Providing Quality Homes & Neighbourhoods Inside this Issue Cover Story Community Champions We recognise the people who have really made a difference in their community. Get set for winter As the seasons change we’ve got some useful tips to get your home winter ready. Sowing the seeds We ask two of our Branching Out team how the project has changed their lives. www.a1housing.co.uk Issue 29 Autumn 2011 Welcome from David A message from In Touch’s Tenant Editor, David Smith MY tip for this issue is a bit of an extended version and takes the form of a trip down memory lane.Editor’s It might help you to keep the heat up but the bills down. Let me set the scene, my granddad was born in1882 and he lived to be 93 years old. Throughout his long life he never had to worry about a gas bill - because he never had a gas supply, in fact for the majority of his life he had no electricity either. The only source of heating was a coal fi red ‘range’ in his two-up two-down terrace and his toilet was at the end of the yard. I guess Tip No. 1 is to forget about fashion and dress for the weather. The memory that prompted this was as a child in the 1950s, calling on my granddad late one night with my parents only to fi nd that he was already WELCOME to the Autumn Edition of In Touch dressed for bed. and I hope that, like me, you’ve all had a good After much knocking he answered summer and enjoyed the sunshine when it the back door wearing his occasionally decided to pop out from behind fl annelette nightshirt, woollen bed the clouds. socks and a nightcap – and yes, he Again, like me you’ll have started to notice the was even carrying a candle in a holder. nights are drawing in and my walks back from It was a vision of something straight out of the pub on an evening (just for a swift half or a ‘Dickens’ novel! three) have changed from evening sunshine to dusk and now fi nally to darkness. Whatever we might have thought standing there on the doorstep, he was toasty and It’s a clear sign that autumn is here and winter warm. is on the way. Hopefully it won’t be anywhere near as disruptive as the last one but just in Tip No. 2 is to keep a close eye on your case, why don’t you have a look at some of utility bills. the winter tips we’ve put together on page 11. There’s plenty of other interesting stuff in here as well, like some of the projects A1 Housing are working on and all the regular bits of How are we performing? valuable advice and information. AT regular times of the year we like to give you an update on some of the Back in September the A1 Housing Annual things we are working on and how we are progressing with these tasks and General Meeting took place where many targets. important things are discussed and agreed. You may remember that at the beginning of the year we created a Local But more importantly the end of the evening Service Offer to address the needs of all A1 Housing tenants and specifi cally is set aside to recognise A1 Housing Tenants our tenant profi le. from across Bassetlaw who give their all to The offer sets out a number of targets and actions that were developed with make their community a better place to live. the help of tenants through groups such as the A1 Hundred Club and Tenant We’ve got all the winners and some pictures and Resident Associations. from the night on pages 12 and 13 and it just The other update we would like you to look at is the Best Value Inspection goes to show how many wonderful people do Recommendations. This document lists all the recommendations that were make a difference. made by the Audit Commission following our inspection back in November last David year, and tells you what plans we have now put in place. 2 Involving you & Community News Welcome from Bernard A message from A1 Housing’s Managing Director, Bernard Coleman THE kids are back in school, the nights are getting darker and the In 1972 my son was born in a thoroughly modern council house. We had weather is getting colder coal fi replaces in each bedroom and the only radiator we had was the one – and just like everyone TiPon the car. else, we are getting ready for the winter. To boost our heating we had paraffi n stoves in the kitchen and hall and we bought our paraffi n from a chap who came round each week in a pink van. I am hoping that we Some of you may remember this nationwide supplier that boasted odourless have a milder autumn paraffi n, it’s safe to say the trade descriptions act was not around in those and winter compared to days. He called, we paid. the extreme weather we experienced almost 12 We got our coal each week from a reputable merchant, avoiding the dodgy months ago. Like most ones that were around in those days as weights and measures were not as organisations we were keen as they are today. He called, we paid. not fully prepared for the events of last year And for our electricity we had a meter that was fed with shillings. but we have learnt lessons from this and are in much better shape to deal with problems that What I’m trying to say here is, budget for your bills. Try to work out what you arise as a result of bad weather. are using and put that money to one side. A good way of doing this is by requesting a payment card from your electricity or gas supplier. It’s cheaper In September we held our Annual General than a pre-payment meter (which has a surcharge) and saves you the nasty Meeting where we looked at how A1 Housing surprise when a large bill comes. has performed over the last fi nancial year. We also recognised some well-deserving members Finally, Tip No. 3 is simple. If you’re not using it, of our community with our Community Awards. switch it off. You can fi nd out who our champions are on With TV’s, DVD players, games consoles, computers pages 12 and 13. and the like in most rooms it’s easy to leave things We have produced a summary performance switched on or left on stand-by. If you are not using it, report for 2010/11 which is available on our turn it off at the wall and turn off the lights as you leave website, which also shows what you as tenants a room, believe me it’ll save you some brass. Also if thought of our services. you have a room in the house you don’t use very often, turn the radiator down or off. Unfortunately we have not escaped the consequences of the cuts in public funds and I hope you fi nd these little tips useful over the next six months we will be talking to and I’ll be back next time with the Council, staff and tenants about the impact some more. on services, specifi cally those for the elderly as a result of the reduction in supporting people funding announced by Nottinghamshire County How are we performing? Council. As public money is being reduced we have You can fi nd both of these updates on our had to look at innovative ways of attracting website www.a1housing.co.uk by clicking on investment from outside of Bassetlaw District About Us, and then Company Performance. Council. Just one of these ways is by working You can also request a copy by calling with E.ON to fi t Solar Panels to over 500 council our Customer Services team on houses throughout the district. See page 7 for 01909 534520. more details. We are talking to other agencies about further investment that will benefi t tenants and we will keep you informed of our progress over the next 12 months. Our Call Centre is open from 8am to 5pm - to beat the rush, call after 1pm 3 Issue 29 Autumn 2011 www.a1housing.co.uk News and events from your TRA News neck of the woods NOTRA help with community improvements IT’S been an eventful summer for New Ordsall TRA that has Funded by Notts County Council’s Local Improvement Scheme, included another successful Fun Day and the unveiling of a it was unveiled by Cllr Wendy Quigley who said: “The area has community notice board. been transformed and hopefully this will encourage more people Situated in the heart of Ordsall, the notice board was a welcome to use the local shops and keep people informed of local events.” addition as part of improvement works New Ordsall TRA chairwoman, Ann Battey also welcomed the on Welbeck Road that included latest addition and said: “Wendy asked us what we thought would a new paved area and be most useful and this is what we suggested. Its position in ornamental trees. the heart of the community has allowed us to tell people what is going on and it’s proved to be very popular so far.” One of the events advertised there included the Summer Fun Day (pictures opposite), which helped to raise more than £800 thanks to a range of stalls, bouncy castles, bingo and other attractions – including an appearance from Mickey Mouse.