Central Region News
Alison and Guy out and about in the Central Region
Recently, our Chief Executive, Alison Dean and Guy Cresswell, our Executive Director of Customer Services went on a tour of some of our homes in the Central Region. The visit allowed Alison and Guy to meet with colleagues and customers around our neighbourhoods and schemes, getting a deeper sense of the key projects, issues and priorities in the region.
Alison and Guys busy itinerary included visits to:
Foster Court and Candlestick, Bury
Firstly, Alison headed over to Foster Court and Candlestick in Bury. Miracle Oluwagbemi, Neighbourhood Services Manager, took Alison on a walk around both schemes while completing her scheme inspections. They identified a few issues Miracle reported, such as a leaking gutter and ground maintenance issues.
Guy, then headed out with Darren Greenough, Repairs Working Supervisor, for an empty property inspection at Ripponden Road, Oldham and they called by Alexandra Mews which is one of our Independence and Wellbeing schemes in Oldham where Charles Burke, Property Services Manager showed Guy the investment works currently happening at this scheme.
Ashford Walk, Chadderton (part of the Oldham PFI)
Along with Katy Whitehead, Neighbourhood Coordinator, Alison and Guy then headed over to Ashford Walk in Chadderton to visit a family who needed support with a Right to Buy application that Katy has been helping them with.
Grange Court, Oldham
The visit concluded at Grange Court, in Oldham where Alison and Guy accompanied Maddie Hodgson, Neighbourhood Services Manager on her fire safety visits in response to actions raised on Riskhub, our new Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) software.
Commenting on the visit Alison said:
"It was great to spend some time shadowing Miracle, Katy and Maddie on Monday and understand more about what is keeping them busy right now, what is working well and the one or two things we can improve on. I enjoyed going back to some schemes I know well and to see them looking really good as well as going to a couple that were new to me in Bury. It was also great to chat to some customers."
Guy said:
“It was great to spend some time with Darren Greenhough undertaking a void inspection in one of our supported housing properties. Darren spoke highly of the software on his handheld which enables site-based inspections to be undertaken and works to be scheduled, and it looked to me like we have made some great progress on functionality here which enables him to work more efficiently.
We then met up with Charlie Burke at Alexandra Mews, and it was great to see first-hand the extensive investment works being undertaken at this scheme. More importantly these works are being welcomed by customers, despite extensive disruption.
Maddie’s customer care skills shone through in what were potentially challenging doorstep conversations, and reminded me of the importance of knowing our customers through our patch based model.”
Great Places boosts numeracy skills in Greater Manchester
Great Places is thrilled to announce the success of our Multiply Adult Numeracy Programme, a ground-breaking initiative funded by the UK Government and commissioned by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. This programme is designed to tackle the issue of inadequate numeracy skills across the UK, and we are proud to be at the forefront of this vital mission.
Our dedicated employability coaches actively engage with potential participants, referred to us for employment and skills support services. Once signed up for the course, participants benefit from in-house sessions delivered by our skilled project officers. This hands-on approach has significantly boosted resident participation.
We are delighted to report that, so far this year, we have successfully engaged 89 people in the Multiply sessions, far exceeding our initial target. Our efforts have reached some of Greater Manchester’s neighbourhoods in Oldham, Little Hulton, Wigan, Bury, and Bolton.
One of the standout achievements of our programme has been the collaboration with primary schools and the women’s Chai group in Oldham. This partnership has allowed us to deliver the Multiply programme within a primary school setting, where it received highly positive feedback. Encouraged by this success, we have already planned additional sessions.
Our programme covers a variety of practical and relatable topics, ensuring that participants gain valuable skills important to their daily lives. These topics include:
- Income and expenditure management
- Understanding Annual Percentage Rates and credit scores
- Budget-friendly shopping
- Healthy eating and nutrition
Our engaging, informal learning style has been met with overwhelming positivity from participants. By focusing on real-life applications, we make learning fun and accessible, empowering individuals to take control of their finances and improve their quality of life.
Great Places is committed to continuing our efforts to enhance numeracy skills across Greater Manchester, making a lasting positive impact on our communities.
If this project sounds like something you could be interested in: email sharon.bolus@hopes4halliwell.co.uk to book a space and to find out more.
Celebrating 20 years of Ellen Court
Ellen Court in Radcliffe recently celebrated its 20th Anniversary. To mark this special anniversary we invited key partners, colleagues and customers to visit the scheme and celebrate.
The scheme provides specialist support and accommodation for women aged between 16 to 25 who are pregnant or have children under the age of five. We are committed to helping these women develop key life skills and achieve their goals and aim to resettle them into their own homes with the necessary skills to sustain a tenancy.
Over the past 20 years, Ellen Court has supported many young parents in achieving their goals and having successful futures.
Danielle Dawson, one of our Housing and Wellbeing Assistants at Castelcroft House, moved into Ellen Court when it first opened its doors in 2004. She had a successful move after receiving the support she needed to meet her aspirations and move into suitable long-term accommodation.
Rebekah, a customer from Ellen Court said:
“Living at Ellen Court has been a life-changing experience for me. The support and understanding I’ve received here has helped me build my confidence and independence. I feel safe, valued and empowered to reach my goals. Ellen Court has truly given me a foundation I need to create a brighter future for me and my son, Callum."
Sarah Phethean, our Housing and Wellbeing Manager said:
“I am honoured to have been a part of Ellen Court over the past 20 years since it was built back in 2004. Many young parents and children have been supported to achieve their goals and have a successful future, we have a great relationship with our partners and a fantastic team who are driven and passionate about the customers and the service. Here’s to another 20 years!”
Victoria Crookes, Commissioning Manager at Bury Council said:
“It was great to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Ellen Court with colleagues and customers. This is a valuable service that’s helps many young women and their children by providing much needed accommodation and support to develop independent living skills in a safe and caring environment, well done to everyone!”
Central Repairs Update
Your latest repairs update from your Head of Property Services.
In quarter two, Great Places Central Repairs Team has seen significant increases across a number of our performance indicators, including customer satisfaction, timeliness, first-visit fixes and empty properties completed. We have also seen a decrease in disrepair cases and repair completions. These are largely positive figures which is a huge credit to everyone involved within the region.
How we’re doing at a glance in quarter two:
- Customer satisfaction: The average customer satisfaction rating for the Central region was 8.7 out of 10.
- Repairs completed: 4,743 repairs were completed to enhance customers’ homes.
- Timeliness: 91% of repairs were completed within target time frames.
- First-visit fixes: 86% of all repairs were successfully completed during the first visit.
- Empty properties: 76 empty properties were prepared for new customers, with an average turnaround time of 11 days.
- Disrepair cases: At the end of the quarter, 30 disrepair cases were still active.
These surveys are in real time – upon completion of repairs – and different to the TSM surveys.
Continuous improvement
At Great Places, we’re dedicated to continuing to enhance our performance and services for our customers. Here’s how we’re making a difference:
Ongoing improvements
We are also working on reviewing our overall Repairs Service as part of our Corporate Plan priorities, to ensure we have the best model for our repairs service.
We have been working towards a new communications platform which offers more streamlined routing of calls, and a single platform for web chat, emails, and social media.
Our enhancements to simplify the way repairs are reported and logged through our Hub are now live, which aims to reduce call handling times for customers.
We are continuing to work with our customer service teams actively seek your feedback to improve our services and to help us introduce new measures to continue to provide you with the best experience.
Thanks for your continued support and remember if you have any questions or need any further support you can contact us via Chatbot on our website or email: customerhub@greatplaces.org.uk.
Jonathan Hunter, Head of Property Services – Central Team