spotlight on denbighshire

DenbighshireSpring 2012

Spotlight on

WWHA’s Extra Care scheme in Prestatyn is officially opened by First Minister Carwyn Jones

Also in this edition...

WWHA helps residents TakeCtrl

My Home DVD - ‘Making every penny count’

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Spotlight on Denbighshire - Spring 2012

I do not need to say that we are all still facing very challenging economic conditions and now more than ever we recognise the importance of delivering excellent customer service, supporting innovation to meet demand and, quite simply, going the extra mile to help our residents and their communities to help themselves. We are committed to being green, to helping our residents deal with money-related problems, and to as many of them as possible up-and-running online. We’re also working with various partners to help people get into, or get back into work or training.

Then there are our latest developments within the business including news of our £101m Development programme, our

new RP strategy and how we’re approaching self-assessment. And we’re absolutely thrilled to be able to tell you that we’ve been recognised as the top not-for-profi t organisation in Wales in the Sunday Times Best Companies List 2012.

So I hope you will take fi ve minutes to read this newsletter and that it proves to be useful and informative.

Finally we always value your feedback so don’t hesitate to get in touch and tell us what you think, about Spotlight, the news within it, or any other aspect of our business.

Anne HincheyChief Executive

Welcome to the Spring 2012 edition of Spotlight on Denbighshire

Nant y Mor residnets’ choir with First Minister Carwyn Jones

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More affordable homes for DenbighshireDeveloping more high quality, affordable, sustainable homes for people in Wales is a major priority for us.

Our current £101m fi ve-year development programme includes innovative projects for residents with autism and learning diffi culties, together with general needs housing and extra care facilities. It is supported by £15m social housing grant funding from our partner local authorities and the Welsh Government.

Our developments currently on site, or shortly to go on site, in Denbighshire include:

Henllan Autism Project

Phase One of this £1.05m development will provide specialist accommodation for people with a range of autistic spectrum disorders, plus people with physical disabilities - and their carers.

Phase Two will provide affordable housing for families in the area. We’re working in partnership with Denbighshire County Council on this project and contractor Anwyl started work on site in August 2011. The scheme is due for completion this summer.

Other projects planned over the next 2 years include two schemes in Denbighshire including accommodation for people with learning disabilities.

Head of Development Nikki Cole says: “We are working with the Council to identify opportunities to increase the supply of affordable housing including extra care housing at a time when access to social housing grant is limited.

“We are also supporting the Council in its evaluation of options as part of the Rhyl master planning.

“While family housing is a major area of strength and expertise for WWHA, we also work in partnership with local authorities across Wales to meet the needs of local people with learning diffi culties and autism.

“We relish the opportunity to provide housing solutions to meet a wide variety of housing requirements.

“Grant funding to assist the development of new social housing is limited however the Association has been successful in securing funding to help develop a range of housing opportunities across our area of operation.”

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Award-winning residents

Eric Fitton and Margi Sharp won our Making A Difference Green Fingers (Older Persons) Award 2011, sponsored by electrical wholesalers LH Evans, for their efforts in the communal gardens at Nant y Mor Extra Care Scheme in Prestatyn.

The duo are amongst Nant y Mor’s fi rst residents and were nominated

for the award by scheme manager Karen Boyce, fellow resident and Allied Healthcare staff who work at the scheme.

18 year old Shannon Yates, from Rhyl, and James & Judith Pickering, from Prestatyn, were also fi nalists in the David Taylor Local Hero and Eco Champion categories respectively.

WWHA’s Making A Difference Awards are held every year to celebrate the community spirit of our residents and their communities.

Our 2012 Awards will take place at the Village Hotel, Coryton, Cardiff on Friday, 19th October 2012, and we are always happy to receive nominations from anyone at any time. Our only criteria is that people who are nominated must either be

WWHA residents, or be working closely with them on a community project or initiative. If you would like to make a nomination, please email [email protected] or ring 02920 415363.

WWHA resident Owen Ryan won ‘Outstanding Resident of the Year’ Award in South West Rhyl Communities First’s inaugural awards ceremony earlier in the year.

Eric Fitton and Margi Sharp with Ivor Gittens, WWHA Chair, and Lee Harewood and Chris Rea-gan from LH Evans

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Continued investment in our properties

During the last six months of 2011 we spent £5.7m on refurbishing our homes across Wales and we are delighted to say that we are on course to achieve the Welsh Housing Quality Standard by 2012.

We’ve renewed the kitchens in over 400 homes (£1,3m) and across Wales we’ve spent over

£600k refurbishing bathrooms.

We’re also investing a further £1.2m in a major window renewal programme which should make our homes more comfortable, warmer, cheaper to heat and less likely to need expensive maintenance work in the near future.

SARTH project in North East Wales

In north east Wales the single access to housing project (SARTH) aims to make access to social housing as effi cient, consistent and fair as possible.

It is a joint project of Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham local authorities and North Wales Housing, Cymdeithas Tai Clwyd, Clwyd Alyn, Cartrefi Conwy and Wales & West Housing Associations.

All current partnership members have agreed to work together on a common framework for allocations and advice, as well as a set of aims and objectives, in line with

Welsh Government advice to local authorities.

The project steering group has since then recruited project development offi cer, Nicholas Weatherall, jointly funded by all partners and hosted by Wales & West Housing Association, to coordinate the development of a common allocations framework.

The project aims to pilot the common framework in 2013.

Further information can be found on Tai Clwyd’s website:

http://bit.ly/yvK0in

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New extra care scheme officially opened

Last November we were delighted to welcome First Minister Carwyn Jones, AM, as our guest of honour at the official opening of Nant y Môr, our new extra care housing scheme in Prestatyn.

We developed the £9.9m state-of-the-art scheme in partnership with Denbighshire County Council. The complex on Marine Road offers 59 self-contained apartments plus a wide range of communal facilities, offering independent living with care and support for people aged 60 and over in Denbighshire.

The First Minister told us: “I am delighted to have been invited to mark the official opening of this fantastic new housing development. I am sure it will be a great success not only for the residents but also the community.

“We have a growing elderly population in Wales and the housing requirements of older people vary considerably. A key aim of the Welsh Government is that schemes such as this allow people to live independently for as long as possible.

“I am sure you agree that Nant Y Môr will meet this objective and residents will have the comfort of knowing that support is on hand should they need it.

“I am pleased that the Welsh Government has been able to support this scheme by contributing grant funding of £5.7 million from the Social Housing Grant Programme.”

“We are delighted that the First Minister has officially opened this scheme for us,” said Anne Hinchey,

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Chief Executive of WWHA. “We are extremely proud of Nant y Môr and what it offers older people in this community.

“It’s the result of great partnership working between ourselves and Denbighshire Council and you just have to talk to the residents to see how happy they are with their new homes and facilities, the care and support it provides for them at a very important stage in their lives.”

Councillor Pauline Dobb, Cabinet Lead Member for Social Care, Health and Wellbeing, said: “Extra care housing is very much the way forward in Denbighshire. We have one of the highest populations of older people in Wales and the trend is that people are living longer. This in turn means we need to adapt our services to meet a growing demand - a key priority for us in Denbighshire. Nant y Mor extra care scheme in Prestatyn has been created to meet a demand from people wishing to live independent lives in their own homes, whilst safe in the knowledge that help is at hand 24 hours a day.

“This is a prime example of how working in partnership can realise our ambition of creating extra care schemes in our county.”

The First Minister’s tour of the complex, which boasts 27 one-bed and 32 two-bed self-contained apartments, included a visit to the apartment of one of Nant y Mor’s first residents, Pam Barrow.

Pam Barrow, 79, said: “Before

moving to Nant y Môr I lived alone in a bungalow. Now I can join in various things going on here when I want, but am still able to come back to my apartment, close my own door and do what I want to do when I want to do it.”

Ms Barrow added: “I love my apartment. It has the most wonderful view of Snowdonia on a clear day and it is lovely for me to be able to look out onto my country like this. I have a lung complaint and it is wonderful for me to be able to enjoy the fresh air and views from my windows and my balcony of the mountains as well as the gardens at Nant y Môr.”

Built by contractor Linford Group, additional facilities at the development include:

• Large communal lounge with direct access to communal courtyard garden

• Restaurant and dining facilities• Hobby, hairdressers and

treatment rooms• Lower ground floor garden room

and garden terrace• Second /third floor roof terraces• External amenity areas providing

seating, raised beds and planting areas.

Other guests at the ceremony included members and officers from Denbighshire County Council, staff from on-site care provider Allied Healthcare, as well as representatives from other key partner agencies and neighbouring businesses and organisations.

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Ongoing projects at Nant y Môr

The residents have now settled in and are enjoying their new communal and social life at the extra care scheme.

An arts project is currently being run at Nant y Môr by six local community artists who are working as a team to deliver workshops over a 15 week period through successful funding from Arts Council Wales. The project is covering painting, creative writing and sculpture and has proved so popular with residents that they

are now asking for it to become a regular feature at Nant y Môr. An exhibition will soon take place to showcase their work.

Also taking place is another project called ‘My Life My Way’, facilitated by Denbighshire County Council. Held fortnightly on a Wednesday morning, it is designed to boost confidence among older people. And a chair-based exercise programme has been set up to help maintain mobility and fitness.

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WWHA properties for sale in the Denbighshire area

In Denbighshire we currently have the following properties for sale atPlas Tirion Court, in Rhyl:

• No. 8 - a two bedroom ground floor apartment - contact Jones & Redfearn Estate Agents

• No. 13 - a two bedroom first floor apartment - contact the Home Ownership Unit on 0800 052 2526

The scheme comprises of 33 apartments, 8 one bedroom and 25 two bedroom, mostly in 2 storey blocks, with just a few flats at three storey level. The scheme

has the benefit of a communal laundry.

The grounds are landscaped with defined borders and lawned areas, some of which are beautifully maintained by the residents. There are private parking facilities for residents at the scheme.

Residents enjoy the benefits of our 24/7 Emergency Alarm Centre and all properties are fitted with emergency pull cords in every room and personal alarm pendants are provided to all residents.

We offer a variety of tenancy options for older people who wish to rent or buy their own home. We manages 22 Retirement for Sale (RFS) and Leasehold Schemes for the Elderly (LSE) across Wales offering a range of prices and localities for those who wish to buy.

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My home DVD - ‘Making every penny count’We are proud to be a member of the North Financial Inclusion Partnership which has recently won two prestigious national awards for it’s ‘My Home…making every penny count’ DVD:

1. Promoting Independence Award 2011 – Service User Involvement Award 2011

2. MoneyActionNet Award 2011

The ‘My Home.. making every penny count’ DVD offers an innovative approach to tackling the day to day financial issues that a tenant may run into when first starting a tenancy with a social landlord.

The film explores the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ approach to money handling and highlights the dangers of adopting a

‘careless’ attitude towards household finances. It also gives practical ideas as to where savings can be made and debt avoided. It particularly highlights the consequences of borrowing from illegal loan sharks and other sources of high cost borrowing.

The DVD is made available to all new housing association residents in north Wales.

The Partnership has representatives from all of the housing associations in north Wales:

• Cartefi Cymunedol Gwynedd• Cartrefi Conwy• Clwyd Alyn Housing Association• North Wales Housing Association• Cymdeithas Tai Clwyd• Cymdeithas Tai Eryri• Wales & West Housing Association

Self-assessment and planning for the future

Like many other housing associations we conduct rigorous self-assessment exercises to look at how well we are performing and to help us plan for the future.

We always welcome constructive feedback about any aspect of our business, our properties, or the services we deliver.

To find out more about our plans and self assessment process please go to: www.wwha.net/AboutUs/CorporateInformation/Performance/InspectionInformation

Wi-fi broadband access for older residents

We are committed to providing broadband WiFi access at all our 100 older persons schemes across Wales within the next two years, investing £1m in the project.

We are already working on a pilot scheme at Ty Pontrhun, one of our retirement schemes in Merthyr Tydfil, in partnership with Welsh provider Boynes. Four lines, routers and boosters will be up and running at the scheme from March 2012 providing 1MG download capacity for each resident. The cost to residents will be an affordable £1 per household per week.

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Take Ctrl

Take Ctrl is a digital inclusion initiative that aims to raise awareness of and provide training in the use and application of digital technologies, as a means of tackling financial inclusion across the whole of North Wales.

It is specifically targeted at three of the four priority groups identified for the Communities 2.0 project.

As the title suggests, the project’s aim is to empower people to make informed choices and to better manage their finances. It’s ultimate goal is to ensure that digital, financial and indeed social exclusion are reduced; to dovetail the approach for dealing with all three and to ensure that the reationale for driving digital take-up to eradicate poverty is firmly embedded in the mind-set of the project’s beneficiaries - from the housing associations’ policy development teams, front-line and broader staff base to their tenants and, indeed, the wider community.

The proposal was put together by a consortium of members from seven of the housing associations that serve the North Wales area - between them the associations have housing stock the length and breadth of North Wales and have a proven track record of working

successfully in partnership on similar initiatives.

The project will run across the whole of the North Wales area.

The main component of the project is the proposed employment of a digital inclusion officer for a two-year period, hosted at WWHA, whose time will be shared proportionately between the organisations and their respective tenants. Her role will broadly incorporate the co-ordination (and sometimes delivery) of direct training and awareness raising; garnering and signposting to existing digital information; devising and adhering to marketing and volunteering strategies; forging links and building future partnerships.

Although the proposal is for a two-year initiative, from its very conception partners have been considering its sustainability and see this very much as the first phase of a much more inclusive project that could bring together existing projects in the area, secure new partners from the public, private and third sectors, and create a model for dealing with exclusion that could be replciated elsewhere.

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Development updateThroughout Wales our £101m fi ve-year development programme is going from strength to strength.

We are now on site, or about to go on site, to start work on more than 250 units in fi ve different local authority areas. These units include general needs housing, extra care, special needs and dementia care accommodation.

We have also recently completed a total of 47 units across Wales including general needs houses and apartments as well as specialist supported housing units.

We’re also piloting our fi rst Try Before You Buy’ initiative with 16 units for affordable rent with the option of purchasing the property, after a year’s successful tenureship.For more information about our development plans please go to:www.wwha.net/ourservices/development

Upskilling with Communities 2.0 and Take CtrlWe’re also working with a number of partners to upskill any of our residents, regardless of age or previous experience, to be able to enjoy the benefi ts of digital technology.

In Merthyr Tydfi l we’re working with Communities 2.0 on the Connect Merthyr Project. This is supporting older people to learn how to use a variety of platforms on the internet inclusing email, Skype, search engines, Twitter and YouTube. It is also helping them to use a variety of other digital equipment including mobile phones, cameras and video cameras.

Welsh Finance minister Jane Hutt visited the project recently to see for herself the incredibly positive impact it is having on its older participants.And in North Wales we are hosting Jen Bailey, co-ordinator of the Take Ctrl Project. This is a partnership between seven housing associations including WWHA. For more details go to: www.takectrl.org

Making a Difference Awards 2012Our fi fth annual Making a Difference Awards will take place on October 19th at The Village Hotel, Coryton, Cardiff.

We welcome nominations from anyone for community-spirited individuals or groups at any time.Our only criteria is that nominees must either be WWHA residents, or working together with WWHA residents, and the nomination process itself is quick and easy.

Those who make the shortlist are invited to our red carpet gala evening where community spirit is recognised with a series of awards.

The categories are: Fresh Start, Local Hero, Good Neighbour, Eco Champion, Green Fingers, Community Champion.

For more details and to make a nomination call Sharon Buckley on 029 20 415363 or email [email protected]

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Mortgage rescueOur mortgage rescue scheme is continuing to have a positive impact on the lives of many householders at risk of repossession.

We are one of the few associations to operate a self-funded scheme now that the grant funding from the Welsh Government has stopped.

We are still experiencing considerable demand and are committed to continuing the mortgage rescue scheme in order to help reduce homelessness.

So far we’ve invested more than £2m in the scheme.

To date WWHA has:

• Purchased 31 properties outright – where the residents have now become our tenants. This includes 3 properties which have been purchased without grant as part of the Associations self funded scheme. A further 4 households have accepted offers of assistance as part of this scheme.

• Completed 26 loans to enable the occupiers to remain in their properties as owners

To fi nd out more our mortgage rescue scheme call freephone 0800 052 2526Or go to: www.wwha.net/OurServicesMortgageRescue/

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The Association has just closed another strong year of fi nancial performance.

Firstly, as part of the new WG regulatory framework, we received a pass for fi nancial viability judgement which is the highest rating awarded and demonstrates that we are adequately resourced to meet current and future business and fi nancial commitments.

Secondly, our results for the year show both a surplus and a positive free cash fl ow. This has allowed us to invest over £30m in the last three years in our existing properties to improve the quality

of our homes.

With a further £10m investment planned this year, we are well on track to meeting the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) by the target date of 2012.

We already have £35m of funding in place to fund future development. Having brought into management 165 newly developed properties this year alone, we have plans to bring in a further 600 over the next 5 years. To do this will require further funding and we are well placed to do this, with low gearing and a large portfolio of unsecured high quality properties on our books.

Strong fi nancial performance for WWHA

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Eco-friendly initiatives

We are committed to being green across our organisation, as well as supporting our residents to be able to enjoy the many benefi ts of being environmentally friendly. and we have just passed our annual Green Dragon audit, reaching Level 2.

We are undertaking a wide range of projects, led by Owen Jones, our Environment & Sustainability Offi cer.

We have been installing Ground Source Heat Pumps at Clos Pontganol, Llangynidr, together with additional sites at Crickhowell, Llanfair Cereinion and Flint. These literally groundbreaking projects are going to have a huge impact in helping residents to save money on their energy bills.

Some residents in Maes Yr Onnen, Crickhowell are currently

paying £150 to £200 per month on their electricity bills, and they are now going to benefi t from new windows, improved insulation and Ground Source Heat Pumps. Further measures such as removing their electric showers and replacing them with mixer showers will also help to reduce their bills.

Ground Source Heat Pumps are amongst the most sustainable space and domestic hot water heating systems currently available and residents will gain from having greater control of their heating and in most cases it will be cheaper to run.

Picured is the fi rst bore hole being started at Clos Pontganol for the installation of the ground source heat pumps.

One of the 10 bore holes will go nearly 200 meters (aproximately 600 feet) down.

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Other projects include:

• Fuel switching

• Continuing to trial voltage optimisation devices

• Working with the Environment Agency to develop fl ood plans for our properties which may be affected.

We’ve also invested more than £15,000 from our Environment Fund in 29 projects across Wales. These are all resident-led projects which have applied to us for grassroots funding.

Projects include developing biodiversity gardens, installation of raised beds for accessible planting,

to purchase of seeds, tools, greenhouses and other equipment.

We are continually working hard to make sure that, where possible, we use and incorporate environmentally friendly technologies into every aspect of our new developments as well as in our refurbishment programmes.

However, uncertainty around funding has unfortunately resulted in us having to put on hold our plans to install solar PV panels on the roofs of our suitable properties. This was due to factors beyond our control and we are among many other social housing providers across the UK in this position.

Picured is the former bin store at Western Court, Bridgend, which has now been transformed by the residents into a greenhouse, thanks to a £200 contribution from the WWHA Environment Fund.

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Awards round-upSince our last edition of Spotlight we’ve gained the following recognition:

• 2012 Sunday Times Best Companies. In 2012 WWHA has been named the top not-for-profit organisation in Wales and ranked 8th, up from 14th in 2011.

We are also the only Welsh housing association to be awarded the coveted three stars award by Best Companies.

“I’m absolutely thrilled that we’ve been recognised as the top not-for-profit organisation in Wales, and, that we’ve made the top ten NFP organisations to work for in the UK. And to have been awarded the highest rating of three stars is fantastic,” says Anne Hinchey.

“We pride ourselves on being a values-driven company – to be fair, open, supportive, efficient and responsible – to our staff as well as everyone with whom, and for whom, we work.

• WWHA were delighted to be named in the Top 30 Family Friendly Firms in the UK by Working Families, an organisation which campaigns for work-life balance. We were one of only two Welsh organisations to make the list which is dominated by blue chip firms.

• Our Stoneleigh Manor More Options Homelessness Project in partnership with Powys County Council won the Cymorth Cymru Promoting Independence

2011 Good Commissioning Award. This project was also shortlisted for a CIH Welsh Housing Award ‘Making Best Use of Stock.”

• North Wales Financial Inclusion Forum, of which we are a member organisation, won the 2011 Promoting Independence Award 2011 Service User Involvement Award for it’s ‘My Home… Making Every Penny Count’ DVD. The DVD has since won a second award – the MoneyActionNet Award 2011 by social action information provider Lemos & Crane.

• WWHA residents have scooped two TPAS Cymru awards. The groups from the Garw Valley, Bridgend, and Barracksfield estate in Wrexham, beat off stiff competition from other social landlords’ groups in Wales.

• Our Powell Road Eco-Friendly Regeneration Project in Flintshire was shortlisted for an Outstanding Achievement in Wales CIH UK Housing Award.

• Our retirement scheme Sydney Hall Court in Connah’s Quay, run by scheme manager Rob Holmes, was shortlisted for The Cinnamon Trust’s Pet Friendly Care Home of the Year Award.

• We’ve achieved the Gold Standard in RSPCA Housing Footprint.

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Employment and training opportunitiesWe are continuing to work in partnership with our contractors and others to provide work and training to people within many of the communities where we work.

Donna Samuel, one of two returners to work who have secured permanent jobs with WWHA thanks to JobMatch, Bridgend. Donna recently met First Minister Carwyn Jones (pictured below) at a local Health and Wellbeing event, and she took the opportunity to explain how fi nding a full-time job had transformed her life.

Many of our contractors have taken on apprentices as a result of the work we commission them to do. Some other example of how we are supporting people to get back into work, include:

• Working with JobMatch to train two dedicated Energy Advisers who will spread the word among residents as to how to get the best fuel deals and how best to cut costs.

• Supporting our contractors and suppliers to create apprenticeships in electrics and window fi tting.

• Creating work placements through JobCentre Plus and the Department of Work and Pensions’Work Programme.

• And we’re exploring what job opportunities we may be able to create through recycling.

New Resident Participation Strategy

We’ve updated our resident Participation strategy. If you’d like to fi nd out more please go to: www.wwha.net/NR/rdonlyres/6C6733C0-FA83-4302-912C-F846D2D3C68F/0/InTouchWinter20112.pdf

Or you can read the strategy in full at: www.wwha.net/NR/rdonlyres/10FD0DC5-E4DD-4B9C-9FC0-EF0F5A83AA1B/0/WHALTPS2011.pdf

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Cate Porter, Housing Manager (Gen. Needs) 01352 [email protected]

Wales & West Housing Association is registered as a charitableassociation under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 No. 21114R

Key

ContactsHead Office

3 Alexandra Gate, Ffordd Pengam, Tremorfa, Cardiff

CF24 2UDTel: 0800 052 2526Fax: 029 2041 5380

Email: [email protected]: 0800 052 5205

Website: www.wwha.net Follow us on @WWHA

Flint OfficeUnit 2 Acorn Business Park Aber Road, Flint, Flintshire CH6 5YN

Anne Hinchey, Chief Executive029 2041 5335

[email protected]

Tony Wilson, Finance Director029 2041 [email protected]

Shayne Hembrow, Operations Director029 2041 5362

[email protected]

STRATEGIC

Lynnette Glover, Head of Housing029 2041 5365

[email protected]

Anne Caloe, Housing Manager (Retirement/Supported Housing)01352 736323

[email protected]

H O U S I N G

Wales & West Housing Association is registered as a charitableassociation under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 No. 21114R

Nikki Cole, Head of Development029 2041 4093

[email protected]

Steve Porter, Head of Property Services029 2041 [email protected]

D E V E LO P M E N T P R O P E RT Y S E R V I C E S

Shayne Hembrow, Operations Director029 2041 5362

[email protected]

HOUSING

spotlight on denbighshire

Documents

denbighshire spring

extra care housing

supply of affordable

denbighshire county

affordable homes

social housing grant

general needs housing

extra care facilities