Out and About Events

Summer Fun Day

In July, as part of our Out and About campaign, tenants at one of our schemes in Norwich enjoyed a great afternoon with arts and crafts, games, and face painting – the ice-creams were quite the treat!

Working in partnership with Orwell Housing, we also invited their tenants who lived nearby and the local police team to the area. Tenants met with their Local Delivery team and gave positive feedback about their scheme and our services:

“Our communal gardens are well kept, and the area is clean. It is a nice place to live.”

New Scheme Manager

Tenants at one of our Sheltered Housing schemes came together to welcome Kim, our new Scheme Manager who joined Broadland in May 23.

The event was well attended with tenants meeting one another, some for the first time. There were lots of activities for tenants to take part in, with food and refreshments to enjoy.

Broadland’s 60th anniversary was a big theme for the event, and everyone joined in with the celebrations. Tenants at the scheme said they hope to plan more events like this in the future!

Alpacas and Brunch

In November, we held a special animal themed Out and About for our residents at one of our Sheltered Accommodation Schemes. We got to meet the adorable Bear the skunk, Fergus and Gino the alpacas, a rabbit and pair of guinea pigs. Everyone came together for a delicious brunch too, with pastries and cakes, and not forgetting a great game of bingo to close the event.

The animals were provided by Unicorn Alpaca Walks, a local animal experience.

Owner, Kerry Nichols shared:

“It’s magical how meeting the animals really brings people out of themselves. We take them into places such as care homes and schools, and it is very moving to see how everybody smiles when they come into contact with the animals.”

Residents commented on the unique occasion:

“We’ve never seen alpacas before, and holding a skunk was a real experience. There’s a great sense of community here, and events like this bring people together.”

Scheme Manager, Simon said:

“It was lovely to see residents interacting with the animals. I don’t think any of them thought they would end up cuddling a skunk. We are really grateful to Unicorn Alpaca Walks for bringing the animals to visit our residents. They will be talking about this for a long time to come.”

Thank you to Unicorn Alpaca Walks for making the day a real talking point. We look forward to more Out and About events in 2024 as we continue to engage with our tenants.

Christmas Get Together

In December, our involved tenants from our panels - Housing for Over 55’s (HOP) and Tenant Assurance Panel (TAP) - came together for a Christmas gathering. This was to say thank you for their work and contributions to continually improve our services and engage as a tenant.

It was a great occasion to have some festive fun and reflect on the year. We had a thank you speech from Joanna Ballman, Vice Chair, to say thank you to everyone for their hard work and support, which was shortly followed by a lunch and lots of Christmas themed games.

We look forward to the new year ahead with our regular panel members and those joining us in 2024!

Gardening Competition

We held our annual Gardening Competition across May and June. The competition was open to all Broadland Housing tenants with categories including ‘Best Edible Garden’ and ‘Best Patio, Courtyard or Balcony’, plus many more! A number of our tenants entered, and all entrants received a certificate. Winners and runners-up received a Love2shop voucher.

The competition judges included our Environmental Champions and one of our tenants, Jane, a gardening guru and regular article writer in our tenant magazine, Door to Door. Jane commented on the day:

“Despite the unsettled weather ranging from deluge to drought, it was an overall excellent show by all our gardeners. There were very colourful displays and a great variety of plants, demonstrating lots of hard work. Well done to everyone.”

A big well done to our tenants who entered. It was wonderful to come together and for our tenants to get involved. We look forward to receiving more entries this year when the sun shines in the upcoming months.