Y-Base Magazinecreated for you, by you

Designed and produced by YMCA England inpartnership with the National Tenant Forum.

ONE Spring 09

Helloooo to you Y-Base

But Y-Base is more than just anotheryouth magazine, because you’re going tomake it happen. Each edition will becreated for you, by you, making sure thearticles in it contain the stuff you want toread. And there’s another bonus: it givesyou the chance to show us and the worldyour creative talents, while learning newskills at the same time.

S o u n d g o o d ?W e t h i n k s o .

I f y o u ’ r e l i v i n gi n Y M C A E n g l a n dh o u s i n g t h e n Y - B a s e i s t h e p l a c ef o r y o u .

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How it all beganY-Base p3

S o h o w d i d i ta l l s t a r t ?At the end of 2008, YMCA England’sHousing Department started a National Tenant Forum. The group, consisting of young peoplefrom all over England who currently live inYMCA England accommodation, meetstogether to discuss issues related toYMCA housing, giving young people a sayin what improvements need to be made.

How can I have my say on housing issues?If you’re currently living in YMCA Englandaccommodation, you could join theNational Tenant Forum and tell us whatwe need to be doing to make your staybetter. You voice will be at the heart ofYMCA housing, making sure your needsare a priority every step of the way.

What will I get out of it?Joining the National Tenant Forum canopen up loads of opportunities. Not onlywill your voice be heard concerning yourYMCA’s facilities; you will also be able toinfluence the future work of YMCAEngland across the country.

The YMCA even offers training so you canlearn about the mysteries of social housingand develop a whole range of new skills.

Drop Jenny an email atjenny.oskiera@england.ymca.org.uk andshe can give you all the information youneed. You can also check out the websiteat www.housing.ymca.org.uk.

How it all began Y-Basep4

S o w h e r e d o e st h e m a g a z i n ec o m e i n ?We believe Y-Base shouldn’t just beabout u s telling y o u what’s goingon. It should also be a space wherey o u can tell u s how your YMCA isdoing: what’s going well, and where itcan improve.

How do I get involved?If you want to be involved in Y-Base, youcan join our Editorial Team or simplysubmit photos or articles for futureeditions. Give me (Sally) a shout atsally.draper@england.ymca.org.uk andwe can have a chat about what you’dlike to do.

How will it work?If you do decide to join our EditorialTeam, you will play a major role in creatingeach issue of Y-Base; gathering stories,writing articles, taking photos andproviding input on the look and feel.Eventually, we hope the Editorial Team willalso elect a Youth Editor who will beresponsible for coordinating the work ofthe Editorial Team. And if that all soundsa bit daunting, don’t worry, my colleagueBen and I will be on hand to guide youthrough the entire process.

What can I get out of it?We wouldn’t want you to spend loads oftime and effort on a project without gettingsomething in return. If you decide tobecome a contributor to Y-Base, you’llhave solid evidence of your creative workin print for others to see. It’s also abrilliant way to develop skills in writing,photography and reporting. And if youbecome a member of the Y-Base EditorialTeam, there’s an added bonus. We may beable to arrange with your YMCA to provideYouth Achievement Awards (or equivalent),helping you to build your experience incommunications and publishing.

So what are you waiting for? Join the Y-Base team and put yourcreative skills to use.

I t ’ s y o u r f u t u r e :m a k e i t h a p p e n .

Y-Care?Y-Base p5

Well for one, nobody wants run-downbuildings, damp walls and ancientcomputers. In other words, if you feel yourYMCA isn’t up to scratch, why keep quiet?

Over of you find YMCA staff helpful

of you

don’t likeyour communal areas

like the quality of

your housing

of you don’tthink your

voice is heard

Recently, nearly 300 of you did just theopposite by filling in our SatisfactionSurvey. By telling us what you thought, wewere able to get a good idea of whereimprovements are needed.

S o w h a t d i d t h e s u r v e y r e v e a l ?

A g r e e ? D i s a g r e e ? If you’ve had a negative experience, make sure you have your say by using the complaints process at your YMCA.

S o , y care about the quality of your housing service?

Y-Care? Y-Basep6

Y-Care?Y-Base p7

Your feed back, our performance Y-Basep8

H o w a r e w e d o i n g ?During the year we collect data which tells us if we’re meeting the standards expectedby you and our regulators (the Tenant Services Authority).

RepairsWe partly measure our repairs performance by the

percentage completed within target times. We aim for:

- All emergency repairs (100%) to be completed

within 24 hours;

- All urgent repairs (100%) to be completed within

5 working days;

- All routine repairs (100%) to be completed within

28 working days.

Rent ArrearsWe measure unpaid rent and service charges as a

percentage of ‘gross annual rent debit’.

This is the maximum amount of money we would be

entitled to if all the rooms were fully occupied the whole

year. We aim for a total of 6%, broken down as follows:

- Money owed by residents still living at the YMCA to

be no more than 4% of annual rent debit.

- Money owed by former residents who have moved on

to be no more than 2% of annual rent debit.

Tenant SatisfactionAside from the annual survey, we also monitor your

satisfaction levels in relation to some things on a monthly

basis. Some of our targets are:

- All applicants – whether refused or accepted as new

residents – to be satisfied with our applications

procedure.

- At least 8 in 10 residents who have repairs done to be

completely satisfied with our service, in terms of speed

and quality of the completed repair.

- All residents who make a complaint to be satisfied with

our complaints procedure and for at least 8 in 10 to be

happy with the final outcome, i.e. what we did about it.

● Our service standards feature in ourResidents’ Charter, which can be foundon posters around your YMCA, in yourresidents’ handbook and on our website.

● We set ourselves targets as one way tomeasure whether we are meeting theCharter. We call these Key PerformanceIndicators [KPIs].

● These KPIs let you know how we’redoing. They also give you a chance tochallenge us if you think we can dobetter. A taster is shared below. You willalso find a full report (updated to theend of December 2008) on the websitein early February.

We’re not quite meeting these targets yet – but the performance is improving andsatisfaction from those who have fed back this year is 99%.

So far this yearwe’re not meeting these targets, with nearly 10%

overdue.

By paying your rent on

time, you help us

continue to provide an afford

able housing service to those

who need it. Please get in touch

with local staff if you are having

problems paying rent.

So far this year, your feedback says we’re meeting

these targets.Thanks to the 1 in 3 of you who have been returning

feedback forms this year. We would love to hear from

the rest of you as well. If you would prefer to, give your

views in person to a staff member, or email us:

admin.housing@england.ymca.org.uk