ChatCCHA

A quarterly tenants’ newsletter published by Cardiff Community Housing Association and approved by the Tenants’ Representative Council

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Inside this issue

Win a computer!

A new office and a new look for CCHA

Free courses

Tenants’ survey update

New repairs service

DEC, 2011 - NO.SIXTY TWOWINTER EDITION

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Christmas opening hoursPlease note our offices will be closed from 5pm on Friday 23 December and will re-open at 9am on Tuesday 3 January 2012.

Customer Services Team If you have a query or need to report a repair please call us on 029 2046 8490 or pop in to Meteor Street 9am – 4.30pm Monday to Friday. You can also find details of our services at www.ccha.org.uk

Emergency repairsIf you have an emergency repair over the holidays please call 01633 381111.

Please note this number is for emergencies only, for example repairs that pose a risk to you or your home. Please do not use it for non-emergencies as you may be charged.

A Merry Christmas to all our readers!A Merry Christmas to all our readers!

You can pay your rent in the following ways:

Online at www.ccha.org.uk or www.allpay.net

Over the telephone – call 0844 557 8321 seven days a week.

At shops and Post Offices displaying the Pay Point sign.

Please note you will need your CCHA swipe card to access these services.

By debit or credit card or by using our new self-service payment kiosk at Callaghan House.

By Direct Debit – you can set up monthly payments direct from your bank or building society. Please contact us on 029 2046 8425 for a form.

Easy ways to pay your rent

If you need this newsletter in large print, Braille, on CD, or explained in your own language, please let us know.

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Meteor Street gets a makeover We have recently made alterations to the reception area at our Meteor Street office to make it more open and user friendly for customers.

Internal walls have been removed to make it more spacious and the reception desk has been placed in front of the back office so our staff can greet you with a smile as soon as you come through the door.

The area is much brighter with newly painted walls, a seating area and a play corner for children.

You can use the kiosk at Meteor Street to pay your rent and our customer services team are on hand to offer any help you may need.

We also offer a number of advice surgeries including Housing Benefit, Debt Advice and tenancy support.

Cardiff Move On support surgeryCome along to Cardiff Move On’s Tenant Support Surgery every Tuesday at Meteor Street.

You can pre-book a morning appointment from 9am – 12pm or just drop in between 12.30pm – 4pm.

Cardiff Move On provide confidential advice and assistance in managing your home and offer support in areas such as:

• Settling into your new home• Liaising with services such as Electricity, Gas, Water,

TV License, Housing Benefit and Council Tax• Accessing benefits advice and budgeting• Managing any rent arrears and recharges• Liaising with CCHA concerning maintenance issues• Advocacy• Liaising with debt advice agencies

Whether you just have a quick question to ask about your tenancy or would like ongoing support, please come along to the surgery and discuss your issues.

Liz is available every Tuesday

Our new reception desk

Chat competition winner Victoria Lines of Tremorfa recently enjoyed her prize of a tour of Roath Lock, BBC Cymru Wales’ new studios in Cardiff Bay.

20 year old Victoria loves acting and has been involved with the Sherman Theatre for the past seven years. She is currently studying drama at Trowbridge College and plans to go to university next September to study Performing Arts.

Victoria told us she couldn’t believe it when she heard she’d won.

“I was so excited I screamed! Acting is my passion and the tour was amazing. I got to see the studios and sets where Casualty, Upstairs Downstairs, and Pobol y Cwm are filmed. It was great to learn about how the sets are designed and the programmes are made and I even saw some of my favourite actors from Casualty! It was the best day of the year so far and has made me even more determined to follow my dream and be an actor. Thanks CCHA and BBC Wales.”

Victoria thrilled with trip to new BBC studios

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New free craft group Are you a CCHA tenant over the age of 50 who enjoys making crafts and a good natter? If so our new crafty natter group could be for you.

Meetings start in January and we’ve already lined up some exciting activities. We meet from 1pm to 3pm at Selwyn Morris Court, Aberdovey Street, Splott and it’s free to join.

Activities19 January - Introduction: time to meet other crafty people. Bring examples along to show others what you can do; or just come along to meet people and learn something new

2 February - Valentine theme16 February - Crochet and knitting session1 March - A taste of Wales (share recipes, bring in some food with a Welsh theme)15 March - Have a go at water colour painting29 March - Easter cards12 April - Easter bonnet parade26 April - Hanging basket demonstration10 May - Planning for our craft exhibition

If you are interested in joining please come along or contact Nicky Condon our Tenant Involvement Officer on 029 2046 8416 or email: nIcky.condon@ccha.org.uk

‘Best day of the year’ for Victoria

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Would you or someone you know like a low cost PC for Christmas?

Remploy is offering reconditioned PC’s from just £95 as part of a national initiative to help people get on-line. The offer is available to people who have a disability or who are on a low income.

Remploy, a Government-sponsored organisation, directly employs more than 2,000 disabled people and is the UK’s leading provider of employment services for people with disabilities.

The computers have all been refurbished by Remploy’s E-Cycle business, which checks, tests, cleans and repackages each PC before they are sold on.

The entry level PC is just £95 and is ideal for surfing the internet, downloading songs and editing photos. You can add internet access for just £10 a month on a pay as you go basis.

Getting on-line can open up a new world of possibilities, you can:

• Find the best deals to save you money

• Search and apply for jobs

• Socialise with family and friends online

• Share photos and watch videos on the Internet

• Shop online via the click of your mouse

• Manage your bank account online

To find out more or to place an order please contact Remploy directly on 0845 268 293. You can find further details at www.ecycleonline.co.uk

Remploy can deliver in time for Christmas if goods are ordered and paid for by 16 December.

Recycled computers from just £95!

Win a recycled PC!One lucky Chat reader has the chance to win a reconditioned entry level PC. All you need to do is answer the following question:

What are the names of our two new maintenance contractors?

Please send your answer, name, address and telephone number to chat@ccha.org.uk or post to Chat competition, CCHA, 2 Ocean Park. Cardiff, CF24 5TG before Friday 16 December 2011.

Win!

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Tenants’ Survey 2011 feedback Thank you to everyone who completed our recent tenants’ satisfaction survey.

The results show that while overall satisfaction with our services is up, there are areas where we can improve and we are already taking steps to address these.

You identified the following four areas as priorities for improvement:

• Make estates safer and more secure

• Provide better information about planned works to your homes

• Manage repair contractors more effectively and improve the appointment service – this is already underway, please see pages 8 & 9 for details

• Review our complaints procedure and become better at letting you know the outcome of complaints

You said We will

Review our complaints procedure and become better at letting you know the outcome

We agree that a review of our complaints procedure needs to be done and this is underway.

We will publish details of our new complaints process in the next edition of Chat so you can let us know what you think.

Provide better information about planned works to your home (Welsh Housing Quality Standard – WHQS)

We agree the information on WHQS needs to improve. If you are due to have work carried out next year we will contact you by 31 March 2012.

Here is what we intend to do based on your feedback:

We hope the above shows how much we value you and your views. You can view the full survey on our website www.ccha.org.uk

Look out for details of other improvements we are making in response to the survey in future editions of Chat. In the meantime, if you have any views or ideas which will help us improve our services please email info@ccha.org.uk or call 029 2046 8490.

Many thanks to everyone who completed and returned our survey. Here are our prize draw winners.

£250 – Mrs Lewis of Holmview Court, Rumney

£100 Ms Evans of Aqulia, Butetown, Ms Phillips of Topaz Street, Adamsdown, Ms Harvey of St Philip Evans Close, Llanedeyrn, Ms Shapley of Luton House, Adamsdown and Mr Copping of Holmview Court, Rumney.

Prize draw winners

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CCHA’s Tenant Service Inspectors (TSI’s) would like to sincerely thank all tenants who participated in their recent consultation about service charges.

The consultation was carried out in Adamsdown, Bayside, Colchester Avenue, two sheltered housing schemes and our reception at Meteor Street The TSI’s were delighted with the positive response from their fellow tenants.

TSI Joan Lewis explained. “We talked to over 70 tenants and were treated with the greatest of respect and courtesy by everyone we met. They all gave honest feedback which we were able to report back to CCHA.

The majority of tenants told us they are satisfied with the amount that they are paying for their services but we have made a number of recommendations for further improvement. Our report will be agreed and available in December”

What’s Next?In 2012 the TSI’s will be carrying out an inspection of the new reception area at Meteor Street and working towards an accreditation award for CCHA’s Anti-Social Behaviour team.

The Tenant Service Inspectors wish all tenants of CCHA a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

An update from your Tenant Service Inspectors

Members of CCHA’s Tenant Representative Council (TRC) spent a day recently interviewing staff from across the organisation about the information contained in our Corporate Plan.

Joan Lewis, Chair of the TRC attended:

“We spoke to staff to find how they had reached the statements included in the Corporate Plan 2011-2014. They explained how this plan will be of benefit to all tenants. We felt that their answers were more tenant focused than previously.

Tenant Representative Council quiz CCHA staff The TRC are working for you by giving you

a voice. We have an input in all matters of CCHA business concerning us as tenants. All of the TRC members thought the day was informative, the interview process was honest and all staff generally wanted to resolve any issues. All members thought the day was a resounding success. If CCHA and the TRC members keep talking and working together we will go from strength to strength.”

Your Tenant Service Inspectors

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You said We will By When

You wanted a more flexible appointment system and better information on when our contractors would call.

Instead of giving you a morning or afternoon appointment, we will introduce three 4 hour slots per day between 8am and 8 pm. We will also improve communication so that the contractor will phone you on the day to confirm their time of arrival.

We aim to have this in place by 1 April 2012 at the latest.

You wanted us to improve the number of repairs that are completed first time.

We will be significantly reducing the number of pre-inspections we carry out before repairs are done so that we call to check the job and repair the problem at the same time.

As part of our new contract we will set a target for the number of repairs that must be completed first time and monitor how well we do.

We aim to make these changes by 30 January 2012.

We will let you know the ‘right-first-time’ target once it is set and how well we do.

You wanted us to improve the way we get back to you and be more effective in dealing with your query at the first point of contact.

A number of changes will be made over the next few months starting with:

• Our Customer Service Advisers will be your dedicated point of contact for all your repair requests. They will take your request and arrange the work directly with the contractor for you.

• Each week we will telephone 20% of all tenants who have had a repair done to make sure the job was done to their satisfaction.

• Our Maintenance Officers will be easier to contact and we will write to you in January confirming their contact details.

We aim to have this in place by 30 January 2012.

Launch of new repairs service Over the past 12 months much work has been carried out to improve our repairs service and we are confident that the changes taking place will address many of the concerns raised by you in our recent tenants’ satisfaction survey.

We worked closely with our Tenant Inspectors during this process to ensure your views were taken into consideration.

We have appointed two new contractors:

Lovell Respond will be responsible for dealing with any day to day repairs you report and have an excellent track record in providing high quality work and customer service. Lovell Respond will start work on 30 January 2012. SMK will continue to undertake any repairs you report until then.

Bullock will be carrying out our planned home improvement work, e.g. installing new kitchens and bathrooms. Bullock have already started our planned improvement work and again have an excellent track record. They have a tenant liaison officer who will contact you regularly throughout your planned repairs to ensure you are happy and to deal with any concerns should they arise.

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Here are details of the improvements you can expect over the coming months:

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You said We will By When

You wanted a more flexible appointment system and better information on when our contractors would call.

Instead of giving you a morning or afternoon appointment, we will introduce three 4 hour slots per day between 8am and 8 pm. We will also improve communication so that the contractor will phone you on the day to confirm their time of arrival.

We aim to have this in place by 1 April 2012 at the latest.

You wanted us to improve the number of repairs that are completed first time.

We will be significantly reducing the number of pre-inspections we carry out before repairs are done so that we call to check the job and repair the problem at the same time.

As part of our new contract we will set a target for the number of repairs that must be completed first time and monitor how well we do.

We aim to make these changes by 30 January 2012.

We will let you know the ‘right-first-time’ target once it is set and how well we do.

You wanted us to improve the way we get back to you and be more effective in dealing with your query at the first point of contact.

A number of changes will be made over the next few months starting with:

• Our Customer Service Advisers will be your dedicated point of contact for all your repair requests. They will take your request and arrange the work directly with the contractor for you.

• Each week we will telephone 20% of all tenants who have had a repair done to make sure the job was done to their satisfaction.

• Our Maintenance Officers will be easier to contact and we will write to you in January confirming their contact details.

We aim to have this in place by 30 January 2012.

Launch of new repairs service

If you have any questions about day to day repairs please call 029 2046 8490 or email repairs@ccha.org.uk.

Please note that initially, you may be asked more questions when you report a repair. This is because we want to improve the repair diagnosis so that we can increase the number of repairs fixed first time.

If you have any questions about planned improvement work to your home please call 029 2046 2142 or email: planned.maintenance@ccha.org.uk

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The team from Bullock

bullockbullock

Lovell Respond will be doing our day to day repairs

Here are details of the improvements you can expect over the coming months:

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As you may recall from previous issues of Chat, we are moving to a new head office to enable us to have the majority of our staff under one roof. This will help to improve communication between our teams resulting in a more effective service for you.

Our new offices are at Tolven Court off Ocean Way and we are moving in March 2012. As a result our offices at Ocean Park and Splott Road will close mid-March.

Our office at Meteor Street will remain open so you can still pop in and speak to our

customer services team about any queries you may have, pay your rent and access our advice surgeries.

Our housing officers will no longer be based at Meteor Street but will be offering more home appointments or you can arrange to see them at Meteor Street. Our customer advisors can make an appointment for you.

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Our new office

Our new office will be ready in March

Last month members of our 100’s Club (a group of tenants who have stated they are happy to provide feedback) were invited to meet with Kevin our Chief Executive and staff from each department to tell us how they think we are performing. This feedback is invaluable in letting us know what we are doing well and areas where we need

to improve. Many thanks to everyone who came along.

Visit our website to view our performance update for the past financial year.

If you are interested in becoming involved in the work of CCHA please contact Nicky Condon our Tenant Involvement Officer on 029 2046 8416 or email nIcky.condon@ccha.org.uk

‘Your view counts’ event

To coincide with the move to our new office we are changing our logo and branding to make it simpler and more modern.

The move gave us an ideal opportunity to update our image as we needed to order new stationary and materials with our new address on and so have been running down all our existing stocks to ensure nothing is wasted. The new logo will be used on all correspondence from us from March 2012.

But don’t worry, it’s only our branding that’s changing - we will still strive to provide you with the same high quality, service that you would expect from us!

A new look for CCHA

Our new logo

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Your stories Recently we met with CCHA tenant Ray Chick who told us about his life-long passion for painting and kindly showed us a selection of his work.

Ray age 73 and his wife Sylvia age 70 live in Rumney and have been CCHA tenants since 2002.

They met in the grounds of Cardiff Castle in 1954 and have been married for 52 years. They have two daughters and one son, four grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Ray ran his own garden landscaping business in Cardiff with his father and brother-in-law for 33 years before a back injury forced him to retire. Since then Ray has been actively involved with CCHA as a member of the Tenant’s Representative Council and is also one of our Tenant Inspectors. He also works part time as a doorman at the Royal British Legion in Rumney.

Always a keen artist, Ray’s talent for painting was encouraged by his teacher at Howard Gardens who encouraged him to sketch and paint. He showed us a selection of his work which includes an excellent replica of the Mona Lisa, portraits of the Royal family, local landmarks and sporting personalities.

One of Ray’s childhood heroes was Fred Keenor who captained Cardiff City in their winning FA Cup Final at Wembley in 1927. Ray actually sat next to Fred’s grandson Malcolm in school and couldn’t believe his luck when he was invited for tea. He

told us: “I’ve always been a huge Cardiff City fan and was thrilled when Malcolm asked if I’d like to meet his grandad. It was such an honour to meet him, I’ve still got the autograph he signed for me.”

Years later Ray painted a portrait of Fred which was so good it was displayed in the players’ restaurant at Cardiff City’s Ninian Park stadium. The painting was returned to Ray when the Club moved to their new stadium and

he told us that Malcolm is still keen to get his hands on it!

Do you have a story you would like to share? If so please contact Helen Ball – helen.ball@ccha.org.uk or call 029 2046 8427.

The whole of CCHA’s staff team swapped their usual working day one Friday in September to spend time helping out on four local community projects.

CCHA staff help brighten up local schools and community centres

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The team helped to brighten up the indoor and outdoor space at Tredegarville Primary School in Adamsdown by repainting the school’s murals, outdoor games boards and sheds, building a new bird house, clearing overgrown areas of the garden and installing new fencing.

St Cuthbert’s School in Butetown benefited from new vegetable planters, weeding and re-planting of their flower borders and the school cloakroom and outdoor furniture had a face-lift with new paint and colourful stencils.

The day formed part of CCHA’s annual ‘day in the community’ when staff give up their time to help with local projects.

The team also helped out at Tremorfa Hall with a litter pick and internal painting, and Trowbridge Community Centre where

they continued working on a community garden established by the team last year.

Headteacher of Tredergarville School, Mr David Harris said. “We can’t believe how much the team from CCHA achieved in just one day. The transformation of the play area is astonishing and beyond anything we thought possible, Ground Force could learn a thing or two from CCHA!

The staff and pupils at St Cuthbert’s were also thrilled with the results. Headteacher Mrs Brooks said: “I would like to pass on my huge thanks and appreciation from all staff and Governors for the team’s hard work, cheerful nature and willingness to help improve the environment for the children of St Cuthbert’s”.

During October another smaller team of staff helped to transform the playground and entrance at St Alban’s School in Tremorfa.

CCHA’s Chief Executive Kevin Protheroe said: “Our vision is to provide homes and services to people who need them and to help improve the communities in which we work. Our ‘day in the community’ is a very direct way of showing our pride in what

we do and in the communities where we work”.

RECIPES

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Home Safety ChecksChristmas and New Year are a time when we can relax and enjoy being with friends and family but it is also a time when the risk of fires increase dramatically.

Follow these simple steps to help you stay safe over the holidays:

• check smoke alarms on a weekly basis and do not be tempted to remove the batteries

• be sure to know your means of escape in the event of a fire

• turn off all Christmas lights and extinguish all candles before you go out or go to bed

• keep paper decorations, streamers and tinsel well away from lights and candles

• place candles, including tea lights, in proper holders or on a heat-resistant surface

• avoid leaving young children or pets unattended in a room with lit candles

• replace old Christmas lights with a new set which conform to the British Standards Regulations

• don’t overload plug sockets, you can use a power-breaker, which will automatically cut the power in case of any faulty electrics

• make sure all cigarettes are fully stubbed out

• unplug electric fires at night

Seasonal Flu AdviceWe all know that ‘flu’ is a highly contagious viral infection that affects people of all ages. Whilst most people recover without complications in 1-2 weeks, flu can cause serious illness, especially in the very young and the elderly.

If you want to reduce your chance of getting seasonal flu contact your GP to see if you are eligible for a vaccination. If you are not eligible for the vaccination under the NHS, you can get it at many pharmacies and supermarkets including Tesco, Boots and Superdrug but there is a charge.

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Recipes Chocolate snowman truffles These treats look great on top of a seasonal cake or just as good on their own!

Ingredients

• 100g (4oz) plain chocolate• 100g (4oz) butter• 275g (10oz) icing sugar• White chocolate for grating• Red and green pre-bought fondant icing –

for hats and noses

InstructionsPlace water in a small pan, bring to the boil and take off the heat.

Break chocolate into a heatproof bowl and place over the water. Gently stir until chocolate is melted. Add the butter and again gently stir until butter has melted. Remove bowl from water.

Sieve the icing sugar into chocolate mixture, fold until thoroughly mixed together. Allow to cool.

Take a small spoonful of the mixture and roll into a small ball. Grate white chocolate into a bowl and roll each truffle in the chocolate until well coated – keep your hands cool and it won’t be so sticky!

Once all the snowmen are complete, make hats and noses using the red and green icing then attach to the snowmen - you may need to use cocktail sticks or a little jam to help sticking.

Tips

Make a little box or use cellophane to wrap your truffles and give them to teachers, friends and relations for Christmas and as thank you pressies.

Turkey delight Children love this recipe and it takes just 20 minutes… so it’s great idea for left over turkey after Christmas.

Ingredients

• diced left over turkey • 1 tablespoon olive oil • 1 can condensed mushroom soup • 2 tablespoons of milk • rice or pasta

Instructions

Brown some diced left over turkey in a frying pan with a dash of oil, add a can of condensed mushroom soup and a little milk, simmer gently until the turkey is warmed through. Serve with rice or pasta.

Tips

To add some of your 5-a-day vegetables try adding some frozen vegetables such as broccoli and sweetcorn.

For variety try using other soups such as Italian Tomato with Basil or Cream of Chicken.

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Dot-2-Dot

S W

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Holiday Sudoku! Fill in the missing letters so that every row, column and quadrant contains the letters that spell the word ‘SNOW’!

Festive wordsearch

AngelBoughsChristmasExcitementGreenJoy LightsMagic OrnamentsPresents

Santa ClausSnowTreeTwinkleWinter

B

H Y H

M R H K O

S A I G D G A

V G G R E E N H F

I W O X R

N C B R C E N

S A A G N I T B R

S U A L C A T N A S N

B D X M E I P

Y O J Q E M W D S

P G U S T N E S E R P

A L B G P W T N M K W Q F

C H R I S T M A S

O M S U N T R E E N W

Z N C D E K H D X J O V D

B G Z U R R L G I C V W R V F

P X M A E I Y Q H K U

M R M G W G L H D V K N E

X C X R J E N C M A M R R U X

B C Z O W V P A E G W F L H S Q I

U E V

C J A

V W D

Christmas Puzzles