Housing Association Blog provided by Chevin Housing

Residents at Harrogate Court in Doncaster had a real treat on Wednesday 24th February when a George Formby Tribute act entertained them followed by a lovely winter warming tea.

Stephen Bruines, Scheme Support Officer for Chevin who is based at Harrogate Court applied for funding through Age Concern and Help the Aged Winter Celebrations Grants to put on a winter themed event and was successful in securing £170.

Stephen said "The afternoon was fantastic, over 50 people attended including residents, their families and friends.  It gave everyone the opportunity to get together and have some fun and some lovely food.  I am so pleased we were able to tap in to the funding which enabled us to do something different."

A Chevin tenant has been successful in setting up the Leeds Somali Centre. Mr Nur along with a friend, identified that although the schools were good, many of the Somali youngsters were struggling to get a full grasp of the language and this was affecting their ability to pick up skills in maths and the sciences

Mr Nur approached Chevin Housing to see if they could help him start up some classes for youngsters.  Glenn Burton, Community Development Officer was quick to help out in the first instance by providing the group with a constitution and child protection policy. 

Chevin were also able to help out with some funding for the cost of room hire to run classes, explain the CRB process and cover the costs of CRB checks

The group now has around 30 pupils aged between 7-15years attending classes four afternoons a week.  Three volunteer Somali tutors teach the youngsters English and Maths and they have ambitions to expand further into adult training.  The lessons not only benefit the youngsters but also their parents and other family members. Many of the adults only have basic English and it is clear that a two way learning process is happening at home.

Mr Hussein Nur said ''Most of our community are new to the area and to help with learning we decided to set up after school classes run by volunteers. We appreciate the help we have had from Chevin to get us to this stage. All of the children really enjoy coming to the classes and the results are starting to show in school.  The project is now registered with the Centre for Supplementary Education and has achieved bronze level and we are hoping to gain Silver in the near future.

Glenn Burton, Community Development Officer at Chevin said ‘'The group are well organised and just needed some help to start up. Their activities are very much of value to the young people of the area and are a good example of what the community can do in terms of self help given some support.  Chevin's support has been complemented by working with West Yorkshire Police and Leeds City Council 'Prevent' Project.

Photographed: Youngsters at the classes learning English, Maths and Science.

Sid Stairs, a resident of Harrogate Court in Doncaster (Chevin Housing Association's extra care scheme) has been shortlisted from more than 300 entries for the 2010 Housing Heroes Awards. These awards are in their second year and will once again shine the spotlight on the people and teams that are doing great work in the social/affordable housing sector.

Sid is now one of six finalists left in the running for the Inspirational Tenant of the Year Award. 

The event is organised by Inside Housing magazine and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), and attracted a phenomenal response with submissions from the length and breadth of the UK.

The winners will be revealed at a glittering awards ceremony at London's Hilton Hotel on 14 May hosted by TV presenter, Antarctic explorer and Atlantic rower Ben Fogle. The awards are sponsored by Campbell Tickell, EMA, Asset Skills, Synergy Group and The Hire Standard. Last year more than 700 people attended.

Howard Farrand, the President of the CIH said he was amazed by the fantastic people working in the housing sector. "Our sector spends a great deal of time talking about policy and strategy, business plans and budgets, our visions and our mission statements. Of course all of these things are really important. But in my experience it is the extraordinary people that do fantastic work for our customers that make the real difference. So I want to congratulate every finalist for getting this far in these awards. It was extremely tightly contested, and I look forward to helping to unveil the eventual winners in May."

Inside Housing's events director Ted Stevens said: "All the finalists have done brilliantly in getting this far. Well done to Sid for getting shortlisted. The competition was really fierce with more than 40 entries in some categories."

Janice Poole, Scheme Manager for Chevin Housing commented "Sid's entry outlines how he set up a shop within the scheme for the residents and the local community.  We have experienced the worst winter in many years and without Sid taking an active lead in the shop lots of people would not have been able to get essentials – it has proved to be a real life-line.    We are all proud that Sid has been shortlisted for this award.  The shop has made such a difference, not only to Sid's life, but to residents on the scheme and the wider community.  His motivation and enthusiasm is truly inspirational".

Photographed: Sid (front left) with two other residents who help with the running of the shop.