Spotlight on Denbighshire Autumn 2012

DENBIGHSHIREISSUE 4 | AUTUMN 2012

SPOTLIGHT ON

Enabling work, training and experience

Expanding CambriaMaintenance Services

Our latest newdevelopments in your area

Preparing for Welfare Reform

This edition the first using our new brandidentity which we introduced in April this year features a mix of news about some of our current countyspecific initiatives, plus relevantorganisationwide updates.

This Spring we welcomed a new Chair to ourBoard. After three successful years Ivor Gittensretired from this role, although he remains aWWH Board member. His successor is KathySmart, a wellknown member of the Cardiffbusiness community and longtime championof social housing.

Other recent changes have included the promotion of Shayne Hembrow from Operations Director to the new role of DeputyChief Executive/Commercial Director. Following this I am pleased to say that StevePorter has just been appointed as Operations Director.

With the changes to Welfare Reform gatheringpace, against a backdrop of continuing economic uncertainty and ever increasing pressures on public finances, I’m sure you willagree that there is much for us to do.

However while the challenges are great, we remain committed to our vision to make a difference to people’s lives, homes and communities across Wales. We hope that thisbriefing will help to keep you up to date withmuch of our grassroots work in your area, aswell as the bigger picture about WWH.

Finally please don’t hesitate to get in touch atany time with your comments, ideas and feedback about any aspect of our work.

Yours Anne Hinchey, Chief Executive.

Follow us on Twitter @wwha

Watch us on our YouTube channel wwhahomesforwales

INTRODUCTIONWelcome to the Autumn 2012 edition of Spotlight on Denbighshire, bringing you progress updates about Wales &West Housing initiatives in your area.

2 | Spotlight on DENBIGHSHIRE | Autumn 2012 | www.wwha.co.uk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtmoCdwpVz4

Digital Inclusion is a key area of work for us,enabling our residents to get connected online, to be better placed to deal withforthcoming benefit changes including theintroduction of Universal Credit. Being ableto use the internet will also help our residents to get connected within and beyond their communities, as well as helping them to find value by making informed choices online.

Part of a £1m WWH investment to bridgethe digital divide, Nant y Môr will host WiFiin its communal area and enable residentsto access the internet from their homesthrough North Wales provider, Boyns.net. Our pilot scheme at Nant y Môr follows hoton the heels of our first successful WiFibroadband access project at Ty Pontrhun retirement scheme in Merthyr Tydfil. There

residents are enjoying WiFi access for just63p per week, payable as part of their service charge.

We will learn from this pilot with the aim ofbringing affordable WiFi access to as manyresidents within our retirement schemesacross Wales as possible, thanks to a £1minvestment from WWH.

WWH also hosts the Take Ctrl project on behalf of the North Wales Financial Capability Forum, a wide partnership including Communities 2.0. Take Ctrl willoffer computer sessions at Nant y Môr, giving residents the opportunity to learn allthat the internet has to offer like shoppingonline, Friends Reunited, Facebook andspeaking to family members for free onSkype.

DIGITAL INCLUSIONPILOT AT NANT Y MÔROur extra care scheme in Prestatyn, Nant y Mƾr, will soon bebenefitting from an internet access pilot project, our secondsuch pilot in Wales.

Residents at Nant y Môr are set to benefit from our affordable WiFi broadband access pilot project at the scheme.

2 | Spotlight on DENBIGHSHIRE | LOCAL NEWS | Autumn 2012 | www.wwha.co.uk

Completed this summer Cil y Coed, in Henllan, is now providing stateoftheart accommodation for people with learning difficulties and autistic spectrum disorders.

Cil y Coed’s first residents moved into thethree needsspecific bungalows Alwyn, Balaand Brenig early this summer and feedbackso far from residents, their families and carershas been nothing but positive.

This site in Henllan has had a long tradition ofsupporting people with learning disabilitiesand we are proud to be able to continue thistradition.

Michelle Voyce, mother of Brad Voyce, wholives in Cil y Coed, told us: “Brad’s bungalow is'to die for!' It’s fab! Perfectly planned! Theway there are two bedrooms on either sidewith the living area in between really workswell as does the sun room joining the twohallways.”

Craig Sparrow, Development Manager forWWH, writes: “Wales & West’s third projectspecially designed for autism and learning difficulties is now complete. Handover wasachieved on 28th June 2012. Twelve peoplewill now have a purpose built, safe home withcare on site possibly for the first time in theirlives. The mother of one of the young menwho now lives there has called me today andsays ‘It’s out of this world’ and it is makingsuch a difference to her son’s life and theirown. Well done to all involved.”

Phase two of this development has nowstarted which will provide six family houses.

We are also currently negotiating the purchase of further sites in Denbighshire toprovide new rented accommodation and toalso help support the wider regenerationplans of key towns such as Rhyl.

EXPERTS INSPECIALIST HOUSING TOO...Our supported housing development portfolio continues togo from strength to strength.

Brad Voyce, who has learning dificulties, enjoying life at Cil y Coed, Henllan


The driver behind SARTH is to create a common policy for allocation of housingacross the region. This will make it easier forapplicants with one set of rules to followthan the nine that exist at the moment.

We are hosting SARTH Project DevelopmentOfficer Nik Weatherall and are working inpartnership with Conwy County Borough

Council, Denbighshire County BoroughCouncil, Flintshire County Council, CartrefiConwy, Clwyd Alyn Housing Association,Cymdeithas Tai Clwyd and North WalesHousing.

A draft policy will shortly going out for public consultation and will be on partners’websites.

SARTH PROJECT NORTH WALESThe SARTH (Single Access Route to Housing) project whichaims to simplify the affordable housing application processin North Wales is progressing well.


MAKING A DIFFERENCE AWARDS 2012

A total of 159 residents, staff and contractorpartners attended the ceremony at the VillageHotel, Coryton, Cardiff, on Friday, October19th.

Denbighshire residents featured strongly inthe winners as well as those shortlisted, as follows:

• June & Roly Foster, Nant y Mor Extra Care Scheme Choir – winners, Community ProjectAward

• Eric Fitton and Charlie Adams, Nant y Mor Extra Care Scheme – winners, Eco Champions Award

• Gordon Barlow, Nant y Mor Extra Care Scheme – winner, Fresh Start (New Build) Award

• Bill Hollis, Buxton Court, Rhyl – finalist, GoodNeighbour Award

We had almost 60 high quality entries fromacross Wales this year, a very pleasing figure,and a real demonstration of just how well somany of our staff really know their residents.This year we also benefitted from superb

support from our contractors with 11 providing a very significant contribution to thisyear’s MAD budget.

Media Wales are now in the process of making a short film about the event, whichwill be uploaded onto our website andYouTube very shortly.

Anne Hinchey, Chief Executive, said: “Now intheir fifth year, the MAD Awards are our wayof recognising the strength, selflessness andcommunity spirit of our residents. Our missionis strong, sustainable growth to make a difference to people’s lives, homes and communities, and these awards provide a realinsight into some of the ways this is beingachieved. It has been a wonderful night and areal privilege to hear the inspirational storiesof all those involved.”

Finally, there is one more award to mention – this time the one won by our own PR & Marketing team when our MAD Awards wererecognised by Community Housing Cymru’sPR Network as the Best Event in Wales 2012.

We held our fifth annual Making A Difference Awards in October and once again it proved to be a fantastic night.


Pic caption l – r: Mathew and Claire Anwyl, from categorysponsors, Anwyl Construction; Celia Appleton, guest, GordonBarlow winner of the Fresh Start (New Build) Award, CarolJohnston, care manager Allied Health, Kathy Smart, Chair ofWWH and Anne Hinchey, CEO, WWH.

Eric Fitton, winner of our Eco Champion award with category sponsor Chris Williams of CJS Electrical, KathySmart, Chair WWH, Tina Williams of CJS Electrical and Anne Hinchey, CEO, WWH.

6 | Spotlight on DENBIGHSHIRE | THE BIGGER PICTURE | Autumn 2012 | www.wwha.co.uk

We’ve looked again at the services we provideand are making sure that we are doing all wecan to help people to stay out of debt and topay their bills.

In particular we are working with residents tohelp them to:

• prepare for the introduction of Universal Credit and direct payments

• provide tailored help and advice around budgeting

• understand the implications of the introduction of the socalled ‘bedroom tax’ next year, and,

• where appropriate, helping people to move to homes they can afford and of the right size.

Our two dedicated Money Advice Officers alsowork closely with Moneyline Cymru (see page10) as well as Credit Unions across Wales, tohelp residents to budget effectively and to access low cost, safe and affordable credit.

PREPARING FOR WELFARE REFORMPerhaps no single issue currently dominates the housing sector more than Welfare Reform. Our staff right across ourorganisation are working closely with all our local authoritypartners, housing benefit officers, Community HousingCymru and other partners to promote and publicise thechanges to come, the consequences to our residents, andways in which they can help themselves.

Currently £7.20 per hour (for workers outside of London) the ‘Living Wage’ is considerably higher than the legal minimum wagewhich is currently £6.08 per hour.

With more than 340 employees acrossWales, our decision means that nooneworking for us will earn less than £7.20 anhour, and since this August 40 of our employees have seen their wages go up as aresult of this policy.

Rhys Moore, Director of the Living Wage Foundation, said:

“We are delighted to award Wales & West Housing the Living Wage employer mark. This is a significant moment as they become the first housing association in Wales to achievethe mark.”

LEADING THE SECTOR WITHTHE LIVING WAGEOur efforts to tackle poverty do not stop with our residents.As the first housing association in Wales to introduce the ‘Living Wage’, we are leading the sector with this initiative.


Some examples of where we have recentlyhad an impact include:

• North Wales – At the recent Hightown Jobs Fair in Wrexham more than 50 people registered an interest in finding out more about potential employment and training opportunities to be facilitated through our contractor Anwyl. These opportunities will arise as part of our £17m developments on Kingsmills Road and Rivulet Road and more details will follow in subsequent editions of In Touch and Spotlight on Denbighshire.

• South Wales – 18yearold Jordan Evans has just completed a two year plumbing apprenticeship with our subsidiary company Cambria Maintenance Services Ltd. Jordan, from Bridgend, combined onthejob training with Cambria with a day a week study at Ogmore College. “I would recommend this as a good way to earn and study,” said Jordan. “Several of my mates have asked me if this is a good thing to do, and I have told them that it definitely is.”

Cambria is now looking to take on an additional 3 apprentices across its operations in North and South Wales over the coming months.

• South Wales – As part of our Back to Work scheme (a Bridgend Employment Routes Team initiative) we hosted two trainee energy advisors. Based in Bridgend, Lynn and Howard were placed with us for six months, gaining experience that helped them to find permanent employment. They promoted the Warm Home Discount scheme in retirement schemes and offered residents advice on being more energy efficient and how to save money on their bills.

• We are working with Jobs Growth Wales as well as several other agencies to link people with opportunities, where possible and appropriate.

• We are also able to host a number of inhouse placements, either as shortterm unpaid work experience, work placements (some funded) and apprenticeships. These opportunities are open to all, regardless of age, qualifications or previous experience. Those interested simply need to fill in and return to us the Workplace Skills Initiative Expression of Interest Form on our website www.wwha.co.uk

Apprentice plumber Jordan Evans, 18, with Neal O’Leary,Cambria Board member and Peter Jackson, Head of Cambria, at a presentation ceremony outside Cardiff CityStadium to mark his qualification.

WORK PLACEMENTSAVAILABLEHelping our residents to benefit from employment andtraining opportunities is also akey priority for us. Throughour contractor partners wehave already supported 33people back into employment,and, we have a number of apprentices working on ourprojects across Wales.


We are delighted to say that reaction to ournew look has been very positive, and is helping to spread the message about ournew group structure, with Cambria Maintenance Services Ltd as our first subsidiary company.

In addition to this Spotlight On Denbighshire, you should have received our2013 Business Plan, which outlines Wales &West Housing Group’s strategic direction forthe coming five years.

Another part of our rebranding process has involved the creation of our first new subbrand, Connect24. This brings togetherthe comprehensive range of services thatwe provide including our Emergency Alarm,Out of Hours and lone worker support services.

Having added a number of corporate customers to our portfolio in recentmonths, we now look after more than20,000 homes across Wales via our TelecareServices Association accredited customerservice centre, enabling repairs to get doneand helping people to get the help theyneed in an emergency.

If you would like to talk to us about how ourCustomer Service Centre might be able tohelp organisations in your area who requirecall centre support, please contact CateDooher, Head of Support Services on 029 20415386.

REBRANDINGIf you receive In Touch, our quarterly residents’ magazine, you will already know that in April ofthis year we rebranded.

Mrs Nancy Pilott of Cwrt Anghorfa, Bridgend, modelling ourConnect24 personal alarm wrist button.


With a turnover of £2.8m in its first year, weanticipate that in the next couple of yearsthat this will triple.

Building on the considerable success of itsoperations in South and Mid Wales, preparations are now underway for Cambriato expand into North Wales, with this division becoming operational from the beginning of 2013.

This move will secure the future of 40skilled jobs in North Wales, as well as providing another secure platform for further work placement and apprenticeshipopportunities.

We anticipate that Cambria within the nextfive years will install 4,000 kitchens andbathrooms across Wales.

CAMBRIA EXPANSIONINTO NORTH WALESWe set up our own maintenance company in 2011, taking us toa Group structure. Cambria Maintenance Services has just seena very successful first 20 months of trading, undertaking repairsas well as kitchen and bathroom renewals for WWH in Southand Mid Wales.

Cambria Maintenance Service’s 40 strong South and Mid Walesbased team. A further 40 skilled jobs are being secured through Cambria’s expansion into North Wales which will become operational in early 2013.


However with the transfer of the social housing grant programme to local authoritypartners and the reduction in available publicsubsidy for new homes, Syniad members reviewed its role. The result was that fromJune 1st of this year, the consortium ceased toexist.

Notwithstanding the end of the consortium,we will continue to work together where appropriate to provide much needed newhomes across Wales.

SYNIAD CONSORTIUMIn 2005 we joined forces with Linc Cymru and Clwyd Alyn Housing to form the Syniad Consortium. Since then the consortium members delivered more than 1,500 new socialhousing units, 11 extra care schemes and enabled training andapprenticeships for more than 150 people, maximising outcomes from more than £100m social housing grant.

In these very difficult economic times moreand more social housing residents will need tobe able to access the services provided by organisations including Moneyline Cymru andlocal credit unions.

We are pleased to support both and WWH isnow actively working with Moneyline andNorth Wales Credit Union to look at how newservices can be developed to help residents todeal with the changes that will come with theintroduction of Universal Credit.

We have also committed to help fund the expansion of Moneyline over the next 3 years,

and the latest branch has recently opened inMerthyr Tydfil. Further branches are plannedin Swansea and Wrexham.

Loans given by Moneyline in the past 3 yearshave resulted in £2.5m savings in interestcompared to interest charged by the Provident, the most common provider ofdoorstep loans.

MONEYLINE CYMRUEXPANSION Wales & West Housing, one of the founder members of Moneyline Cymru, is continuing to provide financial supportfor this important initiative.


We expect to achieve year on year increasesin operating surpluses through the effectiveoperation of our business even after absorbing the bad debts we expect to incurfrom changes to welfare benefits, and in particular the introduction of Universal Creditand the ‘bedroom tax’.

Over the next five years we expect to invest£36m in maintaining and improving our existing stock.

Furthermore we have the financial capabilityto invest more than £100m in building and acquiring new homes. Only one fifth of this investment is expected to be funded by socialhousing grant from the Welsh Government,with £70m coming from additional borrowings and the remainder from internally generated surplus cash. For moredetailed information about our financial position please see pages 28 and 29 of our Business Plan 2013 to 2017 which you should have recently received, alternativelyyou can access it through our websitewww.wwha.co.uk.

Our strong position has been endorsed by theWelsh Government who awarded the Association a ‘pass’ in its annual financial assessment.

OUR FINANCIAL PERFORMANCEToday’s challenging economic environment means we needto be efficient and invest wisely if we are to achieve our ambition of growth and to make a difference. While big isnot always beautiful it does bring with it the financialstrength and capacity to ride out the current economic stormas well as the wherewithal for innovation, creativity andfresh ideas.

Total

393

Wrexham

127

Flintshire

121

Denbighshire

9Conwy

12

Powys

24

Merthyr Tydfil

15

Vale of Glamorgan

20

Bridgend

39Cardiff

26

These figures represent developments which are onsite now and programmed to commence in the next 12months. However, in total, we anticipate building andaquiring an additional 450 units in the next five years,which will take our total new build over that period oftime to 850 units.

Number of homes currently in development by LA area


We have formed an innovative partnershipwith South Wales Fire and Rescue Service,agreeing to act as an ‘exemplar’ partner tohelp them to promote good practice withinfire safety in the social housing sectoracross the country.

Group Manager Andy Petersen from SWFRSsaid “WWH has demonstrated the

importance that they place on fire safety.Our partnership with them will provide apositive attitude to enabling compliancewith all fire safety legislation.”

We are now in talks with Mid Wales FireService and North Wales Fire Service to explore the possibility of expanding thispartnership further.

SOUTH WALES FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE

PARTNERSHIPDealing with the risk from fire is high on the agenda at themoment and we want to ensure that all our homes are assafe as they can be.

Andy Petersen, Group Manager South Wales Fire and Rescue Service and colleague, Robin Alldred, CommercialManager WWH, Jo Burns, Health and Safety Officer WWH, Anthony Williams, Health and Safety Officer WWH.


• We have been awarded the highest accolade possible under the prestigious Investors in Peopleawards system achieving the Gold standard in our recent assessment. “Wales & West Housing continues to demonstrate that it is a forwardthinking organisation achieving business success by the application of visionary leadership behaviour, underpinned by strong and meaningful values,” said IiP specialist Mavis ElliottSmith.

• The Sunday Times Best Companies 2012 has recognised us as the topnotforprofit organisation in Wales, and, we were ranked 8th out of the top 100 best notforprofit organisations to work for in the whole of the UK.We are also the only Welsh housing association to be awarded the top 3 stars award by Best Companies.

• Worklife balance charity Working Families have ranked us in the Top 30 family friendly firms to work for in the UK for the second year running. Attheir recent national awards ceremony we also

won the Working Families Award for Career Progression for Flexible Workers and were finalists in the following categories: Best for Carersand Eldercare, Best for Engagement, and, The National Grid Best for Innovation Award. Sarah Jackson OBE, Chief Executive of Working Families said:

“To reach the shortlist in four out of seven of the Special Award categoriesis a tremendous achievement. Thejudges were impressed by Wales &West Housing’s innovative policies toengage and support their employees,particularly carers and flexible workers.”• In partnership with GKR Maintenance & Building

we have been Highly Commended in the Integration and Collaborative Working award category at the 2012 Constructing Excellence Awards. Judges said the team has worked hard to cut costs and reduce waste ‘with passion and commitment.’

DOING THE RIGHT THING…Our aim is to do right by our residents and right by our staff, and below are the awards and accreditations which we have recently received which recognise and celebrate our approach.

Steve Porter (right) now Operations Director WWH, receiving a trophy at the 2012 Constructing ExcellenceAwards. He is pictured with Jayne RowlandEvans, Director of GKR Maintenance Services and Phil Lumley, Headof Property Services for Carmarthenshire County Council

Wales & West Housing3 Alexandra Gate, Ffordd Pengam, Tremorfa, Cardiff CF24 2UD.

andUnit 2, Acorn Business Park, Aber Road, Flint CH6 5YN.

Telephone on 0800 052 2526 Minicom: 0800 052 5205Email: [email protected] Website: www.wwha.co.uk

@wwhawwhahomesforwales

Published October 2012

Spotlight on Denbighshire Autumn 2012

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