I hope everyone is enjoying the longer summer days and slightly warmer weather.

I’m pleased to share this latest update covering key discussions from our recent Community Voice meeting. Our group is made up of myself and other tenants who live in the Fitton Hill area.

We work together with ForHousing to take action on the things that affect the Fitton Hill neighbourhood and signpost to partners when it’s needed.

Together we understand the importance of listening and learning from tenants, like me and you. We want to have our voices heard and be a part of influencing what happens in our homes and communities.

Please read on for all the latest news from our June Community Voice update.

Helen Wild, Chair of Community Voice

I hope everyone is enjoying the longer summer days and slightly warmer weather.

I’m pleased to share this latest update covering key discussions from our recent Community Voice meeting. Our group is made up of myself and other tenants who live in the Fitton Hill area.

We work together with ForHousing to take action on the things that affect the Fitton Hill neighbourhood and signpost to partners when it’s needed.

Together we understand the importance of listening and learning from tenants, like me and you. We want to have our voices heard and be a part of influencing what happens in our homes and communities.

Please read on for all the latest news from our June Community Voice update.

Helen Wild, Chair of Community Voice

As Community Voice members, we are dedicated to working with ForHousing and local organisations to make a positive impact in our neighbourhoods.

There was an update on the plans for St Martin’s play park. The charity Action Together, which helps communities in Oldham, Rochdale, and Tameside, is supporting the plans with £70,000 to update the park.

A community fun day will be held on Saturday, July 27, to get everyone’s feedback on the proposed changes to the park. This is a chance for us all to share our views.

In the meantime, ForHousing will send updates to Community Voice members with more details about what the park might look like. The ForHousing team will also be handing out leaflets to nearby houses so everyone knows about the plans and can share their thoughts.

The Community Fund continues to offer financial support to local groups so they can keep delivering services and projects in our community, with four applications received since April.

It was brought up that applicants were feeling that their questions were not being answered properly so ForHousing will pause on accepting further Community Fund applications, allowing time for these questions to be answered.

Play Streets

ForHousing is continuing to organise its popular Play Streets sessions for children, which provide support for families across our area.

A huge thanks to the Salvation Army for providing a number of the sessions.

The Community Voice team suggested that the Fitton Hill Youth Club could benefit from using the Bulldogs Club building following its recent refurbishment. ForHousing will follow up on this suggestion and let us know in the next Community Voice meeting.

ForHousing always aims to improve its services for tenants, by listening and learning from our experiences.

After an update on its complaints procedure, ForHousing told us that satisfaction with complaints had risen from 37% to 44%.

There is still a lot of room for improvement, but we hope this is a step in the right direction.

ForHousing will put together a report from the Complaints team on the changes that have been made to improve the complaints process.

ForHousing also updated us on improvements to some of the letters that are sent to us. Through tenant feedback and focus groups, they have now improved the way letters are written to ensure they are clear and easy to understand.

We also heard the latest on the newly established Tenants’ Repairs and Maintenance group which is there to listen to tenants, act upon feedback and hold ForHousing to account.

If anyone else is interested in joining the group, please fill out the form here and ForHousing will be in touch with more details.

ForHousing is changing the way it is going to provide employment support services in the community. It has decided to close its Skills Centre as there are lots of other services that are similar to this in the area (they have stressed all current students getting a qualification will be supported). It will mean that it can invest more in other services that help people back into work.

We were given an update about a change to how housing associations like ForHousing will be regulated. The Regulator of Social Housing will carry out inspections (that are a bit like an Ofsted inspection for schools) that will include a new consumer standard.

The consumer standard will look at four main areas:

Safety and Quality: Our homes must be kept safe and in good condition. This includes timely repairs and maintenance, and ForHousing knowing its health and safety responsibilities.

Transparency and Accountability: ForHousing needs to be open with us, treat us fairly, and listen to our concerns. We should be able to influence decisions and hold them accountable.

Neighbourhood and Community: ForHousing must work to ensure our neighbourhood is secure and well-maintained, and that we feel safe in our homes.

Tenancy: ForHousing must manage tenancies fairly and ensure homes are allocated properly.

We’ll keep you informed when ForHousing has its first inspection, and what the rating is.

We discussed the ongoing construction at Countryside Partnerships’ new development site. The first families are expected to move in by the end of July.

Representatives from Countryside Partnerships attended the June Community Voice meeting to provide updates and address any concerns.

Following complaints about the mess from the muck shift, a sweeper has been cleaning the road to the site for ten hours a day to keep it clean.

We are actively recruiting new members to the Community Voice, so if you are interested in representing your local community and working with ForHousing to make improvements, please get in touch here.

ForHousing wants to understand what matters most to us and we really appreciate more tenants giving their time and input to groups like these so ForHousing can listen and learn.

We’ll continue to share future updates with you. Do spread the word about the tenant newsletter with your family and friends, this is published every three months, and you will be able to view the latest version here.