News Categories: Corporate

NWH awarded wellbeing award

North Wales Housing was awarded ‘Conwy Wellbeing Organisation Ambassador Award’ at a CVSC Awards ceremony on Thursday 15th June.

Gemma Struthers, Community Wellbeing Officer for Conwy Community Wellbeing Team explained why North Wales Housing were chosen for this award:

“We wanted to thank NWHA for being so supportive of the Conwy Wellbeing programme. By helping to spread the word about the Wellbeing programme and hosting a range of activities at the NWHA Older Persons schemes; we have been able to collect some fantastic case studies about the positive impact the wellbeing programme has had.“

“Thank you for your continued support and promotion of the Community Wellbeing activities and 5 Ways to Wellbeing, your help has been invaluable to the success of our programme.”

Community Wellbeing activities are held at Extra Care Schemes Hafod y Parc and Llys y Coed, hosting events such as Ukulele workshops, historical presentations and seasonal craft and talks.

Shelley Hughes, Scheme Manager at Extra Care scheme Hafod y Parc, Abergele, picked up the award on behalf of North Wales Housing at the awards ceremony.

Are you our new Group Chair?

North Wales Housing are looking to the future, and due to Peter Gibson, our existing Chair is standing down from the role later this year, we are looking for a new Chair for our Group Board.

We are looking for a new Chair who has strong leadership skills, drive and ambition for North Wales Housing, to lead our strong board and work with myself as Chief Executive and to make sure we deliver on our mutual aspirations.

The new Group Chair will have a significant influence on the way we deliver this plan and our strategic direction.

If that strikes a chord with you and you share our ambition then we’d like to hear from you. For more information on the role, and to download a copy of the recruitment pack, visit the Chair vacancy page here. Closing date 19th July 2017.

Statement regarding NWH block of flats

Our condolences are with those who have been affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. In light of this tragedy we would like to reassure residents that their safety is our main priority.

Although North Wales Housing does not have any high rise flats, we are reviewing all of our fire precautions in our blocks of flats. Where cladding is present we are closely examining the material used in order to reassure our residents.

We can confirm that ACM, the cladding material used in the Grenfell Tower, is not present in any of our properties.

North Wales Housing has a thorough and robust fire safety policy and procedure, which guides our approach to managing the risk of fire in our properties. Fire risk assessments are carried out on all our blocks of flats, Houses of Multiple Occupation and Sheltered Schemes that fall under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005; these are reviewed annually. Servicing of gas installations are carried out annually in all of our properties and electrical installations tested every five years.

Residents can also help ensure their safety in their properties by familiarising themselves with the fire evacuation procedure for their property and promptly reporting any fire safety related problems to us. It is also important that residents ensure hallways and escape routes are clear and free from potential sources of ignition and combustible items.

For information about keeping safe at home tenants are also advised to visit the North Wales Fire & Rescue Service’s website.

If you have any concerns you wish to discuss please get in touch on [email protected]  or 01492 572727.

New Sustainability Strategy launched

Sustainability has always been important to North Wales Housing; for us this means being fully aware of the way our actions affect our communities and the wider world, now and for the future. With this knowledge we can play our part in protecting and enhancing the long-term wellbeing of the people and places around us.

We have now formalised our approach and developed a new Sustainability Strategy.

This strategy has been developed as we want to improve the way we manage our approach to sustainability, to ensure we are developing our business in a sustainable way; and to be able to show the real impact that we have on our tenants, our communities and the wider world.

Richard Snaith, Sustainability Coordinator explains:

“Everyone at North Wales Housing is involved in helping us to make the change to a genuinely sustainable future. We would love to hear from our tenants and others in the community about how we can work together to improve and look after the places where we all live.”

You can read our new Sustainability Strategy and find out about some of the work we have already done by visiting our website here.

If you have any questions about our Sustainability Strategy, or have any ideas or want to get involved, contact our Sustainability Coordinator Richard Snaith on [email protected] or 01492 563211.

Easter office opening hours

All North Wales Housing offices will close on Thursday 13th April 2017, re-opening on Tuesday 18th April 2017.

Only emergency repairs will be done during this time. These can be reported by calling 01492 572727.

St David’s Day fun at North Wales Housing

Staff and residents made the effort to celebrate all things Welsh again this St David’s Day again this year, taking part in many activities.

Offices celebrated St David’s Day, the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales by coming together over lunchtime. Staff in the Bangor and Llandudno Junction offices enjoyed traditional leek and potato soup and Welsh cakes whilst playing St David’s Day themed games.

All proceeds from the day went to St David’s Hospice, North Wales Housing’s charity for the year.

Residents also joined in on the fun, as residents at at Cae Garnedd, Bangor were entertained by harpist Michael Richards. Uxbridge Court residents in Bangor on the other hand chose to celebrate with a not so traditional fish and chip lunch! And Taverners Court had a whole afternoon dedicated to St David’s Day, enjoying a few songs from a member of the Maelgwn Male Voice Choir and a traditional array of goodies.

Now it’s time for a rest until next year’s celebrations!

Wales’s first urban housing co-operative officially opened

‘Afallon Housing Development’, built by the first urban Community Housing Co-operative in Wales, was officially opened on 13th January by Nic Bliss, Chair of Confederation of Cooperative Housing.

West Rhyl Housing Co-operative, set up by West Rhyl Community Land Trust (WRCLT), North Wales Housing (NWH) and Wales Co-operative Centre, was set up to develop a new and empowered community in the heart of the regeneration area in West Rhyl.

‘Afallon Housing Development’, opposite the Gerddi Heulwen park, is the Co-operative’s first development, creating new homes for 11 local families, couples and individuals.

Made up of 7 new build family houses and 4 fully refurbished apartments, the development saw the first 7 families move into the houses at the end of October 2016, and have since enjoyed their first Christmas in their new homes.  The remaining 4 families have moved into their new apartments this month; a great way to start the New Year.

Tom Jones, resident and Chair of Afallon Residents Committee is happy with his new home:

“This is an amazing opportunity to move to a brand new property and to have a say in how it’s managed. West Rhyl has always been a brilliant place to live and now we can look forward to building a brand new community right in the heart of it”

Fiona Davies, Chair of WRCLT, said:

“Afallon Housing Development is a vitally important scheme to West Rhyl. It is a culmination of 6 years of hard work from volunteers and members of the community, to create the West Rhyl Land Trust, develop partnership with North Wales Housing and subsequently the new Housing Co-operative.”

“Community aspirations were for better quality housing in the area and that is exactly what’s been achieved.”

Nikki Jones, Director of WRCLT added:

“This is a proud moment for those of us who have strived to make this development happen.  Our Community Board have been dedicated to producing a positive outcome for West Rhyl, and their commitment has now paid off.”

Helena Kirk, Chief Executive at North Wales Housing said:

“Afallon is a unique housing development and North Wales Housing are proud to be involved in the project. The development has exceeded expectations and the houses are great example of what houses would have looked like in the area.”

“The Co-operative model has worked well and we are pleased that there is already a sense of community on the street; the Co-operative is no doubt to thank for that.”

Dave Palmer, Co-operative Housing project manager at the Wales Co-operative Centre said:

“Local people making decisions about their homes can make a huge, positive difference to the future health and well-being of our communities. By their very nature, housing co-operatives are more collaborative and democratic, and they encourage and support local community control in their immediate neighbourhoods.

“The Welsh Co-operative Housing programme has shown us that co-operative housing is flexible to meet many needs and any tenure. At the Wales Co-operative Centre we are working to ensure co-operative housing provides a significant proportion of the 20,000 new affordable homes to be built during this Welsh Government term.”

Housing co-operatives give tenants a greater say on day-to-day issues that can affect their quality of life. Issues could include appointing maintenance contractors, setting service charges, allocating properties to new tenants joining the community and organising events.

To be considered to be a part of the Co-operative, potential tenants had to have lived, worked or volunteered in Rhyl for at least two of the past five years and were assessed on their suitability against key criteria.

Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children, Carl Sargeant said:

“The Afallon development is an excellent example of how the Welsh Government is delivering on its commitment to provide high quality, affordable housing and I am pleased tenants are already enjoying their new homes.

“This project is a key element of the West Rhyl Housing Improvement Programme, a Welsh Government led investment of almost £17m in improving housing and providing green space in the area which will be vital in contributing to the regeneration of the town.”

Helena Kirk concludes:

“We hope residents enjoy living in their new homes and we look forward to seeing their community spirit continue.”

Silver sustainability success for NWH

North Wales Housing have successfully achieved SHIFT Silver in 2016’s SHIFT sustainability assessment, a prestigious environmental awards scheme.

The SHIFT (Sustainable Homes Index for Tomorrow) benchmarking scheme, endorsed by the government, analyses the environmental performance of housing associations.

The assessment process covered all aspects of North Wales Housing’s operation including offices, purchasing, new build, existing properties and more.

North Wales Housing was first assessed in 2014, achieving Silver. Being part of SHIFT demonstrates our commitment to play an active role in creating better homes and businesses whilst enhancing people’s lives.

Car park makes way to 12 new affordable homes

New affordable housing development Clos Owen in Wrexham was officially opened at an event on Friday 4th November 2016.

The £1.5million social housing development marks the first for North Wales Housing in Wrexham, making sure the association lives up to their ‘North Wales Housing’ name.

Working closely with Wrexham County Council the truly North Wales based housing association created 12 new affordable rent homes in the Whitegate area of the town on the site of a former car park.

An ornamental tree was planted to mark the occasion before meeting residents over afternoon tea.

Phil Danson, Places Director at North Wales Housing said:

“This is an excellent example of how North Wales Housing is working with its partners to develop new affordable housing in North Wales. By close partnership working with Wrexham Council we have improved the housing prospects of young local families and tackle the wider issue of housing shortage.”

“We hope that the Tenants will enjoy living on their new estate for years to come, and that they will take every opportunity to contribute to their community.”

Residents moved in their new homes in July 2016 and have settled in well.

Resident Julie Jones said:

“I’m very happy with my new home. I moved here from Llay and I’m been so impressed with the quality of the new house. It’s very spacious, there’s solar panels which have already saved me money on heating bills, everything is clean and modern and easy to use and there’s plenty of storage space. I’m only a few minutes walk from the town centre now too so it’s ideal for me.”

Local Member for Whitegate, Cllr Brian Cameron, said:

“This is a very positive development for housing in the area. I’m also very pleased that two of the one-bed ground floor flats have been built with adaptions for residents with specific needs. The council’s partnership with North Wales Housing has worked very well here and, as a result, we’ve been able to create these very desirable properties which I’m sure the new residents will be very pleased with.”

Lead Member for Housing, Cllr Ian Roberts, said:

“We’ve made fantastic progress with the development of affordable housing in Wrexham recently, thanks to a number of schemes which are now underway across the County Borough. I’m delighted that these modern, attractive homes have now been completed in Clos Owen and it’s great to see that the partnership between the Council and North Wales Housing has had such positive results here.”

Services showcase help protect funding for vulnerable people

North Wales Housing’s Supported Housing Team went on the road this September and showcased the services and support they offer to vulnerable residents.

The event was aimed at service providers, agencies, organisations and interested parties who wanted to find out more about what services we can offer and how to refer people to our services.

Lynne Evans, Head of Supported Housing explained:

“North Wales Housing provides a wide range of supported housing accommodation and support services to vulnerable people across North Wales, including homeless people and rough sleepers, young care leavers, people with mental health issues, and people with learning disabilities.” 

“We work closely with other organisations but events such as this offer a good refresher to everyone as to what we do and how we can work closer together. It’s also a great opportunity to put a face to a name!”

Supported Housing service users were also present at the event and attendees took their time to talk to them about their housing journey. Their stories are living proof that with the support of providers such as North Wales Housing they can successfully move on with their lives.

The event also supports a sector-wide ‘Lets Keep Supporting People’ campaign, established to raise awareness of the Supporting People programme, the people who benefit, the preventative nature of the programme and how the funding is spent.

Lynne was delighted to reveal that events such as this and the campaign have resulted in protected funding for another year:

“A number of our Supported Housing schemes are funded by partner local authorities through the Supporting People Programme. We are extremely pleased that the Welsh Government has committed to protecting the Supporting People Programme Grant again for 2017/18 in their recent budget.”

 “The Supporting People Programme supports over 60,000 vulnerable people across Wales every year.  Whilst the next few years will be difficult with pressure on public services across the board, protecting this funding means that our services will have more scope to respond to future challenges.” 

“Events such as this are very important to showcase the positive impact on vulnerable people’s lives and sustaining communities. It also encourages more collaboration which is crucial to keep the services going.”