My Area – Winsford

Get involved

What can we offer?

We value your engagement and our staff are on hand to support you in any way you choose to get involved!

From home

You can play an important part in influencing services from the comfort on your home! There’s lots of quick and easy ways you can get involved. If you’d like to take part in any of the below activities, please get in touch with us today. 

Take part in a survey

Choose a specific topic that is of interest such as:

Homes – from repairs to paying your rent.

Neighbourhoods – from grounds maintenance to communal areas and caretaking.

Tenant – from tenant services to how we communicate.

Home ownership – from shared ownership, Right to Buy or leaseholder.

Readers panel

Join the virtual readers’ panel to review marketing and communications to tenants.

Online involvement

We encourage you to follow ForHousing on Twitter and Instagram.

We want to work together with you to advise, challenge and make suggestions which will help us to improve our services. If you’re interested in getting involved and want to make a difference, contact the team today.

One off activities

You can also get involved by attending one-off events or meetings for a chance to share your views.

If you’d like to take part in any of the below activities, please get in touch with us today.

Focus Groups

You can be involved in attending a focus group, either online or in person on a specific category that is of interest such as:

• Homes– from repairs to paying your rent
• Neighbourhoods– from grounds maintenance to communal areas, caretaking
• Customer– from customer services to how we communicate
• Home Ownership– from shared ownership, right to buy to leaseholder.

Regular activities

If you are able to commit a bit more time, we have a range of regular activities that you can get involved in.

If you’d like to take part in any of the below activities, please get in touch with us today.

Council Housing Management Board

You can be part of the Housing Management Board, who will be an Advisory Body to the Council’s Executive that ensures:

• An overview of the management of the Council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA).
• That the regulatory framework set out in the Social
• Housing Regulations Bill is met.
• That tenant’s views and feedback are taken into account at all times
• A representative voice between the Council’s Executive and Tenant/Leaseholder engagement structure on all HRA management matters.

Customer Experience Sub Committee

You can oversee, influence and support the delivery of services, with a focus on:

• Identifying what works well and what could be improved
• Delivery of the Together with Tenants Charter.

Governance, Audit and Scrutiny Management Committee Subgroup

You can oversee, influence, and provide assurance to the Board that the required legal/regulatory requirements around governance are me, with a focus on:

• Identifying best practice
• Reviewing financial plans

Building Safety Tenant Inspectors for High Rise

You can undertake regular safety inspections of high-rise buildings, sharing feedback with ForHousing and Cheshire West and Chester Council to ensure continuous improvement in the safety of high-rise buildings.

Building Safety Forum for High Rise (online and in person)

You can meet up with ForHousing and participate in the making of building safety decisions.

This will include:

• Raising safety concerns and making recommendations for improvements
• Ensuring safety information is accessible to all

Complaint Panel

You can monitor satisfaction to ascertain whether ForHousing and Cheshire West Council listens to and understands the views of tenants. You will also be involved in identifying trends in dissatisfaction that may need further investigation through inspections, mystery shops or a service review.

Mystery shopping

Another way to get involved is through mystery shopping! As a mystery shopper, we ask you to make note of your experience when using our services. We will then meet with you to discuss your customer service experience and hear your ideas on any improvements we could make. If you’re interested in getting involved and want to make a difference, contact the team today.

In Your Neighbourhood

We know that being part of your community is important to you.

Our involvement opportunities include:

Taking part in; neighbourhood walkabouts, local activities in neighbourhoods, improving local green spaces and community areas, regeneration projects.

Volunteering

We can help you to explore the many volunteering opportunities available in your local area and find out what’s the right fit for you. Volunteering has many benefits for both the community and you:

• Make a difference: be a part of something that benefits all
• Meet people: connect with others and make new friends
• Learn new skills: gain experience and keep learning
• Take on a challenge: try something new, achieve personal goals

Be Proud Awards 

Each year, we celebrated and recognise the incredible community spirit through our Be Proud awards. Keep an eye on our social media and our website to find out more details about these awards.

Funding

We want to enable you to make a difference to where you live.

Did you know that if you have an idea for a project that could benefit your community, that funding is available for you?

So, if you’re part of a community group, school, charity, or similar organisation – we want to hear from you!

We’re proud to be working with the Cheshire Community Foundation to establish a new community fund called ForCheshireWest. 

ForHousing currently invest £25,000 annually into this fund with Cheshire Community Foundation who work with other businesses to also invest in order to create a sustainable community fund in the local area. So far, our partners at MBNA have committed a further £25,000. 

The aim of this fund is to build a permanent fund for charities, community groups and voluntary sector organisations to invest in local communities, supporting them to address issues within their neighbourhoods across the themes of health and wellbeing, education and employment and improving neighbourhoods. 

The fund will focus on projects that support the development of sustainable, self-reliant communities and that demonstrate high levels of active citizenship and is open to groups across Cheshire West and Chester.

Organisations wishing to apply should apply via the existing Cheshire Community Foundations Small Grants programme or, for projects over £1,000 the Cheshire Community Foundation Main Grants programme. 

For details of how to apply and information about the dates of application rounds, please see the Cheshire Community Foundation website here.