Here's a reminder about the Team.
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| Christine, Anna, Sandra, Chris, Pam and Samina |
Almost as soon as we started this blog we said goodbye to one of our team members, Ashley Collier who moved on to Burnley, we wished him well and welcomed back Samina Arshad who returns from maternity leave. Anna McLauchlan continues with her two day a week secondment at Stafford Borough Council working on CACH (Chase Against Crimes Of Hate) which leaves me Sandra Shipperley, and Pam Smith as full time officers and Manager Chris Plant - what about Christine - read on. Together we find a multitude of ways to engage with our customers. Sometimes we are very successful sometimes we learn along the way. Here's what we did this month.
OUR CUSTOMER INITIATIVE SCHEME goes from strength to strength as another successful year draws to a close and this year's round of application forms go out to our customers, already they are coming in thick and fast. A minimum of 10 customers can apply for anything that they feel will enhance their community.
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| Fun activities for our customers |
Last year, John Allen, from our Investment Delivery Team project managed the delivery of over 17 bids which ranged from hard landscaping gardens at our Sidney Avenue Scheme, to a selection of interactive games for our customers from Independent Living Schemes. As usual bids exceeded the £100,000 budget, this time by £153,496 giving the judging panel a tough time, but the bidders were delighted with their awards.
So what you might say? Resourcing community Initiatives and involving customers in decision making processes, demonstrates our commitment to investing in communities and customer involvement.
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| Red Hot Dominoes Team |
Shakepeare Road Independant Living Scheme in Stafford held an ADULT LEARNING EVENT this month which involved a large portion of fish and chips followed by a games event. Traditional games and some new games aimed at learning new skills were available, all washed down with a nice cup of tea and a chance to beat Independent Living Co-ordinators Paul Buckley and Cath Bassigio at a Game of Dominoes.
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| Farewell to Ashley |
WE SAID GOODBYE TO COLLEAGUE ASHLEY COLLIER
It was an emotional goodbye when the Director of Neighbourhood Services, Debbie Emmitt read out a poem put together by our CEO Karen Armitage, It’s amazing how much information can be packed into a poem and Ash was taken aback by how much we knew about him - and he was delighted with the poem. Many people came to say good bye and we all wished him well in his new job with British Gas.
We have just recruited a Community Involvement Worker, Christine Cartwright joined us on the 1st August for twelve months. We arranged a two week induction for her across the company, so when she comes back into the team she can tell us how she got on.
CUSTOMER LEARNING EVENTS
This month three popular courses were held: Jewellery making, Understanding your Digital Camera, and Flower Arranging, and our customers told us they enjoyed all of the sessions.
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| Jewellery making |
Jewellery making was very popular as was the Digital Camera Course, which always receive positive feedback. If a course is popular we repeat it throughout the year.
We provide a Customer Learning Programme on an annual basis and each year we look to increase the number of courses we offer and try to vary the kinds of courses on offer, they range from hobbies to accredited courses where some of our customers have gone on to obtain jobs on the back of the course
We provide a Customer Learning Programme on an annual basis and each year we look to increase the number of courses we offer and try to vary the kinds of courses on offer, they range from hobbies to accredited courses where some of our customers have gone on to obtain jobs on the back of the course
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| Steve shows how it's done |
So what? Our Learning programme is an opportunity to empower customers to learn new and different skills, which builds confidence and enhances their ability to influence services.
OUR CUSTOMERS INSPECT US.
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| Report |
Our team of fully trained Customer Inspectors have completed their inspection of Estate Walkabouts after inspecting our Repairs Service and delivered their findings to the Leadership Team. In the report there were 14 recommendations made and soon the Customer Inspectors will find out which ones have been accepted and when they are going to be implemented!
So What? Customers are shaping and improving our services.
WE WON SOME MONEY! We are currently very busy planning a community games event in August at Meadow Road in Stafford, we bid and won £500 funding from Sport Across Staffordshire with Stoke on Trent and South Staffordshire PCT who are aiming to support 12 community focused events. We are working in partnership with SBC and SDVS and the icing on cake comes from our Neighbourhood Services team who is supporting us by funding the marquees and toilets!!
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| Entry form |
We launch our first GARDEN COMPETITION!
Working with the Investment Delivery Team we are planning our first Borough wide garden competition. A number of flyer/entry forms have been printed ahead of a full scale mail out with the Annual Report which went out in July. A press release has been issued, and Greenfingers our maintenance Contractors have generously donated the prizes. The Neighbourhood Services team are posting entry forms to homes of keen gardeners and our Independent Living co-ordinators are delivering across our schemes too, so if they spot a potential winner … they post the entry form, available from the Community Involvement Team or on the website.
CLOSING DATE WAS THE 1ST AUGUST
So what? Running a garden competition encourages customers to exhibit their horticultural skills and take pride in their Neighbourhoods which everyone benefits from.
We have lots more going on and I will bring you up to date in the next blog - when I tell you about a secret event which occurs in August, no one knows about it yet so hang on till next month, that's all folks, Sandra Shipperley signing off.
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