News Cobalt and community information

In this issue...

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Stonedale Development Community news Page 7 Page 12

Summer 2018 Providing the best services for you

Last November we began a review into our More improvements coming soon: services. Many of you came along to our More straightforward processes so you discussion groups to tell us your views and ideas speak to fewer people, rather than being for improvements. We’ve listened to you, your passed around lots of different people general comments and complaints. We’ve also Dedicated officers for our different taken on board what our staff and community neighbourhoods, so you have a named partners have told us. person to call for your area A new approach but same commitment Thank you to everyone who has fed into our to Resident Involvement so you can get review so far. We really appreciate your input! involved in our activities A new digital service so you can contact us We’re making it easier for you to understand our online, including paying your rent, reporting different services and who looks after what, so a repair or making a complaint. you know who to contact with any questions. These improvements will give you more choice You told us about issues in your neighbourhood, and help us better understand what you need personal worries, and which services are most from us. important to you. We will continue to provide these services because they are important. To keep in touch with our service improvements, see our website: www.cobalthousing.org.uk or call Nick Grubb, Head of Tenant and Customer Our Solutions Call Centre Experience on: 0151 633 8012. takes around 4,000 calls every month, helping with your enquiries

2337 of you told us your views in our 2017/18 surveys

98% satisfied with the service provided by Cobalt Solutions and 98% of issues were resolved first time.

86% satisfiedwith the handling of their complaints

2 Universal Credit – act now, complete our online checker

If you claim any of these benefits: • Child Tax Credit • Income-related Employment and Support • Housing Benefit Allowance (ESA) • Income Support • Working Tax Credit • Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)

Check our website today to see how Universal Credit will affect youwww.cobalthousing.org.uk

Find out: • What you need to know about Universal Credit • Information about commitments, advanced • Whether Universal Credit will affect you payments, and how your rent is paid and much • When you should claim and what you need to more. do

Need help with your benefits, money matters or rent arrears? Visit our website, drop in to our offices or any of these local advice agencies:

Croxteth & Community North Citizens Advice (CAB), Federation, 35 Moss Way, L11 0BL Scargreen Avenue, L11 3BE 0151 548 6808 0151 287 1300

Fazakerley Community Federation, Or call Gateway Assessments, Monday & The Community Centre, Formosa Drive, Thursday 1pm – 4pm – 0151 285 1081 L10 7LQ 0151 523 1073

How to pay your rent • Pay securely online at www.allpay.net Don’t forget to take your rent payment card • By Direct Debit or Standing Order (you or reference number with you when paying can get a form to set one up from our your rent. reception) • By phone (pay by credit or debit card) Questions about your rent or rent - call 0330 303 2222 or your rents officer account? Call us on: • Paypoint - look for the Paypoint sign at many local shops or online at 0330 303 2222. www.paypoint.co.uk • Cash or cheque (made payable to Cobalt Housing) with a payment card at any UK post office.

3 Gas & Electrical servicing

By law, Cobalt Housing must carry out regular gas and electrical checks and servicing in your home. This is to keep you and your neighbours safe.

Here are the four steps to our service checks:

Step 2 – Our contractors Step 1 – Cobalt will write to write to you with an you to let you know your appointment. They will safety check is due soon provide a contact number should the appointment be inconvenient. You must make sure someone is home to give access to the engineer on the agreed date

Step 3 – If after three visits the safety check isn’t complete, Cobalt will visit your home. If you are not available, we use door stickers to warn you that your safety check is overdue

Step 4 – Court action. If we have been unable to complete the safety check, we will apply to court for a warrant to gain access to your home to complete the safety check. Any court costs will be recharged to you.

4 Happy Tenants

Chantell from Croxteth - a Cobalt tenant since 2011. We helped Chantell move home recently. She said her Rehousing Officer was: Miss Black from Norris Green - a Cobalt tenant for over 10 years. Miss Black has used our repair service and had advice from our Welfare brilliant and couldn’t have team. We asked her what makes Cobalt a good supported me enough. I’ve landlord? She said: settled into my home and I’m really happy with the house. I’ve been with Cobalt Housing for over 10 years. I’ve never had Phil recently moved into the Norris Green area a problem with repairs and they with his wife and son. He said he was happy always try to get the job done with the standard of the house and was looking forward to making it a home. as quickly as possible. They modernised the kitchen and Phil had been on a Property Pool Plus waiting list windows and the house is a lot for six months but is very happy to be moved in warmer than it used to be when it and has been hard at work decorating. was a council property. I just had my radiator fixed yesterday by Cobalt Plus and I’m very happy with the service. How to report a repair

Online through our website 18743 www.cobalthousing.org.uk repairs 91.5% Phone 0330 303 2222 and satisfied choose the Repairs option 2017 with repairs (Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm) You can report an emergency repair 24/7 on 0330 303 2222.

5 Are you looking for a new home?

Visit Property Pool Plus and register to apply for a Cobalt property: www.propertypoolplus.org.uk

You can also see homes for rent on our website www.cobalthousing.org.uk

Other ways to move 92% 91% Are you interested in a home swap of new tenants or home transfer? See our website satisfied satisfied for more information. with the quality (first impressions) of their home with their home

6 Plans for improvements at Stonedale Crescent

Masterplanners and designers Gillespies are working on our behalf with local residents to develop an estate regeneration plan for Stonedale Crescent in Croxteth. This is being funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG).

Several events have been held to consult on “The drop-in sessions were a great options for the area - a visioning workshop in April with residents and stakeholders and two opportunity for partners and the public drop-in events in May for all residents. community to come together and discuss future options for Residents from Stonedale Crescent, Stonedale. We’re working hard Dalcross Way and the Invergarry flats and bungalows, along with other local community with residents and partners to representatives, fed in their views on initial bring opportunity to the area and plans. Key priorities are improving safety, better make it a safer, well-connected connections to facilities and reducing anti-social behaviour. and thriving community.” A high-level masterplan will be ready by August Pauline Allen, community regeneration manager 2018. at Cobalt Housing, said:

7 Employment and training fund

If you live in a Cobalt home, you can apply for funding of up to £500 if you can show the funding will lead to, or increase your chances, of getting into work. Call the Regeneration Team on: 0330 303 2222 or email: allcommunityregeneration@ cobalthousing.org.uk

social behaviour. Think! Try to show tolerance and understanding and don’t provoke or escalate situations unnecessarily.

Help us to help you. Report anti-social behaviour

Cobalt Housing – 0330 303 2222 ASB – think Crimestoppers – 0800 555 111 (you don’t have to give your name) Police – 111 or 999 in an emergency before you act! Liverpool City Council – 0151 233 3001 Worst Kept Secret – 0800 028 3398 (domestic If you believe you are a victim of anti-social abuse support line) behaviour, please check the ASB section of the Stop Hate UK – 0800 138 1625 (hate crime report Cobalt website for information and guidance. line – you don’t have to give your name) There are also articles on ‘Being a Good Neighbour’ and ‘What is not ASB’. Now that summer is here, please also see the article on Our ASB Team issues to consider during the summer. supported 524 We do not want our tenants to be victims of anti- tenants, to help deal with anti-social behaviour (April 2017 - March 2018) 8 Improving our services – you said, we did

Thank you for your feedback. This has helped us tailor and improve our services. Here are some changes we’ve made:

You said: We did: We are working with our contractors to The contractors don’t always improve the appointment system. We meet arrive at the agreed time them regularly to discuss complaints.

You said: We did: Make it easier to see what We improved our website. You can now properties are available register online to see ready-to-let homes.

You said: We did:

Cobalt Plus delivered a We employed more operatives to deliver great service services to more tenants.

You said: We did: I have to wait outside in the We’ve reviewed our service and moved our morning to access the Welfare drop-in times to afternoons. Benefits drop-in service

You said: We did: Cobalt Click is coming! A new online portal, You would like to access your giving you more choice about how and when to contact us. You’ll be able to access Cobalt rent account online Click from our website and it’s optimised to work with mobile phones. You said: We did: Some of our disabled tenants We are reviewing our tailored services and find it difficult to access our have contacted tenants for feedback. services

96 formal complaints logged (2017-18). Most were about repairs. 9 Equality & diversity

Cobalt Housing is very committed to equality, diversity and inclusion.

We offer tailored support for tenants, customers and staff to ensure everyone is treated fairly, with respect and has equal opportunities. Some ways we do this include:

• Translation services (language & sign language interpreters) • Large print or magnifying tools * • Coloured overlay sheets * • Flexible appointments and priority repair appointments

We’d love to hear your ideas for more improvements we can make. Please call Mair on 0151 633 8133. * may be gifted to tenants

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

New data protection legislation came into effect on 25th May. This gives you more rights around your personal data and how it is used.

We fully respect your privacy and are committed to safeguarding your personal data. In line with the news rules, we’ve updated our privacy notice, so it clearly shows your new rights and the legal grounds for how we use your data.

To see our Privacy Notice, visit our website: www.cobalthousing.org.uk

10 Cobalt Solutions our apprenticeship success stories

Every year, we take on new apprentices in our Cobalt Solutions call centre, helping them learn and gain valuable work experience.

You might remember Faye and Jake from our Spring 2017 newsletter.

Both Faye and Jake went on to gain full time employment at the end of their apprenticeship and we have since taken on two new apprentices.

We asked Julie one of our most recent apprentices to share a bit about herself and what she learned during her time with us:

Julie:

“A family member who works for Cobalt recommended the job post to me. They’ve always told me what a great place Cobalt is to work! When the apprenticeship post became available, I jumped at the chance of applying, and was really pleased to be taken on.

Since starting my apprenticeship five months ago, I’ve enrolled on to an NVQ customer service qualification which I’m really enjoying. I’ve learned a lot more about housing since I started and love the day-to-day interaction with customers. I’m more confident in myself and it’s wonderful being part of such a great team.

My plan for the future is to continue to grow within the company and increase my housing knowledge.”

“Our apprentices give us a great sense of fulfilment. It’s great to see them develop and to share the wealth of knowledge we have across the team.” Sarah, Solutions Call Centre Manager

11 Community Fund

In our April 2018 funding round, we received more than 30 applications from community groups to fund projects across Norris Green, We gave Croxteth and Fazakerley. Some applications didn’t meet our criteria, but if £15,000+ your group needs help applying for funding, we to 31 can help you with your bid. community groups

How to apply The deadline to apply for our next round of funding is 12th September 2018. See our website for more information www.cobalthousing.org.uk

Fazakerley Talking Movie “Angie is a scream. She’s really brought people together from the community and we’ve been Club Dine and Debate attending more activities in the centre that we didn’t come to before. I even invited my Fazakerley Health & Wellbeing Forum were 80-year-old neighbour, so he’s been getting out given funding in April 2018 to run a community- of the house more as well” minded ‘Movie nights’ wellbeing project. “It gives you a purpose to get up sometimes as The group meets once a month in a community you can feel a bit like it’s too much to go out. setting in Fazakerley to watch films and enjoy But if you know you’re going to watch a film or healthy food together. The funding pays for their talk to a group of people, it helps you get up room hire, food, seasonal workers, films and and go” equipment hire. Angie, the Project Lead, applied for funding We spoke to some of the people who went to continue the project from April to May and along to the group: secured £400 extra in part-funding. Cobalt will continue to help by promoting the Movie Club. Pat - who was described as a great all-round ambassador – said: “It’s been nice having somewhere to go, especially in the winter, where I can sit down with other people. We’ve had a few people attending who suffer with early stages Alzheimer’s and the movies have helped to bring back memories. You will find they start talking about something that happened years ago. It’s been a really beneficial project” Other members said:

12 Norris Green Fingers Kerry has been volunteering alongside Clem at Green Fingers for over four years. She said working on the garden has helped her get out Norris Green Fingers is a local community into the community and motivated her to gain project, run by volunteers from Norris Green. some extra qualifications, which has improved They started out in 2004, with community her confidence. volunteers and local schools working together to create a fantastic community garden for The project aimed to bring the community everyone to enjoy. together and encourage more residents to improve the green spaces in Norris Green. Supported in its early days by Operation EDEN, who also funded its poly-tunnel, the project was Since its creation, St Christopher’s Garden has linked to the ‘Five a Day’ scheme and with a local won many awards thanks to the volunteers’ Chatty Café. hard work. It’s a shining example of what can be accomplished with the community working Clem has volunteered for Norris Green Fingers together. for more than 10 years. He said he started volunteering to be part of the community and give something back. He has green fingers and has always enjoyed being outdoors, so was keen Volunteer with Norris Green to get involved. Fingers

Norris Green Fingers are looking for volunteers to help bring the garden back up to award-winning standard.

Interested? Call Paul Smith from Church Army on 07527 592725 or email him at [email protected] to find out more.

13 Stonedale At Stonedale, we filled four skips with all sorts of items including old couches, lawnmowers, Community strimmers, tyres and wood. Cobalt Plus carried the larger items and helped residents living in bungalows and flats empty their sheds and clean-up days removed old furniture. Even though the day started off very rainy, the Cobalt Plus and Liverpool City sun soon came out and it was a great show of Council’s Street Scene Team have community spirit and partnership work. been out cleaning up some of “It was nice to get out and help the neighbours our untidier neighbourhoods, with and clear up corner gardens where stuff tends to support from the local community. be blown by the wind.” What a great job everyone has Sandra, local resident done! Storrington Estate A cold day didn’t knock our spirits and Trispen and Petherick determination to clean up the Storrington estate. A big thank you to Year 5 pupils at Our Lady We filled four skips with residents’ unwanted and St Swithin’s Primary School who helped out items and items that had been fly tipped in the at our community clean-up day in Trispen and area. Petherick. Thanks to everybody who took part in our We brought in four skips to Totnes Road, the Communtiy clean-up days and helped get corners of 5 Trispen Walk and Willow Way, and rid of unwanted items and clear up our the junction of Moss Way and Mullion Road. neighbourhoods.

Neighbours helped each other remove items from their front gardens and everyone rallied together to pick up as much litter as possible. Bulky Bobs can help remove Some residents on Petherick Road even popped your old or unwanted furniture out to thank the children for helping clean up. Call: 0151 207 2148 Liverpool City Council brought in heavy machinery to move the larger items and the Help keep your local area tidy, so children had lots of fun sitting in the driver’s seat everyone can be proud of where they The litter and fly tipping has all been cleared and live. Please don’t fly-tip and remember the areas look great thanks to everyone’s hard to keep your garden tidy. work.

14 News round-up

Mental health awareness week - In May all our staff took part in weekly neighbourhood walkabouts, talking about mental health and raising awareness of where to get help and support.

Dementia – We are currently working towards a Dementia Awareness Accreditation, so we can better support people with dementia and ensure they are treated with dignity and respect.

We also had a Bake it or Fake it cake sale and raised money for mental health charity MIND.

National Volunteer Week 1st - 7th June – We spoke to staff, community groups and our tenants to find out what motivates them to volunteer. Read their inspiring stories on our website at:

www.cobalthousing.org.uk

Get Online internet hubs Have you heard about our FREE weekly Get Online internet hubs? Many services now are going digital and we want to be there to support you.

Need help looking for jobs online or sending emails?

Or just want to drop in and get some help with using the internet on a computer or smart phone.

We can help!

Tuesdays 10 am – 12pm Wednesdays 1pm – 3pm Porchfield Community Centre Ellergreen Community Centre Storrington Avenue Ellergreen Road Liverpool L11 L11 2RY

Call 0151 633 8112 for more information. Interested in becoming a Digital Champion? Call Phil on 0151 633 8096 15 Community Events

Lunch Clubs at the Russell Community Rooms, After School Clubs in Norris Green and Sparrowhall Road, Fazakerley twice a month. Fazakerley Next lunch club 24th July 12- 2pm. • Norris Green Youth Centre Mon-Thurs, 3-6pm, Ages 5+ Liverpool Pride - Staff from Cobalt will be joining • Russell Rooms, Sparrowhall Rd - Mon-Fri, other housing associations at this year’s Pride 3-6pm Ages 5+. march on Saturday 28th July under the ‘Homes for Everyone’ banner. Call 0151 226 2672 for more information.

Norris Green Community Carnival – Saturday Community and family activities from Triple C at 11th August 12 – 4pm at Scargreen Park Christ Church, St. Christopher’s and the Church of the Good Shepherd in Norris Green, including: Autism in Motion has become a Good Food • First Steps Sensory Baby Group in Christ Hub. They give out fresh, healthy and easy-to- Church, for babies 0-10 months 10-11.30am, 10+ cook food from Norris Green Youth Centre in months from 10am partnership with ‘Can Cook’. • Little Steps every Wednesday 9.45 - 11.15am at St Christopher’s Church, Lorenzo Drive, L11 0BS. September 2018 – March 2019 – Community sessions run by the Cass Foundation to carry Call Sue Wade on 0151 226 1774 out planting along the verges of Stonebridge for more information. Lane on the Stonedale Estate and Alt Meadows. Interested in taking part? Call Helen on 0151 558 0886.

Fazakerley Community Federation and Community Library offer a great choice of weekly activities including art and music club, local history, Spanish, Tai Chi, Salsa, Knit ‘n’ Knatter and much more.

Slipper football sessions for ages 55+ . Run by Liverpool FA for Cobalt tenants across Sports & Community Centre, Croxteth Lifestyles, The Bridge Community Centre. Interested? Call Anna on 0151 523 4488.

Hebden Area Children’s Group Movie Night every Thursday at 5:30pm in De La Salle School. Email Claire at hebdenchildrensgroup@hotmail. com to book a place.

Porchfield Community Centre – sessions for older people including crafts, drama, yoga, healthy cooking, Tai Chi, evening trips, computer training and coffee mornings. Call Geraldine for more information on 0151 547 4455.