The magazine for residents of Watford Community Housing Trust.

AUTU

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Win £100 for going digital!

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Surviving Halloween Don’t let it be a nightmare! How to enjoy Halloween on a budget

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Stay warm and dry this autumn

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8 Apprentices get off to a great start

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Welcometo Gateway Magazine

It was great to see so many of you at our Annual General Meeting (AGM) last month. We refl ected on what we achieved last year, which included building new homes, opening the community hub at Leavesden Green and letting 385 properties to new tenants. And we also heard from our Heads of Service about plans for the future, which include making our repairs service much more effi cient and improving our communications so you get the right information from us at the right time.Voting at our AGM is a great way of using your membership to infl uence our decisions, as is voting for our Gateway Leadership Team (GLT). I was delighted to welcome two new members to the GLT after a 41% increase in turnout compared to last year – you can see more details below.However, when we asked tenants to apply for a position on our Board earlier in the year, we did not receive enough applications to be able to hold an election. So there is great interest in our GLT, but we are struggling to interest you in being a part of our Board.This suggests we need to look again at the way we do things. We have set up a ‘task and fi nish group’ to review our approach to governance. This will also consider ways of giving the GLT an even stronger role in working with our Board, so their views really do go into the heart of decision making at the Trust.The group will complete its review by the end of December, so look out for more details from us in the New Year.

Tina Barnard, Chief Executive

Many congratulations to Karen Bell and Mary Daniel-Fearon, who were voted onto the GLT after the elections this summer. They join Avril Barclay, Mazie Gibson and Cara Smalley who were re-elected. The GLT is a group of residents who work with the Trust to feed in your views and help improve our services.Welcome, too, to our two new Board members who were appointed at our AGM: Peter Jeff ree (local authority nominee) and John Lavers (independent).

Karen Bell GLT member

Peter Jeff ree Board member (local authority nominee)

Mary Daniel-Fearon GLT member

John Lavers Board member (independent)

WatfordCommunityHousingTrust

New faces!

watfordgateway

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As the temperature drops you are more likely to get condensation in your home. Here’s how to stop it!Condensation occurs where moisture from the air forms on a cold surface. This can cause black mould on walls, furniture, cloths and curtains. It is a common problem in the UK in colder weather.

Keep your home dry this autumn!Handy tips

f Dry your washing outside if possible – if not, you can dry it in the bathroom and open the window or vents and close the bathroom door. Do not dry on radiators as this will only make your boiler work extra hard, costing you more on your energy bill and causing condensation as well.

f Ventilate your home. When you wake up in the morning it’s advisable to open the window in your bedroom for about 10 minutes to allow fresh air in, this will help clear the mist on windows. You can then close it and leave the window vent open, depending on how your home was built.

f Always open windows in the kitchen and bathroom after or during use. If you have an extractor fan that will be better as there will be no cold wind.

f Ventilate cupboards or wardrobes and don’t push furniture right against the wall.

With winter approaching, here are a couple of tips for saving money.• This is the perfect time to

switch energy suppliers or tariff s as you could save up to £300 a year. We advise you to switch using comparison websites like uswitch.com rather than through your current supplier. Your supplier will provide you with the cheapest tariff they can off er, but other suppliers might be cheaper.

• Reclaim your energy bill credit – If you have switched suppliers or moved in the past six years you could be entitled to unclaimed credit. To fi nd out more check MyEnergyCredit.com.

For more information, read The Trust Energy booklet ‘Every Penny Counts’ or speak to the Trust’s Energy Surveyor, Jason Ademola, on 01923 209016.

Cheaper bills

possible – if not, you can dry it

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Received a letter about your boiler inspection? You could win £100!We are giving away £100 per month in our new gas safety prize draw.

Every month, our gas contractor PH Jones writes to a selection of our tenants to ask

for access to their home. This is so we can service your boiler and complete a Landlord’s Gas Safety Record.

If you respond to the first letter (and if you are eligible), you’ll be entered into a draw for £100!

The winner of the first draw will be announced next month. Good luck!

new

sClosing in on tenancy cheats!Last month we took a tenant to court after we found out he was illegally subletting the home he was renting from us.

He was not living at the property and was advertising it for rent. Despite taking several deposits he owed the Trust over £3,000 in rent arrears.

A District Judge gave the Trust immediate possession of the property and ordered the man to pay us nearly £11,000, including a £4,700 fine for making illegal profits from tenancy fraud.

We can now offer the two-bedroom house to a Watford family in housing need.

We are closing in on tenancy cheats! If you suspect anyone of living in a Trust home illegally, call 0800 458 9200 in confidence.

We’ve made a fun video to tell you more about the work we do in our communities – from reducing your energy bills to creating places where you can meet up with your neighbours.

GLT members Avril Barclay, Mazie Gibson and Fatoumatta Jallow helped us to make the film and you may also spot some other local residents you recognise – although you’ve never seen them quite like this before!

Head over to www.wcht.org.uk/film to watch it. While there you can also see our staff taking part in the Ice Bucket Challenge!

Watch the Trust on the small screen!

Older People’s DayResidents had a fantastic time at our celebrations for International Older People’s Day on 1 October. In partnership with W3RT we held two events, one at Leavesden Green Community Hub and one at Holywell Community Centre, with a wide range of activities and entertainment for all to enjoy.

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Your full name

Did you know that it can cost a business over £12 to answer a letter it has received, but an online transaction costs less than 10p?

That’s why we want to move more of our communications online – it means we can invest more of our income into better services.

How will my communication improve?

f Get the latest news from us straight to your computer, tablet or phone.

Help us go digital and win a PRIZE!

f Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get updates and talk to us.

f Check out our online tenant portal at www.wcht.org.uk for your rent account and more.

What’s in it for me? If you supply us with your email address by 1 January 2015, we will enter you into a prize draw for £100 in intu Watford shopping vouchers! More details of the prize draw at www.wcht.org.uk/godigital

Here’s how you can win For your chance to win £100 in shopping vouchers, all you need to do is update your details by 1 January 2015. There are three ways you can do this:

f Call us on 01923 209068

f Complete the online form at www.wcht.org.uk/godigital

f Fill in the form below and send it to us by Freepost

Our latest winner…We would like to congratulate Angela Warren from Chesham Way on being randomly selected as last quarter’s prize draw winner!

We will never misuse your email address or send you any spam. For your peace of mind, have a read of our privacy policy: www.wcht.org.uk/privacy-policy

Going digital

Your address

Your mobile number

Your home number

Your email address

Please tick here if you still want to receive Gateway magazine by post.

Post your completed form to (no stamp required):

FREEPOST RRXH – LZUR – LKHG Communications Team Watford Community Housing Trust Gateway House 59 Clarendon Road Watford, WD17 1LA

Gateway_Autumn_2014.indd 5 10/10/2014 16:33

Cheap party ideaWrap the mummy – Two teams of two have a toilet roll each. The winner is the fi rst person to completely wrap their team mate!

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feature

Surviving Halloween Some of us love it, some of us hate it – but how can you make sure your Halloween is peaceful, safe and aff ordable?

Here’s a simple recipe that’s a tasty way to use up leftovers from scooping out those pumpkins!

700g Pumpkin fl esh 175g wholemeal plain fl our ½ -1 tsp salt ¼ tsp baking powder 1 tsp cumin seeds ½ tsp ground cumin 1 separated egg 1 small onion, fi nely chopped 1-2 garlic cloves crushed 1 ½ tsp chilli sauce 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Cut fl esh into thick slices about 10cm long by 1cm wide. Steam for 8-10 mins until just tender. Leave to cool.

Place fl our, salt, baking powder, cumin seeds and ground cumin in a bowl and mix. Make a well in the centre, add the egg yolk and gradually stir in 175ml water to form a smooth batter. Stir in onion, garlic, chilli sauce and coriander. Stiffl y whisk in the egg white and fold lightly into the batter.

One third fi ll a deep fat fryer or large saucepan with oil and heat. Dip pumpkin in batter to coat and then in the oil. Fry for 1-1 ½ mins, turning frequently. Drain on kitchen paper.

Spicy pumpkin fritters, a tasty treat

And if you really don’t like Halloween...Cut out and display the handy fl ier opposite to keep the trick-or-treaters away!

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Dave Smith, a tenant of Northcotts, is an active volunteer for Hillside Residents’ Association and has helped to organise many social events, both for the association and his scheme.

He is part of the committee that is organising Hillside’s Halloween party for local children.

“We do it every year,” he says, “many parents would rather have their little ones at something like this than send them out trick or treating.”

Hillside’s party will feature traditional fun and games like apple bobbing

and fancy dress, and they are also planning a spider-shaped piñata.

But Dave’s main bit of advice is to make the menu sound as gruesome as possible!

“Witches’ blood sandwiches,” he recommends. “It’s only strawberry jam but it sounds a lot more exciting to eat!”

Hillside Residents’ Association’s Halloween Party is at 5pm Friday 31st October at the estate office in School Mead. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Safe trick or treatingf Make sure any children

are accompanied by a responsible adult

f Plan your route before you leave the house

f Carry a torch and wear reflective or bright coloured clothes

f Stay close to home

f NEVER enter a stranger’s house

f Don’t eat any sweets that have been opened or unwrapped

f Wrap up warm – it’s nearly November!

NO TRICK OR TREATWE DO NOT WANT TO BE DISTURBED

Dave’s tips on planning your party

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It was great to see so many of you at our ‘I Love the Meriden’ event last month.

We are working with the local community to find ways of making the area an even better place to live, so we held this fun day to hear your ideas. As well as enjoying fairground rides and other activities, lots of you shared your thoughts on what makes the Meriden special – and also made suggestions as to how we can improve it together.

The event also marked ‘Social Saturday’, a national celebration of the UK’s social enterprises. A ‘social enterprise’ is a business that helps the community and we have several in Watford and Three Rivers, including Watford Cycle Hub, 9 Lives Furniture Recycling, Watford Workshop and the Meriden’s own Green Canteen. They were all there at the event and it was a great opportunity to promote their excellent services!

We Love the Meriden!

Celebration of Cassie WinterThere was a special tree planting event in August to celebrate the life of Caroline Winter, who passed away earlier this year.

Caroline, known to friends as ‘Cassie’, was well known in her community. She was an active volunteer and used to help out at the Maple Leaf community café at the old Leavesden Green community centre on a regular basis. She died following complications from pneumonia aged just 40.

Glendale is our grounds maintenance contractor – they cut the grass in our communal areas, look after shrubs and hedges and help to keep our neighbourhoods looking tidy.

They have now been looking after our estates for six months. It’s always difficult changing such a large contractor, especially when the services delivered affect all of you. However, after a few mobilisation issues we are pleased that customer satisfaction rose from 88% to 100% in August 2014, and we have

received several compliments for their work in recent weeks.

Watch out for customer satisfaction surveys that Glendale post through doors on different estates every month – fill it in and you could win a £25 gardening voucher.

Grass cutting will continue to the end of October and will start again in mid March 2015, although timings will depend on the weather.

A few of you have told us that Glendale has missed out some grass cuts in your community.

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in your community

Cassie’s friends organised a ceremony at the new community hub to remember her. We got together with our grounds maintenance contractors, Glendale, to provide the tree and some bulbs for a new flower bed in Cassie’s memory.

Cassie’s mother Doreen Partridge told well-wishers: “Cass was so liked by everybody, she was a funny girl but she was my girl. A big, huge thank you to special people and friends. God bless you.”

The green, green grass of home

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Hire your local Community Hub!Hall and room hire from as little as £12 per hour

Our community hubs are great for children’s parties, hobby groups, exercise classes, business meetings or just somewhere to meet up as a group.

Leavesden Green Community Hub Clarke Green, off Clarke Way Watford WD25 0BW

Harebreaks Community Hub The Harebreaks Watford WD24 6NJ

Boundary Way Community Hub 214 Boundary Way Watford WD25 7ST

Call 01923 209186 or go to www.wcht.org.uk/ halls-for-hire

£12From

per hour

Congratulations to our apprentices!Six young apprentices have been presented with ‘graduation’ certificates by Richard Harrington MP, after completing a programme to improve our homes.

The group were the first apprentices to take part in the Community Maintenance Team, a training enterprise that we set up with Construction Gateway.

The scheme offers our residents an opportunity to gain an NVQ in Construction Skills while carrying out kitchen and bathroom refurbishments at our homes.

The apprentices were joined by friends and family as they received their certificates in a presentation ceremony at Leavesden Green Community Hub.

Bradley Mellor, pictured here with Richard Harrington MP, said: “I was doing carpentry at college when I read about the Community Maintenance Team in the Watford Observer. I jumped at it because my college course was all based in the classroom but this is much more hands-on. It’s been brilliant, so much better for developing my skills. It’s shown me where to go in life.”

A second cohort are due to complete their apprenticeships next summer, and the Community Maintenance Team plans to recruit further apprentices to join the scheme in the coming weeks – so watch out for more details soon!

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The green, green grass of home This is because our contractors used to include small pockets of land belonging to local authorities such as Watford Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council in their cut. We are no longer able to look after council-owned land, but we are working together to make sure these areas are properly maintained in the future.

If you have any comments about our grounds maintenance service, email jane.pursey@wcht.org.uk.

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our performance

In our Spring 2014 edition, we provided you with a handy guide on which repair jobs the Trust are able to help you with.

While we carry out a wide range of repairs, some parts of the home are your responsibility to maintain and we will charge you if we have to repair these. We may also charge you if we are called out for an emergency inappropriately.

We recently published our Annual Report to Tenants and Leaseholders, which tells you how we performed against our key targets from April 2013 to March 2014. You can fi nd out how many repairs we carried out, how many homes we let, how we spent our income and much more. We have also published a more detailed report on our fi nancial performance, our Annual Financial Statement.

Both reports are available online at www.wcht.org.uk/annualreports or you can request hard copies by calling 01923 209112.

Here are just a few areas that are YOUR responsibility:

f All internal decorating

f Replacing carpets and other flooring

f Light bulbs and fl uorescent tubes

f Extra locks

f Repairs to letter boxes (unless they are part of uPVC or composite doors)

f Replacing batteries in smoke alarms

f Replacing latches, handles and hinges on inside doors (if the damage is not due to fair wear and tear)

f Damage to sinks, basins and baths that isn’t normal wear and tear.

f Unblocking waste pipes on sinks, basins and baths

f Replacing toilet seats (unless you are elderly or disabled)

f Maintenance of showers put in by you or a previous tenant

For a full list, go to www.wcht.org.uk/repairs-responsibilities.

Our Gateway Repairs Team attend to our properties from Monday to Friday and we also have operatives on standby for emergencies.

How did we do last year? Read all about it!

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Christmas can be an expensive time of year for everyone and it is easy to overspend. It is tempting to use money intended for other bills such as your rent, electricity or Council Tax. Please avoid this if possible as you will get reminder letters and possible legal action may be taken.

If you are up to date with your rent the week commencing 22nd December 2014 is rent free. However if you are in arrears you are expected to make a payment to reduce your arrears. If you pay by monthly direct debit we have taken account of the rent free week in calculating your payment.

Facts about asbestosOne of our tenants has asked us to publish some information about asbestos, to help you all to stay safe. Here’s what you need to know!

What is asbestos? Asbestos is a material that has been used in the construction of thousands of buildings which we come into contact with every day. It can appear in many places, including textured ceilings, fl oor tiles, garage roof sheets and window sills.

Is asbestos dangerous?Asbestos can be dangerous if you breathe in a large number of asbestos fi bres. This can happen if a material which contains asbestos is damaged or disturbed, releasing asbestos fi bres into the air.

However, asbestos material in good condition is not a health risk and should be left alone.

Should I take precautions? If you are not sure whether something in your home contains asbestos, it is important that you do not damage or disturb it.

Always get our permission before you make any alterations to your home. We can then visit and tell you if there is any asbestos present. Never sand, scrape, drill or use abrasive pads or brushes on asbestos material.

What should I do if I fi nd damaged materials which might have asbestos in them?You must let the Trust know immediately.

However, this does not mean you have been exposed to dangerous levels. Most of the time, if there is asbestos in one of our homes, the fi bres will be held in place by a strong adhesive bond. This reduces the risk of fi bres being released into the air if the material is slightly damaged.

But all the same, it’s best to let us know. Call us on 01923 209000 or email us at enquires@wcht.org.uk.

For more information go to www.wcht.org.uk/asbestos-staying-safe

Stay on top of your rent!

A typical Asbestos roof

Facts about asbestos

you said we did

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Email us: enquiries@wcht.org.uk

Postal address: Gateway House, 59 Clarendon Road, Watford WD17 1LA

Useful contacts – the TrustGeneral enquiries 01923 209 000

Repairs (free from a landline) 0800 218 2247

or 01923 209 247

Rent enquiry 01923 209 111

Anti-social behaviour 01923 209 222

Disabled adaptations 01923 209 220

Useful contacts – other agencies

Council Tax

Watford Borough Council 01923 226 400

Three Rivers District Council 01923 776 611

Refuse collection

Veolia/Watford Borough Council 0203 5676 900

Three Rivers District Council 01923 776 611

Water supply

Affinity Water 0845 782 3333

Thames Water 0845 9200 800

Disabled parking badges

Hertfordshire County Council 0300 1234 050

Lost energy top-up card Check with your supplier

Don’t forget you can check your account online. Simply go to www.wcht.org.uk and click ‘My account’.

Problems with nuisance behaviour?

Our Safer Communities Officers are always happy to help and there are several ways you can get in touch...

Step 1 Call us, email or fill out a form on the web here: www.wcht.org.uk/ report-anti-social-behaviour

Step 2 We will respond to you within two working days to arrange a safe meeting place and time to talk to you

Step 3 Together we will agree an action plan (what we can do for you and what we need from you).

Your Feedback is important to us. You can let us know what you think in many ways.Via our website (www.wcht.org.uk/feedback)By email at feedback@wcht.org.ukBy telephone on 01923 209000In person to any member of staffIn writing to Gateway House, 59 Clarendon Road, Watford, Hertfordshire WD17 1LAAnd by completing satisfaction surveysAt the Trust we value your views on our services. Your feedback not only helps us, but it could also win you money!

get in touch

01923 209192asb@wcht.org.uk

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