Posted on December 23rd, 2021 by void
Our supported housing scheme for families in Coventry had some special visitors yesterday!
Safer Neighbourhoods Officer Ian Moreton made an appearance as Santa to put smiles on the faces of children living at our supported housing scheme previously known as Frank Walsh House.
Ian was joined by his three Elves and The Grinch to the delight of all the children.
Working with the scheme’s support service P3 we have secured donated Christmas presents for all the children at the scheme this Christmas.
Local charities including the Salvation Army, Free Radio and The Giving Tree donated presents as well as selection boxes and advent calendars to make this Christmas extra special for all our families.
Housing Support Team Leader Martin Hancox says: “What a fantastic day it’s been at the scheme today. It’s been a pleasure working with P3 to put on such a special event for all our families.
“Christmas can be a tough time for many. It’s so important we ensure our families try to make the most of the festive season.
“I can’t thank all the charities enough for their support and of course Ian who dressed up as the big man himself to make Christmas the magical time it should be for all children!
“Thank you so much to everyone involved and Merry Christmas!”
Sophie Buckly, who lives our supported housing scheme, says: “What a lovely day it’s been! My children have had the best time meeting Santa and his Elves and the presents they received were the icing on the cake! It’s just perfect.
“To think that Martin and his team and P3 have been working hard to get donations that are the right age for all the children who live here is lovely. It really does mean the world to us.
“I can’t thank everyone at Citizen enough for putting on this special event today. It’s made our Christmas!”
“I can’t thank everyone at Citizen enough for putting on this special event today. It’s made our Christmas!”
Our supported housing scheme in Coventry, previously know as Frank Walsh House, supports families with support needs throughout the City.
Alongside the council, the 44 flats at the scheme were initially used to help individuals with support needs during the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
We’re delighted that families have now moved into the accommodation.
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Posted on December 21st, 2021 by Elaine Davies
Customers living in our Birmingham retirement living schemes took part in a café event to reduce feelings of loneliness.
The event called Fancy a Brew was organised by Groundwork West Midlands and took place at Chiswick House for customers living in nearby blocks to attend.
Customers were invited to have a drink, biscuit and a chat with each other.
Groundwork West Midlands Green Doctor project also attended the sessions to advise customers on how to keep warm while saving money as well as providing them with free winter warm packs which included hot water bottles, socks and blankets.
Customers attended the event and said it was good to speak to their fellow neighbours.
Linley Maynard said: “I think this event is a great idea as it’s Christmas and people may be feeling lonely, and this is a good event to reduce that.”
Customer Katie Whitehouse said: “I have enjoyed coming down and I have enjoyed the company. The people who run it are very kind and helpful and I have been able to meet people here.”
John Williams added: “It’s very nice to have an event like this and a lovely gesture. It’s very hard with covid what we are going through and events like this bring joy.”
Our Neighbourhood Officer Dexter Edmonds said: “It’s been lovely to see our customers attend the Fancy a Brew event and see them socialise with each other.
“Chiswick House was chosen as customers living there, and in the surrounding blocks, are older because the schemes are for people over 55 – and this is one of the groups who have experienced isolation during the covid 19 pandemic. It’s brilliant to see customers attend and it’s great to hear feedback that they enjoyed it.”
We worked with Groundwork West Midlands to first start the Fancy a Brew scheme two years ago after being awarded £60,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund. The aim was to reduce isolation in customers living in Birmingham.
Youth and Community Project Officer at Groundwork West Midlands Sami Shaw said: “We also chose Chiswick House as it has a lovely communal area where in the past the residents have had their own activities including bingo, knitting, jumble sales and keep fit. Unfortunately, these activities have petered out, but we are hoping that our Fancy a Brew events will act as a catalyst to re-establish these resident-led activities.
“The response to the first event was really good. The residents were all very appreciative that we put this on for them. One of the residents even went around knocking on doors letting people know what we were putting on for them because he thought it was a great idea and that as many people should get involved as possible!
“A lot of the attendees spoke to our Green Doctor and went away with some great tips on reducing their heating bills without sacrificing their comfort, so I feel like the impact of the event has gone above and beyond our primary goal of providing opportunities to socialise.
“We also helped one of the residents apply online for a NHS Covid Pass letter, as she had been worried that she wouldn’t be able to celebrate Christmas as planned without one and wasn’t sure how to go about getting one. It only took five minutes, but she really appreciated it and is looking forward to using it, so I’m really glad that I was able to help her. This is exactly why we’ve held the events.”
In total three sessions were held for our customers to take part in during the run up to Christmas.
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Posted on December 13th, 2021 by Elaine Davies
We are offering four work placements as part of the Government’s national Kickstart Scheme.
The Kickstart Scheme provides funding to employers to create jobs for 16 to 24-year-olds on Universal Credit and who are at risk of long-term unemployment.
The scheme has been created to support them in finding employment. This is done by giving them work placement opportunities so they can gain work experience, learn new skills, and improve their long-term employment prospects.
We have successfully gained HMRC approval to bid for funding for four placements as part of the scheme which will last six months. The funding available for each placement covers the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours per week.
Our Head of Learning Development Lisa Robertson said we work with our broker, the Colebridge Trust, who refer applications to us after working with the Job Centre to identify potential candidates who fit criteria for our work placements.
She said: “We have recruited two posts already – one in the Grounds Maintenance team, who started working with us December 1 and one placement within the Learning and Development Team who will be starting with us in the New Year.
“The two other placements are in the Estates Team doing administration work and one in the Customer Service Team.
“They are six-month placements working 25 hours per week. The scheme is currently in place until end March 2022 so individuals must start with us prior to this date.”
Lisa said those who are selected will also gain employment support and receive help with CV building from the Colebridge Trust.
She added: “The Kickstart Scheme was introduced earlier this year. The work placement funding has just been extended from 31st December 2021 to end March 2022. It may end then or the Government may choose to extend it, no announcement has been made yet.
“It is important to support young people from our communities who are at risk of long-term unemployment to gain work experience and to give experience to those that wouldn’t usually get it.
“The placements provide a gateway into our apprenticeship scheme and other job roles at Citizen. Providing these opportunities for young people in our communities demonstrates our ongoing commitment to being a responsible employer.”
Find out more about the Kickstart scheme here and visit our jobs section of the website here.
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Posted on December 8th, 2021 by Elaine Davies
We have been working in partnership with Coventry College and so far have four apprentices with them.
Throughout 2020 and 2021 we have recruited several apprentices to support talent development and succession planning in our organisation.
Recently we recruited four apprentices who work in our Maintenance team including Planning Team Apprentice Leah Sanders, Carpenter Apprentices Ciaran Lawless and Max Hodgson, and Plumbing Apprentice Luke Hughes.
The apprentices said that choosing an apprenticeship as a career path has been a good choice.
Leah said: “I believe by choosing an apprenticeship was the best option for me as I get the full support needed from the college side when gaining my qualification, while also getting the working life experience from being in the workplace.”
Ciaran said: “I feel as if an apprenticeship is a good career path for me because it has helped improve my trade skills and after my course, I will have completed an NVQ within carpentry that I will be able to use everyday in my life within the future.”
Luke added: “The thought of an apprenticeship intrigued me because it would give me the opportunity to gain a recognised qualification while gaining on-hand experience. But also, because it avoids the heavy load of debt that follows university!”
We are committed to supporting apprenticeship programmes and will be looking at where it can shape the future needs of Citizen. We want to ensure that we have a pipeline of people wanting to learn new skills and start their careers with Citizen.
Our Head of Learning Development Lisa Robertson said: “We have been pleased to be able to extend our apprenticeship offer during 2021 and want to increase our apprenticeship numbers in 2022.
“Our apprenticeship programme supports Citizen’s objective of being an employer of choice by supporting talent development and progression planning within Citizen. Our apprenticeships have been a great way to bring in new skills that are tailored to Citizen needs, from individuals who are motivated to learn and want to progress in a career with Citizen.
“It has been really great that we can work in partnership with Coventry College to support our apprenticeship scheme.’’
We have also working with Walsall College to provide Maintenance Operation apprentices. We would like to welcome Callum Doust, Lewis Moodie and Sam Duggan to Citizen too.
Keep an eye on the jobs section of our website where all our apprenticeship vacancies are being advertised.
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Posted on December 7th, 2021 by Elaine Davies
A new Director of Building Safety role has been created on our leadership team and recruitment starts today.
The new post will sit on our Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and will play a crucial role in transforming our building safety function and making sure that we meet current and new legislation and regulatory requirements.
The change will see Paul Baker, currently our Director of Asset Management and Safety, become our Director of Assets. Meanwhile some teams, including our Health and Safety Team, will move under the new building safety directorate. All colleagues affected by the change have been informed.
Mads Nelson, our Chief Operating Officer, said: “Building safety is a hugely important part of our work and the requirements of the Building Safety Bill will be significant and wide-ranging for us.
“Our assets function is already huge and there are plenty of big challenges in this area of the business too, including the zero carbon agenda. We need a new director of building safety to lead this extremely important function, rather than group these crucial disciplines together.
“We’re looking for an experienced and passionate professional who wants to make a difference and who can bring a fresh perspective to our organisation.
“This is an exciting role and we look forward to seeing who applies.”
The deadline for applications is 3 January and interviews will take place on 12 January.
Find out more in our flipbook here and visit our jobs section of the website here.
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Posted on December 3rd, 2021 by Elaine Davies
The first homes at our York Road development in Birmingham have been completed and are being handed over to customers before Christmas.
The development is made up of 87 affordable homes – 21 are shared ownership and 66 are affordable rent.
The brownfield site used to be a former UTC Aerospace System facility – the Birmingham base of the US aerospace and defence company but has now been transformed.
We worked with Vistry Partnerships on the homes which were built using a Modern Method of Construction by using timber frames.
The frames which make up the external and internal stud walls, floor joists and roof trusses are built offsite and are then transported to the site.
Our Executive Director of Development Nick Byrne said: “We are pleased to see the first homes at our York Road development are finished and will be handed over to our customers before Christmas.
“We hope our customers moving into the properties love their new homes and have happy memories there.
“Using timber frames allows us to deliver better performing homes in terms of higher energy efficiency and a reduced environmental impact as they are built at a quicker pace. The timber is also created using natural and renewable materials which helps towards our goal of making net zero carbon homes a reality.
“Homes England, who released the site to us, are committed to advancing the use of Modern Methods of Construction so the use of timber frame construction was agreed for the site. This also fitted in with Citizen’s commitment to utilising Modern Methods of Construction.”
Our York Road development is one of five sites that we are working on with Vistry Partnerships. The others include the 600-home development at Lea Castle, a 246-home development at Churchfields in Kidderminster, an 82-home scheme at Ridge Hill in Dudley, and the recently completed 210 home Hall Green development in Birmingham.
Regional Managing Director at Vistry Partnerships Darren Beale said: “We are pleased to see the first homes completed at York Road and are looking forward to when customers move in.
“It’s been great to work with Citizen on another development and we are excited to see our other developments progress too.”
York Road is due to be completed by early Spring 2022.
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Posted on December 3rd, 2021 by Elaine Davies
We have been awarded a Bronze Accreditation Award by the Customer Contact Association (CCA) for successfully maintaining CCA accreditation for five consecutive years.
CCA is the leading global authority on customer contact strategies and operations. Their operational excellence programme is designed to recognise and reward leading practice in customer service operations.
The CCA assess the customer service of organisations across the globe including companies such as Sky, the BBC, and Barclays Bank.
This year the CCA assessor was particularly impressed with our approach to wellbeing including our Tenant Support and Wellbeing Service for all our customers; our Cognito training tool which shows areas that colleagues have strong knowledge in and where they can improve; and our pioneering initiative in Customer Services which allows Customer Service Advisors to pick their own shifts.
Our Customer Service Manager Service Delivery Monika Dombek said: “We’re delighted to receive this accreditation which shows we are doing a great job in the Customer Service team and beyond.
“I want to thank colleagues in Customer Services who put in a huge amount of work to prepare for this and the previous assessments and to colleagues across the business particularly IT, HR, and our Learning and Development colleagues.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Lourdes for taking us all on the journey to achieve this award. Her support and encouragement have been amazing!
“Recognition like this reminds us how much progress we have made over the past five years.
“I am immensely proud of the Customer Service team who have been committed to delivering the great service the CCA has congratulated us on over the last five years. We would not have passed any of the five assessments without you. You can upskill, train, and give employees knowledge – but you cannot train them on how to care – and you all do care, so thank you. Let’s start getting ready for next year’s accreditation!”
You can find out more about the CCA here.
Congratulations to our Customer Service team!
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