experience for them was inspiring. The staff we had face-to-face contact with were lovely – I have great respect for everything they do.”

Rooftop Housing Group has link workers based in our Young Person’s Schemes and they threw themselves into working on this project. Tracey and Natalie are based in one of our Gloucester sites and they received an award “for their huge contribution to supporting our YP to gain confidence, engage, encourage, alongside developing their personal skills. They have shown commitment above and beyond.”

This project has been such a success for all involved, it’s hoped something similar might be able to run in the future.

Creative outlets can be extremely beneficial to health and wellbeing and the young people in our schemes have benefitted at a difficult time for us all.

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During the first lockdown our Health and Wellbeing team thought it would be a really fun idea to get children to write a letter, short story or draw a picture of something that makes them happy. These were then sent to some of our older residents in our schemes across Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, who may be feeling isolated and alone during this time.

To reduce the risk of spreading germs participants were asked to send us photos of their letters and pictures. We were amazed by the response and to say thank you to all those who helped share a little love and happiness we thought we would share some of the fantastic pictures and letters that we received.

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Rooftop

CARING CALLERS

One of the key teams in Rooftop is Health and Wellbeing, part of our Support and Employability team.The work that they do is within the community and directly supporting our customers.When the Coronavirus crisis began the team had to come to a standstill and everything that staff did had to be reassessed.

Kim Skipsey is Team Leader “our jobs changed overnight and it’s fair to say that the Covid lockdown made people afraid, particularly our vulnerable customers that we work with every day.”

The team got together and decided that the best thing they could do was to start making telephone calls to everybody within our sheltered schemes, our Young Persons Service (YPS) and our Older People’s Service (OPS). The team put together a survey to ask customers and residents over the phone and was split up into making calls, with each of them having a particular area or property to cover.

Key questions that we asked customers were;

“are you shielding?” “do you need special help with shopping or prescriptions?” “do you have family or friends that will call and check up on you?” “do you have any particular worries?” “do you feel lonely?” “do you want us to keep in regular contact?”

Of the more than 800 people that were telephoned, 174 signed up to be called every week. It became clear that Rooftop being a friendly voice at the end of a phone was a real lifeline for many. It also gave us access to customers that we rarely see participating in activities.

The welfare call system highlighted other issues, for example, some customers used to come in person to the Rooftop offices to pay their rent, so needed help to set up direct debits. They also made clear that digital exclusion was a real problem and Rooftop was keen to provide an inclusive service to ensure that residents without internet access, a computer and other technology, could still be reached and given support.

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Sue Bentley, Health and Wellbeing Facilitator based in Gloucestershire says “communities came together before Government services and advice did. At the St Oswalds site in Gloucester we work in partnership with Extracare, the company that provides the care services to residents who live there. We all pulled together to make sure that customers had all the support they needed and at schemes such as this one, where we don’t have any contracts that obliged us to provide services, we wanted and decided that Rooftop should help be a friendly face and point of contact”.

“A lot of the residents who live there are independent living, so don’t get or need the caring support provided by Extracare, so Rooftop was the only contact for them” she says.

The welfare calls brought lots of things to the team’s attention “speaking to people each week it became clear that some needed help with shopping and prescriptions, but because cleaners couldn’t go in, they also needed help with things like changing and making beds.

The calls also showed that some people felt isolated and lonely and residents were so thankful and appreciative to have someone to chat to. It gave us the idea to start up the Positive Pen Pals scheme, where school children wrote letters or drew pictures for residents and some are still in contact.”

Before the Covid-19 lockdown, a new newsletter had been planned to outline all the activities and events put on by Health and Wellbeing. This became a new project to get information about Coronavirus, changes in rules and everyday life and other key news to people. It included illustrations about seated exercise, ideas for things to keep you busy, puzzles and phone contacts for a variety of useful organisations.

A challenge throughout the pandemic has been how to get to older, or shielding residents who are not online and there were fears about distributing hard copies of things like newsletters, because of concerns that the virus could transfer via paper. The team worked to make sure this was not a problem and the newsletter was a great success.

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Rooftop

CARING CALLERS From this project came the Activity Booklet, a longer, more detailed publication that contained information about services such as our Money Advisors, Mental Health outreach our Income Team, Domestic Abuse Team, Job Coaches and other useful organisations and numbers. It was felt that there are many customers who don’t usually participate in activities, or don’t require active support, who may need to know about financial, employment or mental health support as Coronavirus has resulted in a lot of stress, insecurity and strains in people’s lives. The booklet also had lots of puzzles and activities for all age groups. Through working in our Young Persons Schemes, we’ve come to see that there is also digital exclusion there, despite assumptions that all young people are constantly online.

The project was only able to happen with generous support from external partners, such as Gloucester City Council and Worcestershire Community Foundation.

The Foundation said “We continue to be amazed by the breadth of innovative work being delivered throughout our county communities. Rooftop Housing has created and delivered booklets offering advice and activities around health & wellbeing, which have been hugely appreciated by their clients. Keep up the good work, Rooftop and all our other funded groups!”.

The Activity Booklet proved that many customers wanted to have more activities to do safely at home. The Team arranged for puzzle books, jigsaws, CDs, books and other activities to be delivered; items that we were able to obtain via donations and grants.

Kim Skipsey, Team Leader, says they’ve moved on to call all 800 plus customers again to find out what our residents want now.

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“Coronavirus has forced us to work differently, but there have been some successes out of the challenges. We’ve been talking to customers who don’t normally take part in our activities, but now we can hopefully persuade them to be involved. We can’t go back to how we worked before, not yet, so we could start providing specific calls about health, mental wellbeing calls and we could deliver our health MOTs in this way.”

During lockdown residents have set up their own gardening groups, such as at Ferry View and this coming together has been mirrored across many of the other schemes we’re involved with. Health and Wellbeing have helped set up gardening and arts projects within both the Older People’s Service, at Dora Matthews House and in our four Young Persons Schemes. They hope to help facilitate the continuation of projects that customers have set up for themselves.

“It’s been a very challenging time” says Sue Bentley “lots of people have been fearful and feeling down, and coming off welfare calls you can feel emotionally drained. It’s been stressful but very rewarding”.

Kim Skipsey says the welfare calls to customers will continue and “it’s been reassuring to know that Rooftop have made their day better.” She says through the calls we’ve “gone into their houses”.

“At the end of the day, it’s been scary for all of us, but we feel positive about what we’ve done and grateful that we’ve made a difference.”

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Puzzle Pages Take a break, sit down with a cup of tea and enjoy our bumper puzzle pages!

CRISS-CROSS

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ZIGZAG WORDSEARCH Find all the words from the word list. This is a zigzag puzzle. Words go left, right, up, down, not diagonally and cannot bend at a right angle. There are no unused letters in the grid, every letter is used only once.

SUDOKU

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CROSSWORD Solve the puzzle by writing the answers in the direction of the arrows

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www.rooftopgroup.org enquiries@rooftopgroup.org 01386 420800 Rooftop Housing Group 70 High Street Evesham WR11 4YD @Rooftop_Housing Rooftop Housing Group Office opening hours: 9.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday (for emergency repairs and anti-social behaviour outside opening hours please contact us on 01386 420800)

CHRISTMAS CLOSING

Our offices will be closed from 4.00pm on Thursday 24th December 2020 and will reopen at 9.00am on Monday 4th January 2021 You can still contact us for emergency repairs and anti-social behaviour while we are closed on 01386 420800.

With best wishes to you all for a very Happy New Year!

Keep up to date with all Rooftop news and information on our website at:

www.rooftopgroup.org

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If you would like the information in this magazine translated into another language, audio, or larger print please contact your Neighbourhood Officer.

If you would like to make a complaint, please complete the on line form on www.rooftopgroup.org or phone your Neighbourhood Officer and ask for a complaints form.

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