Two Talk - November 2022

As we approach the end of 2023, we naturally start to look to the future and our plans for 2023/2024.

Along with the management team, we have started to look at the things we need to do to deliver for our tenants. This includes identifying and agreeing the key priorities for our organisation plan and how we can ensure that these are delivered effectively.

As usual, there is a lot to do, but I am confident that by working together we can achieve it and continue to support the thousands of families that rely on us.

I’m also pleased to see that we are now in a position to restart our stock condition survey programme. The team has the huge task of visiting all our homes over the next 12 months. This will help us identify any issues that require urgent attention such as unreported damp and mould or repairs and plan our maintenance and investment programme across the portfolio.

While remain in a strong financial position, the Chancellor confirmed that rent for social housing would be capped at 7% for 2023/2024 earlier this month. With inflation still sitting around 12%, this leaves us with around a 5% deficit between what it costs to run our organisation and the income we will receive.

We are not immune to the impact of the current financial situation and must be cautious in our approach to managing costs in the short- to medium-term. As the cost of living crisis continues, this will be the same for many of our tenants.

We recently launched a Cost of Living Group to focus our efforts on finding ways we can provide additional help and support to those that need it most. I’m really pleased to see us taking action in this area and working across teams to get information and advice out to our tenants and the wider community – in times like this every little really does help.

Finally, as we decorate the office and book in Christmas lunches, it’s inspiring to see initiatives such as the Salvation Army Christmas Present Appeal and donations for the local foodbank being championed across the Group.

This makes me incredibly proud to be part of this team, and I know that everyone at Two Rivers Housing will continue to do everything they can to support our tenants and each other through these difficult times.

Confident with Cyber : Phishing and social engineering

by James Osborne

As part of our Confident with Cyber series, each month we will cover a new cyber security topic and provide some useful tips and knowledge for staying safe both in the workplace and at home.

If you would like to suggest a cyber security topic you think you’d benefit from knowing more about or have any questions about cyber security, please get in touch with the IT team who will be happy to help!

You can also find more cyber security advice and guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

November's topic is phishing and social engineering.

What is social engineering?

Social engineering is when someone is manipulated to do something someone else wants them to without them realising it.

What is phishing?

Phishing is a type of social engineering used to manipulate you into disclosing your sensitive information. This can include passwords, bank details or trick you into clicking on links to malicious websites and software.

The term ‘phishing’ comes from the idea that the scammer is throwing you a ‘baited line’ to see if you will ‘bite’ and hand over the information they need to get into your accounts or systems.

Phishing is widely used by scammers who can pretend to be companies, services, friends or even your co-workers.

As many people use email at work and at home, email addresses are widely circulated making phishing attacks very common.

How to spot a phishing attempt:

• Unexpected email: Is it an unsolicited email about an unfamiliar subject?

• Different sender: Do you know or trust the sender? Is it their first email?

• Urgent threats: Are they asking you to do something immediately?

• Tempting offers: Are they trying to tempt your curiosity to respond or click?

• Poor spelling or inaccuracies: Are there typos or grammatical errors?

• Subtle miss-spelling: for example Micros0ft instead of Microsoft.

• Suspicious links: Does the link look incorrect when you hover over it?

• Unusual attachments: Does the file type or name look strange?

What to do if you spot a phishing email?

• Take your time. It’s important that you don’t respond in haste and take the time to understand what you’re being asked to do. If you respond quickly, you are more likely to make a mistake.

• Ask someone. Get someone to help, but if you’re still unsure, do nothing. Something important will come back to you if it is legitimate.

• Report it. At work you can report phishing attempts straight from Outlook.

• Delete it. Finally, if it still doesn’t seem legitimate, just delete it

To report a phishing email, go the Mimecast tab on Outlook, and click the drop down arrow under Report Spam. Click the Report Phishing option and the email will be reported.

Different types of phishing:

• Spear phishing: targets individuals using very specific information.

• Whaling: targets high-profile individuals such as CEOs and celebrities.

• Smishing (SMS phishing): use of text message-based phishing asking you to click a link or download an app onto your device.

• Vishing (voice phishing): uses voice-based phishing on telephone calls (or voicemails) to trick you into giving away information verbally over the phone.

Other social engineering techniques:

• Tailgating: an in-person attack where someone is followed through an accesscontrolled door into a restricted area.

• Baiting: tempting you with false promises such as free prizes or low prices.

• Diversion: scammers distract you and divert your attention while they do something else like shouting in the street while stealing your bag.

Mince pies and prizes await at our Christmas coffee morning!

Join us for our Christmas coffee morning on Tuesday 20 December at Rivers Meet for some Christmas goodies including mince pies and hot chocolate.

We will also be holding a fun Christmas quiz on the day, which will also be available on the intranet for those who can't come into the office. Take part for a chance to win a ‘surprise’ - but no cheating!!!

We'll also be sending out some Christmas goodies for our hub sites and operatives to enjoy.

Come along and join in the festive fun!

Changes to how we measure our performance

by Rachel Smith

Measuring our performance is key to helping us ensure we are delivering on our promises to tenants. Each year we work with an independent research company to gather their feedback and help us understand what we are doing well and what we need to improve.

We currently use the STAR methodology. This is a national set of questions that are used by housing associations across the country to gather feedback from tenants and measure the performance of their landlord.

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has been looking at these measures alongside the government’s charter for social housing residents. They want to make sure that landlords like Two Rivers Housing are measuring the right things and using the feedback from tenants to make positive changes to how they do things.

Over the last two years, the RSH has been working with tenants and landlords to create a set of measures that help tenants hold their landlords to account. After considering all the feedback they received, and prioritising which areas were the most important to tenants, the RSH published the final measures in September this year.

The new measures will come into effect from 1 April 2023 and all registered social landlords with more than 1,000 homes will need to collect information by 31 March 2024 before sending their results to the RSH.

There are 22 new measures, some of which are based on how we manage our properties and services, and some are based on tenant feedback. You can find out more about these on the RSH website.

We have already started making some changes in preparation for the new Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM) and asked a number of the new questions in out latest tenant satisfaction survey. We will share our results with you when they are available, so you can see how we are currently performing.

Share the joy this Christmas!

The last couple of years have been especially tough on the most vulnerable in our community, so let's take advantage of this great opportunity to spread some Christmas cheer!

We have worked closely with Major Vivienne Prescott about how we can best support the Salvation Army again this year, and now with a hybrid approach, we can either buy online for direct delivery or purchase ourselves and drop off our gifts in the box in reception at Rivers Meet. Please note that all items will need to be brand new and unwrapped.

The Salvation Army have created a wish list on Amazon , where you can purchase a gift from your Amazon account, which will be delivered directly to the Forest of Dean branch.

If you’re looking to buy a present to drop off, here’s a few ideas on what you could get:

• 0-3 years: dolls, teddy bears, cot mobiles, baby clothes, bath toys, CDs of suitable music and nursery rhymes, puzzles.

• 3-5 years: dolls and action figures, cars, DVDs and CDs (music and nursery rhymes), colouring sets, pencils, crayons, books, puzzles.

• 5-9 years: educational games and toys, stationery (colouring sets, pencils, crayons, school sets), CDs and family-friendly DVDs, books, puzzles, wordsearch, crosswords.

• 9-12 years: games and toys, stationery, DVDs, books, t-shirts, hair accessories, gloves, scarves, hats.

• 13-16 years: books, make-up and toiletries (please try to ensure non-allergic ingredients if possible), gloves, scarves, hats, t-shirts, hair accessories and gift vouchers.

Gifts for expectant mums giving birth around Christmas: baby clothes, blankets, towels, nappies, hats, bootees, scratch mitts, rattles, dummies etc. - preferably unisex.

Changes to the housing teams

by Sara Hendry and Emma Watkins

Following the recent operations redesign, we have recruited a number of new posts within the income and tenancy Services teams. This will help us work more effectively and support the delivery of our ambitious organisation plan. Below is an outline of some of the chamges in the teams and who is responsible for what!

Head of Tenancy Services - Sara Hendry

Responsible for:

• Tenancy support team (which includes welfare, benefit, and debt, and tenancy compliance)

• Neighbourhood housing team

• HomePlus team

Tenancy Support Team Leader – Rebecca James

Promoted and appointed in November, Rebecca will form part of the tenancy services management team and will work to deliver the operational tenancy support and compliance service, including dealing with anti-social behaviour.

The tenancy support management team includes Rebecca James, Justine Skitt (Neighbourhood Team Leader) and Leanne Buffin (HomePlus Team Leader).

Income Manager – Emma Watkins

Responsible for:

• Income collection team

• Lettings team

• Service charges

• Allocations and lettings

Income Team Leader

Regrettably, the recent appointment for a new Income Team Leader did not work out as planned and we are now recruiting again for this post. Until this post is filled, the line management of our Income Collection Advisors, Debt Recovery Officer and Senior Income Accounts Assistant remains with Emma as the Income Manager.

Lettings Team Leader - Hannah Williams

Hannah is responsible for managing our Lettings Assistants who process the allocations and sign-ups. This also includes ensuring compliance with all tenancy related changes are recorded accurately on our systems, such as mutual exchanges, succession, assignment and decants.

Service Charge Advisor – Nicola Beard

From January 2023, Nicola will be taking up a brand-new role to Two Rivers Housing as a Service Charge Advisor. We hope this will allow us to review our current service charges costs.

See the new structure chart for more information on reporting lines within the housing teams.

Emerging priorities

Over the coming weeks, we will be looking to identify areas for improvement with our teams. We will also work to ensure the changes made to reporting and responsibility lines, help us effectively contribute to the delivery of our organisation plan for 2023/2024.

Our key areas of focus:

• Allocations

• Sign-ups.

• Cost-of-living crisis.

• 2023/2024 rent review.

• Safeguarding.

• No access for compliance.

• Anti-social behaviour.

• Tree management.

• Pest control.

We will also be working with other teams across the organisation on the reintroduction of estate inspections and creating opportunities for more visibility and joint working with our teams between January to March next year.

Internal changes

To help implement the changes to line management and MIS tasking, we have been working with both IT and the contact centre to introduce new internal folders, emails and teams groups that support the new delivery model. This will be in effect from 1 December 2022.

Emailing the teams

We ask all colleagues to note the following changes to emailing our teams internally:

Tenancy services management team: includes Sara Hendry and her Team Leaders.

HomePlus team: includes Leanne Buffin as Team Leader, Senior Scheme Co-Ordinators and Scheme Co-Ordinators.

Income collection team: includes Emma Watkins, Income Collection Advisors and Senior Income Accounts Assistant.

Lettings team: includes Emma Watkins, Hannah Williams as Team Leader, and Lettings Assistants.

Neighbourhood housing team: includes Justine Skitt as Team Leader and Neighbourhood Advisors.

Tenancy Compliance Officers: includes Tenancy Compliance Officers.

Tenancy support team: includes Rebecca James as Team Leader, Welfare, Benefit and Debt Advisors, and Tenancy Compliance Officers.

Welfare, benefit, and debt advice team - includes our Welfare Benefit and Debt Advisors.

When reviewed and amended, we will share our policies and processes to include the new roles and responsibilities across the organisation. Any further information on changes will be shared accordingly to the relevant teams and customers affected will be consulted.

New on-demand health and wellbeing webinars now available!

Healthy Performance has provided all colleauges access to four on-demand health and wellbeing webinars on topics including: nutrition, sleep, cholesterol and becoming active.

To access the webinars, simply click here and enter your name and email address and use the password two2022.

New health and wellbeing Intranet hub

The health and wellbeing group now has it's own hub on the intranet for colleagues to access resources including webinars, newsletters, bulletins and more.

Check out the hub regularly to see the latest updates from the health and wellbeing group.

What's on in December

Christmas Fantasy at Clearwell Caves – Clearwell Caves, Coleford

2 - 24 December

When the snow begins to fall, Archie decides to build something different. Follow his adventures as unexpected and magical things begin to happen. Meet Father Christmas, then follow this magical tale as you walk through the caverns and the story unfolds...

There are Christmas stalls where you can buy decorations and gifts as well as an underground pop-up café where you might like to buy a hot chocolate and take in some of the Christmas atmosphere. Children 2-12 years old receive a gift from Father Christmas.

Cheltenham

Christmas Market – The Promenade, Cheltenham

8 - 24 December

The popular Cheltenham Christmas Market returns to Cheltenham Promenade this year with stalls for all your Christmas needs. Discover a variety of Christmas gifts, crafts, jewellery, food, drink, and more.

Santa’s Coming to WWT Slimbridge – WWT Slimbridge, Gloucester

10 - 11 December

This year, join Santa in his wonderful wetland grotto and enjoy a day out making memories with festive activities and treats to enjoy from the Kingfisher Kitchen. Children can also meet Santa and receive a gift from him.

Christmas Orchard Street Market – Gloucester Quays

Until 18 December

Some of the south west's finest producers, makers, and crafters will be selling handmade gifts, Christmas decorations, artisan food and drink and seasonal treats at the Christmas Orchard Street Market. Discover street food galore to get your festive fill and pop-up bars serving warming mulled wine, sparkling prosecco and more.

Snow White – The Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury

Until 31 December

Back for another bite of the apple this Christmas are the creators of King Arthur: The Panto!; the BAFTA-winning writer Maurice Gran (Birds of a Feather) and local playwright Nick Wilkes (the Almost series).

Enchanted Light Trail - Adam Henson's Cotswold Farm Park, Cheltenham

Until 31 December

Join Cotswold Farm Park for the Enchanted Light Trail, a spectacular night time journey of magical lights and sounds around the farm park after hours.

Witness the magical transformation and explore the illuminated barns, paddocks and woodland this winter. There will be crackling fire pits, a festive shop perfect for present buying and hot food and drink will be available at various points along the route.

Recognition

Sue Pritchard

Sue recently help us out with the Junior Wardens Programme, when we discovered that the police couldn't attend to carry out the Road Safety and Speed Checks at short notice.

The children were very much looking forward to the activity and it looked like we were going to have to cancel the activity, which would've been a big disappointment.

Thankfully, Sue stepped in and saved the day as she is trained to carry out this work! We managed to carry on as planned and the children thoroughly enjoyed using the speed gun!

Nominated by Luke Warren

nominations

Julie Matthews

I would like to say a massive thank you to Julie for the way she handled a difficult situation with a tenant over the phone by triaging the call.

The tenant is known to be extremely unreasonable at times, but Julie managed to gather information from different departments that have been involved before answering any questions.

This tenant has been advised to make her complaint to the Housing Ombudsman as it has been dealt with at stage two already. Andrea asked to transfer the tenant to her so she could reiterate this but the tenant disconnected the call.

Julie was very professional in the way she dealt with this call and remained calm under pressure.

Nominated by Sue Pritchard

Recognition

Tracy May

I’d like to nominate Tracy May in the people team because she has been highly responsive, approachable, and supportive when handling my application enquiries and training needs.

I have felt really supported!

Nominated by Nancy Weller

nominations

Gwyneira Yarlett, Rebecca James, Martin Beacham

I would like to say a huge thank you to Gwyn, Becky, and Martin because they were able to support me when everything became overwhelming and I am now able to see hope going forward.

Without knowing, their kindness has saved a life.

Nominated by a tenant

Everyone has bad days and on those bad days we want you to know that you are not alone. Speak to a colleague, your manager, or use our confidential EAP service.