Local Care Heroes

Three of our housing with care schemes won ‘Local Care Hero’ awards at the 2021 Norfolk Care Awards. Run in partnership with NorseCare, all the schemes were recognised for good practice in social care, and going the extra mile. Congratulations to:

The Lawns – Local Care Hero for Great Yarmouth & Waveney

Liliana Simionescu (below right), Harriet Court – Local Care Hero for Norwich

Karen Claydon (below left), Robert Kett Court – Local Care Hero for South Norfolk

Our housing with care schemes, located across the region, provide a supported environment for older people who have a care need. Housing with care tenants have their own self-contained flat but also benefit from 24/7 access to on-site care professionals, a full range of communal services and social activities.

Strengthening tenant engagement

In July 2021 the Board approved a brand new tenant engagement policy. This policy is by far our most ambitious plan for tenant engagement. It incorporates work we have carried out with a group of tenants for the National Housing Federation (NatFed)’s Together With Tenants initiative, in response to the Government’s White Paper on social housing.

The new policy creates 5 new tenant groups for each of our delivery patches, to really ensure that we get to work in the communities. The Local Area Delivery (LAD) panels give tenants a chance to meet each other and tell us how we can improve our services. LAD panels will cover issues such as general repairs, services (including cleaning and grounds maintenance), anti-social behaviour and local neighbourhood issues.

The Housing for Older Persons (HOP) panel is aimed at tenants who live in sheltered housing or who are aged 55+. The group bring forward tenants’ ideas on how to improve services, but will be helping us deliver these ideas for the communities where they live. We may ask for their feedback on our policies or projects from time to time. We have had an amazing response for the first meeting and we already have 7 new additional members for the second meeting. The panel has identified its priorities for the next year.

The Tenant Assurance Panel (TAP) is one of the most exciting developments in our new tenant engagement strategy. This new panel will report to each Board meeting giving an update on how we as a business have listened to our tenants. It is our intention that this new panel will be chaired by a tenant. The panel will keep track and hold us to account on our commitments to the Together with Tenants charter. It will ensure that the work that happens in the LADs is reflected.

We will also be looking to the TAP to review surveys and tenant feedback from our Community Conversations, to identify trends and areas where we can make improvements to our services. We have great ambitions for this panel and see it as a true partnership.

Family fun at Bodham

In August we held a family fun day with crafts, free lunch and street dance for our tenants in Bodham and nearby villages. Tenants had the chance to meet members of their Local Delivery Team and discuss issues about their home or our services.

Nick Beadle, Local Delivery Team Manager, said:

"I enjoyed the day and it was great to meet some of our tenants and their families to hear their experience and feedback on our services. Talking with the tenants really highlighted ways we can improve.”

Out and about around Norfolk

The easing of some Covid restrictions this year means we have been able to get out and meet tenants in person again, taking sensible precautions. We visited King’s Lynn and hosted two half-term events – a cinema morning at Gorleston and a Halloween crafts and bingo day at Dereham. Both were well attended by local families and the tenant feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with comments such as:

“It was good to see you all after lockdown, socialising and participating in various things”

“All the staff were very welcoming and friendly. It was good to actually see staff face to face instead of phone or email”

‘Meet the architect’ event for residents

A year after moving into their new homes, tenants and residents at our Edgefield development had the opportunity to meet the scheme’s architects and designers. The mixed-tenure development on the northern edge of the village contains 12 affordable homes and 10 open-market homes.

The residents’ feedback will feed into future Broadland projects, as Executive Development Director Andrew Savage explains:

“We weren’t able to hold a traditional launch event for this site due to the Covid pandemic. So we decided instead to take advantage of the fact that people have been living in their new homes for a while to gain some feedback about how the on-paper designs have translated into their real-life experience. It was a hugely useful exercise, as well as bringing the new community together socially.”

Talk reveals the fascinating history of The Orchards, Aylsham

Our tenants at The Orchards on Norwich Road, Aylsham, learned recently that their home was built in 1848 by William Repton, principal solicitor in the town and son of the renowned landscape designer Humphry Repton. The Grade II listed building was later owned by World War One hero Captain James Sears.

Archivists and historians Dr Roger Polhill and Maggie Vaughan-Lewis from the Aylsham Town Archive gave tenants an illustrated talk at the town hall, which was followed by a cream tea.

Tenant Paul Gibson, who moved to The Orchards in July, said:

“What a fantastic insight into our home. It’s so interesting to hear its history, I will look on it with a new eye now. The Orchards is a wonderful place to live. It has got all sorts of nooks and crannies. It has soul as well as history, as well as spectacular gardens. I keep waiting for some Victorian ghost to come wafting up!”