Celebrations in the Sun - and rain!

Easter Multi-Sports - more coming soon!

Multi-Sports in action!

This April Stafford and Rural Homes (SARH) Community Involvement Team arranged a number of child friendly and fun sessions for the Community Learning Programme to help keep the kids entertained over Easter.  Following the success of sessions in 2013, we have added 2 Multi-Sports Activity Days to the 2014 programme working in partnership with         Stoke City FC Community Trust.

On Tuesday 22 April the first 2014 session took place at Barlaston First School.  Over 10 children of various ages had a fun filled day playing a variety of sports and games including football, cricket, handball and dodgeball.  We would like to give a big thanks to Wayne Allerton and Jacob Toft from Stoke City FC Community Trust, who with their enthusiasm and passion for sport, positively engaged with children from the local community. Throughout the day the children were able to learn a variety of new skills and were shown that exercise can be a fun, exciting experience. 

At the end of the session we got some really positive feedback from both the children and parents.  A few of the comments included:

“This is excellent fun activity for older age children as there are limited activities going on in the area”

“showed the children that exercise is fun”

“helped with confidence with sports”

There will be another Mutli-Sports Activity Day (Ages 5-12) taking place on Tuesday 12 August 2014 10am to 3pm at The Grove Primary School, Stafford.  If you are interested in booking a place on this session please contact the Community Involvement Team on 0800 111 4554 or email cp@sarh.co.uk.

So What?

No matter what age you are exercise can be made fun and enjoyable. With a bit of imagination, motivation and enthusiasm we can make healthier life choices for ourselves and our families!
Community Value:
As the event was offering a direct benefit to the community the venue was provided to us free of charge!

10 Years of HERaTAGE in Highfields

Set up by community members in 2004, Highfields Estate Residents and Tenants Association for a Good

Lynda, Ruth and Rod from HERaTAGE being presented with an anniversary
cake by our CIO, Anna.

Environment (HERaTAGE) aimed to improve the living environment for the people of Highfields. 10 years on and it has more than succeeded in its initial aim. The list of improvements they have driven forward are endless!  To name but a few they have secured funding in order to fence the Eastern boundary of the estate, introduced a Best Garden Competition, a Good Neighbour Award Scheme and offered countless free Community Fun Days.  This isn’t even taking account individuals they have helped over the years or the number of times they have supported SARH with various projects in the neighbourhood.

Their hard work was recognised by the Tenant and Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) in 2011 when they won the ‘Best Practice in the Community’ Category in the central region of the awards after being nominated by SARH.

On Saturday 12^th April SARH celebrated the efforts of HERaTAGE with an event at The Grove Primary School.  We would like to thank the HERaTAGE Group members for all the hard work they have put in to making Highfields the community it is today.  If you would like to know more about HERaTAGE please call 0800 111 4554 and speak to a member of the Community Involvement Team.

So What?

The success of HERaTAGE shows the massive impact that just a few enthusiastic individuals can make to an area.  By working together with neighbours and agencies they have been empowered to make a real difference to the community.
Community Value:
Many individuals and agencies volunteered their time to show their appreciation for the work HERaTAGE have carried out over the last 10 years.  Committed volunteers are a priceless asset to both their community and agencies working in the area. 

DVD Safety Project

Frank from Interact Arts playing his cards right with our customers at
Hall Close

Stafford and Rural Homes have joined forces with local Community Group, Interact Arts who have received funding from Staffordshire County Council for a project with  the over 55’s.   The aim is to make a short DVD to raise awareness of older peoples health, wellbeing and safety in the home.  To raise interest for the 10 week project, 4 ‘Getting to Know You’ workshops were held at Hall Close, Shakespeare Road, Lotus Court and Doxey House Independent Living Schemes.   These fun informal sessions helped to recruit our team of volunteers.  The volunteers will be identifying the issues they feel are of importance to them. To get all aspects covered Age UK, local PCSO’s, SARH’s Telecare and First Responders have been invited to one of the meeting to talk about incidents they have come across as well as solution to these issues.  We will keep you up dated as the project progresses.

So What?

Giving our customers a chance to voice their concerns, then come up with the solutions is empowering. Partnership work across a number of agencies strengthens the work being done.
Community Value:

Although staff time is put into this project by working in partnership we are creating a valuable resource in a DVD that will be used across the county at no cost to SARH.

Easter Treats!

To celebrate Easter on Tuesday 15 April we ran an Easter Treats course at Stafford Children’s Centre as

Easter Treats!

part of our Community Learning Programme. Children had great fun making hot cross buns, chocolate nests and lots of mess! There was also an Easter egg hunt which had all the children running around trying to find as many eggs as possible.

Thank you to Kate from Kiddycook for running the course for us…everyone had a great time and really got into the Easter spirit. We all look forward to the Halloween special!

So What?

By running these courses we have given children and their families something fun to do over the Easter holidays…for free!

The Community Involvement Team

 

The Community Involvement Team
l-r Christy, Julie, Anna, Laura and Pam

Introducing…

I am Laura MacPhee and I am very happy to introduce myself as the new Community Involvement Officer

Laura MacPhee

for Stafford and Rural Homes.  I went to Keele University and have a degree in Human Resource Management and Human Geography.  I have worked for Stafford and Rural Homes for a year and a half and prior to my role in the Community Involvement Team was Assistant to the Housing Choices and Neighbourhood Services Teams. 

Outside of work I enjoy visiting and exploring new places, walking in the countryside, running and going to car shows in summer!

I have very much enjoyed my first month in the team and am settling in well to my new role.   I am definitely going to enjoy getting involved in various projects and look forward to the challenges and new experiences that lie ahead!

And…

Hi, I’m Christy and I am the new Community Involvement Worker. I have worked at Stafford and Rural

Christy Maud

Homes for 10 months now. For the first 9 months I was an Apprentice for the Governance Team undertaking general office administration duties and helping to support the SARH Board and Customer Board. Whilst I really enjoyed working in Governance I felt I needed a change  and the Community Involvement Worker role is definitely going to give me that! After a month I have already been involved in a number of projects and helped to run several courses from the SARH Community Learning Programme.

In my spare time I enjoy spending time with partner and 2 children going on bike rides and walks and watching Disney films! I also enjoying reading and I love listening to dance music.

And, last but by no means least…

Julie Harvey our new Neighbourhood Manager!

Julie Harvey

I have worked in social housing for over 20 years and have a wide range of experience working in Staffordshire, most recently working in Newcastle-under-Lyme for Aspire Housing in the role of Deputy Neighbourhood Manager.  I have come to SARH to manage the Community Involvement and Neighbourhood Services Teams, and was drawn to SARH’s commitment to working with communities and empowering customers to make the most out of life.

We welcome Julie, Laura and Christy to the team and look forward to working with them all!

***Coming Up***

The Highfields Community Tool Bank is OPEN!!

Community Value:

The Tool Bank offers an affordable way for community members to hire tools that will improve the appearance of the whole neighbourhood.  The initial cost for the tools will start to self fund as the donations made by its members will pay for maintenance and repairs.

If you want any more information about any of the events that have already happened or that are coming up in the future please do not hesitate to contact us on:

cp@sarh.co.uk or call us on

0800 111 4554