North Wales Housing is set to launch an in-house grounds maintenance team, creating six new jobs for local people.
‘Rakes & Ladders’ will be launched in October 2014 and will deliver a range of gardening and grounds maintenance, and other property maintenance services to tenants of the association across North Wales.
Initially, six roles will be created including two team leaders, an apprentice, a trainee, and two seasonal workers all of whom will be based at the association’s Hadley Building office in Conwy.
Rakes and Ladders will aim to recruit people from within the local community, including North Wales Housing tenants. Team leaders will be appointed to work closely with new recruits, and provide mentoring, support and training to ensure that employees who may never have worked, or have been unemployed for a period of time, are given the practical and softer skills to help them to succeed in the workplace.
A period of training, development and support will lead to the possibility of long term employment opportunities, helping transform the lives of local people. The team will often work within the community in which they live, delivering an important service for the association.
NWH are committed to improving the service provision to tenants. By delivering directly from within the association, tenants can expect a more customer focused approach. The success of moving the maintenance teams in house and away from external contractors has encouraged NWH to take this approach.
Stephanie Clueit Assistant Director of North Wales Housing said:
“This is a really positive move for the association. Not only are we creating long term jobs for local people but we are delivering this service directly which we believe has lots of advantages. We have seen a huge improvement in the positive feedback we’ve had from our tenants since taking planned maintenance in house. We want Rakes and Ladders to sit alongside our maintenance teams and sustain that high level of service.”
Stephanie added:
“This is a sustainable business from every aspect and embodies the NWH ethos and vision. We would like to encourage people to get in touch by visiting our website www.nwha.org.uk to find out more about these and other opportunities available at North Wales Housing. Tenants can also get more information at our tenants Fun Day on 20th August at Ysgol Morfa Rhianedd, Ffordd Cwm, Llandudno.”
