Housing Association Blog provided by Chevin Housing

Staff, residents, partners and board members of Chevin Housing Association (a member of the Together Housing Group) were all delighted when on Saturday 18th June 2011 the South Kirkby Construction Skills Certification (CSCS) project came away with 2 awards from the National Housing Federation's regional ‘What we are proud of awards'.

Presentations by finalists took place at The Royal York Hotel in York with the South Kirkby project winning the ‘Best impact on residents' and Best contribution to the local community' category awards for the Yorkshire and Humberside Region.

The project was set up by Chevin tenant – Peter Buttree who identified a need that local people were missing out on construction jobs simply because they didn't possess the CSCS card.  Peter initiated contact with partners Chevin Housing Association, the Coalfield Regeneration Trust, re'new Leeds, Bramall Construction, Wakefield District Housing, Yorkshire Housing and the South Kirkby Residents Association arranging twice weekly walk in training sessions to access training materials and the card itself. 

To date over 60 young people have been awarded the card with over half of those obtaining employment.

Michelle Park, Yorkshire and Humberside Lead Manager at the National Housing Federation said: "I am delighted that Chevin Housing Association's CSCS card project in South Kirkby took home two of the brand new category awards at the regional ‘What we are proud of award' finals 2011. The 'Best impact on residents' and 'Best contribution to the local community' categories were established to help show the range and diversity of work our members are involved in.

This is a great achievement and really highlights the impact the South Kirkby Construction Skills Certification project has made. They show that housing associations are about so much more than bricks and mortar, they are investing in individuals, communities and neighbourhoods. Projects such as this, helping boost skills and employment, are now more vital than ever".

Peter Buttree said "We are very excited at winning the categories.  It's a prime example of partnership working at its best and everybody involved deserves the praise and recognition for all of their hard work".

Steve Close, Executive Director of Chevin Housing said "We are so pleased that the South Kirkby project has won two category awards and proud of what has been achieved in South Kirkby through the Community House.  The centre is very popular and the facilities which are open to the local community are well used, it is very satisfying to hear residents talk of how the centre has improved their quality of life. The awards recognise the work put in by a number of people and organisations but one individual, Peter Buttree should be singled out for his pioneering work in the area on a wide range of community initiatives".

Photographed: Peter Buttree (on the right) collecting his awards from Brian Leech of Morrisons who are sponsors of the awards.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 23rd, 2011 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Housing News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.