Posted on June 28th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
We’ve been named in Inside Housing’s Top 50 Biggest Builders list for the third year running!
The survey ranks housing associations by their total number of completions in 2021/2022.
This year we are ranked at number 33 after completing 467 affordable homes. Of these 185 were affordable rent homes, 161 were social rent homes and 121 were shared ownership.
We ranked at number 17 in terms of the number of social rent homes delivered in 2021/2022 and at number 19 in terms of the number of homes expected to be completed in 2022/2023 with 816 homes.
Our Executive Director of Development Nick Byrne said:
“We’re really pleased to have appeared in Inside Housing’s Biggest Builders list again.
“Completing on 467 homes last financial year is impressive if you consider the challenges we were up against with our developments including rising costs, the supply chain crisis, labour shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s particularly pleasing to see us at number 17 in terms of the number of social rent homes we delivered last financial year and I really hope we can achieve our ambitious target of delivering 816 homes this financial year.
“We are a Midlands based housing association and it’s great to see our work being recognised alongside other national builders in the top 50 who work across a much larger area. Well done to everyone in the team and keep up the good work!”
You can view the Inside Housing Biggest Builders list here.
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Posted on June 23rd, 2022 by Elaine Davies
We’re working with waste management company ‘Recycling Lives’ to manage waste at our St James’ Lane office.
Last year 97% of the waste leaving St James Lane was recycled meaning only 3% had to be landfilled. Our Maintenance and Ground Maintenance Teams across Coventry produced over 684 tonnes of waste last year – the equivalent of emptying over 650 household wheelie bins per week! The waste produced comes from the repair and renewal of kitchens and bathrooms and the renewal of doors and fencing. It also includes general household and garden waste.
Recycling Lives are a social value enterprise and for each £1.00 we spend with them, £2.64 in social value is generated. This means that through our relationship with Recycling Lives we are able to support local communities through various community support programmes that are run as part of their social value schemes.
These support programmes include:
- Feeding communities through their food redistribution programme by redistributing surplus stock from supermarkets and suppliers to charities. This stops food being thrown away and ending up in landfill. The contribution from our spend with Recycling Lives provided 1,769 meals last year
- Reducing reoffending by supporting rehabilitation programmes and supporting a wide range of community-based programmes
- Providing accommodation and training for men experiencing homelessness. Recycling Lives support residents as they grow in confidence and gain new skills ready to move into a good job and stable home of their own.
Our Environmental and Sustainability Manager John Kyffin-Hughes says: “At St James Lane the waste is segregated into specific skips. This ensures that we recycle or recover as much waste as possible.
“I am extremely proud that we have achieved a 97% recycling rate at St James’ Lane – it’s a fantastic achievement and the teams involved should be really proud.
“Our Maintenance Operations Support Manager Scott Fincham works closely with Recycling Lives to maintain this high recycling rate and has recently introduced additional segregation measures to further improve recycling at source and to reduce our waste disposal costs.
“It’s extremely important to consider how we can positively impact the environment through sustainability best practices.
“Our procurement team helped us to secure the contract with Recycling Lives. Recycling Lives were selected when considering procurement’s objective of maximising the economic, social, and environmental benefits for the communities in which we operate to ensure we can contribute, and have a positive impact, to the communities that we work in.
“As a social housing organisation with a strong social purpose it is very important to us that we work with companies that are aligned with our social values. Recycling Lives is a perfect fit for Citizen!”
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Posted on June 21st, 2022 by Elaine Davies
We partnered with Women into Construction (WiC) West Midlands to deliver a bespoke information event about our Women into Construction programme.
The event took place earlier this month at The Techno Centre in Coventry and was open to women of all ages with no prior experience of working in the industry necessary.
Over 20 women expressed interest in the programme and over 10 women attended the event. The session explained our Women into Construction programme, gave all attendees the opportunity to meet representatives from Citizen and WiC and enabled us to showcase the opportunities we have available for placements and employment in our Assets, Development and Maintenance Operations teams.
Representatives from our Asset Management, Development, Maintenance Operations and Organisational Development teams attended the event and our Director of Maintenance Operations Steve Kirk, our Director of Asset Management Paul Baker and Interim Director of People Rachel Thomason presented to the group outlining who Citizen are, why we matter, and what it means to work for us.
Building Surveyor Shelly Barr, Maintenance Supervisor Lauren Whittle and Gas Service Manager Julie Osbourne also attended and shared their experiences as women working in construction.
Our Interim Director of People, Rachel Thomason, said: “The event was a fantastic opportunity to support women into the construction industry.
“Collaborating with Women into Construction has enabled us to showcase our Women into Construction programme to a vast network of talented women interested in working in construction and looking for a platform to progress.
“The partnership is fantastic news for Citizen as it clearly demonstrates our commitment towards attracting, engaging, and retaining women in our workforce.
“As a member of Women into Construction we can advertise our job vacancies through their website, giving us the opportunity to significantly increase the number of women working in teams such as Asset Management, Maintenance Operations and Development.
“The event was a huge success with lots of women interested in our Women into Construction programme. We were impressed by the enthusiasm and talented women who attended the event. We were also delighted that a few fully qualified trades women joined us, and we are hoping they will be interested in a placement with us.
“I’m really proud that we’re playing a role in facilitating good-practice and raising awareness of the Women into Construction agenda across the West Midlands.”
What is our Women into Construction programme?
It’s a five-week programme starting on Monday 4 July 2022 and includes:
• Training in Level 1 Health and Safety – leading to a CSCS card which is essential for working on-site
• Personalised 1-2-1 support from Women into Construction – including covering transport and childcare costs
• Two-week work placement with Citizen
What happens after the five-week programme?
If candidates successfully complete the programme, they will be offered further remote mentoring and the chance to apply for a variety of available positions such as:
• Plumbing
• Carpentry
• Painter and Decorator
• Electrician
• Tenant Liaison Manager
• Gas Service Manager
Who are Women into Construction?
Women Into Construction is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that promotes gender equality in construction. They provide bespoke support to women wishing to work in the construction industry and assist to recruit highly motivated, trained women, helping to reduce skills gaps and create a more gender-equal work force.
Their vision is to be the construction industry’s organisation of choice for women and contractors, and to change the face of construction, normalising the position of women in the construction industry.
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Posted on June 17th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
We’ve been shortlisted for a CIPD People Management Award
Live Work Better, our approach to how we work at Citizen, has been shortlisted for the Best Flexible Working Initiative award at the Chartered Institute of People Development (CIPD) People Management Awards.
The CIPD People Management Awards are the benchmark of excellence for the HR and People Development profession.
We launched Live Work Better in June last year following the most wide-ranging staff consultation exercise we have ever conducted at Citizen. Colleagues’ voices from across our organisation have been at the heart of this project and the feedback we have received to date has been fantastic including:
- 77% said that Live Work Better is helping you to work more productively
- 74% said that Live Work Better is helping with your work life balance
- 66% said that overall Live Work Better has been beneficial to your team
- 68% said that Live Work Better has had a positive impact on Citizen’s culture
- 75% said that overall Live Work Better is beneficial to Citizen
- 75% said that Live Work Better is helping Citizen become a more appealing place to work.
Our Interim Head of HR Nicky Hulse said: “I’m delighted that Live Work Better has been recognised in the CIPD People Management Awards, the most prestigious awards for the HR and People Development profession.
“Since the launch of Live Work Better we have made huge progress with making our new way of working come to life for colleagues and I think the principles really work.
“We’ve launched our new online booking system Cloudbooking; revealed our plans for our 4040 office; changed policies to reflect Live Work Better following consultations with colleagues and we’re continuously improving our IT set up to ensure everyone has the right equipment to do their roles effectively.
“I’m really proud of everything we have achieved in the last 18 months, and I’d like to thank our Live Work Better Steerco who have been committed to driving forward this project and making it a huge success.”
Chief Financial Officer and Live Work Better Project Sponsor Gary Booth said: “I’m thrilled we’ve been shortlisted for the CIPD Best Flexible Working Initiative award. It’s really pleasing to see the positive impact Live Work Better is having on colleagues and teams across our organisation.
“We have always made it clear that we want everyone at Citizen to have the best balance they can between their personal life and their work, within the scope of their role, because we know this benefits both our colleagues and customers.
“It’s great to see Live Work Better delivering on this and that the majority of people believe it is having a positive impact on theirs and their teams work life balance and performance.
“This award and how Live Work Better has been received across our organisation is testament to the hard work our Live Work Better Steerco have put into this project. I’d like to thank everyone involved and I’ve got my fingers crossed for the final ceremony!”
The 2022 winners of the CIPD People Management Awards will be revealed during a black-tie awards dinner at the Grosvenor Hotel, Park Lane, London on Thursday 22 September.
Find out who else made the shortlist for the CIPD People Management Awards here.
Well done everyone and good luck!
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Posted on June 16th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
Last Thursday (9 June) we held our first Away Day for our customer Scrutiny Panel. The panel was joined by members of the Customer Assurance Committee.
It’s really important that our work matches up to the expectations of our customers and through our Scrutiny Panel we involve our customers in the creation and scrutiny of our services, ensuring the voice of our customers is reflected in everything we do.
The Away Day was facilitated by the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) and focused on the changes in legislation currently influencing the social housing sector; the nine-step process undertaken to complete scrutiny reviews and a discussion about how the Customer Assurance Committee and Scrutiny Panel would like to work together moving forwards.
Our Chief Operating Officer Mads Nelson said: “Our new Scrutiny Panel is responsible for ensuring that the customer voice is heard by Citizen in a formal governance capacity in line with the Charter for Social Housing Residents’ White Paper requirements and the regulatory standards.
“It is so important to ensure our customers’ voices and views are heard at both executive and board level and that colleagues have the opportunity to engage with and listen to the views of our Scrutiny Panel. Our Scrutiny Panel are hoping to do up to three reviews a year and I’m colleagues will welcome their feedback on our services.
“It was fantastic to see everyone together and to get members thinking about how they will carry out scrutiny reviews and how they will interact and work together to ensure our customers’ voices and views are always being heard and acted upon. I’m excited about the future of our customer engagement and the positive difference these two bodies will have on Citizen.
“Our Citizen First customer service programme recognises that all feedback is invaluable and scrutiny reviews will provide another way of us getting this vital feedback.”
Customer Assurance Committee Chair and Board member Helen Scarrett said: “The best thing about our Scrutiny Panel is the diverse and committed group of customers. The views and ideas they share at each meeting gives us a new outlook and we make progress with every meeting.
“Both the Scrutiny Panel and Customer Assurance Committee will be instrumental in driving forward changes to services provided by Citizen to its customers, making them much more effective.
“This Away Day was the first meeting of the Scrutiny Panel and was the first time since the Customer Assurance Committee have met in-person since it was established in March 2021. It was great to see everyone and I’m really excited about the future.”
Scrutiny Panel member Janey Lansdell said: “I found the day engaging and relaxed. Not too much information and plenty of opportunity for communication with the other members.
“I feel enthused by the chance to have a positive impact on the customer experience at Citizen. I look forward to being able to bring my personal skills and experience to the group.”
Customer Assurance Committee member Rosie Pocklington said: “I found the day really interesting and inspiring.
“I have a much clearer understanding of what scrutiny is now, and how the Customer Assurance Committee can work with the Scrutiny Panel to improve the services Citizen offers.
“It was good to meet other members and the training was really informative and engaging. It was a day well spent.”
Following the Away Day, the Scrutiny Panel will continue with its learning around the scrutiny process and will complete up to three scrutiny reviews this financial year.
They will initially be investigating our void standard and the review will begin with a briefing from Directors and Heads of Service in July 2022.
The outcome of this review will be presented to the Customer Assurance Committee and our Board detailing their findings together with recommendations.
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Posted on June 15th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
Sarah Thompson will be joining our Senior Leadership Team (SLT) as our new Director of Communications on Tuesday 16 August.
Sarah joins us from Honeycomb Group where she has worked for the last nine years, leading the Communications team for the last five years as Head of Communications and Engagement.
During her time at Honeycomb Group, Sarah has delivered marketing, communications, engagement and equality, diversity and inclusion strategies. She led on the rebrand of the organisation, transformed staff engagement and internal communications, as well as significantly increasing brand awareness, social media reach, and customer engagement.
Prior to working at Honeycomb Group Sarah worked in communications at Moorlands Housing and Arch North Staffs, a domestic abuse and homeless charity.
Sarah said: “I started my career in housing back in 2004 after realising that the private sector wasn’t for me and I needed a role and an organisation that had real purpose, with values that matched my own.
“I can’t wait to become a Citizen and be a part of a fantastic organisation that has a strong social purpose. I’ve always believed that housing is a right, not a privilege and because of this I want to play a role in making sure Citizen is successful in its mission to provide homes that are a foundation for life.”
Our Chief Executive Kevin Rodgers said: “Our Director of Communications is an exciting and challenging role – from inspiring and motivating over 1,000 colleagues around our crucial mission to making sure our customers receive high-quality, tailored communication as part of our commitment to achieve customer service excellence and keep our stakeholders engaged and interested in our work.
“I’m really looking forward to Sarah joining our Senior Leadership Team and playing a central role to drive forward our objectives and shape our future.”
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Posted on June 14th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
We have donated £500 as a thank you to Langar Aid for helping our customers affected by the Nauls Mill House fire.
On Saturday 16 April a fire started in one flat on the 15th floor of our Nauls Mill House tower block at around 8.45pm. Thankfully the fire was contained to the one flat, no one was hurt, and firefighters and police were on the scene to deal with the incident.
On Sunday a power outage, due to the amount of water the fire service used to put the fire out, we started decanting our customers. During this time Coventry City Council arranged for Langar Aid to help us.
The charity delivered food parcels to Nauls Mill House and other venues that housed our customers while we were dealing with the aftermath of the fire.
Langar Aid started in 2015 as a small group of friends and family who were inspired by the work of Khalsa Aid – a charity that provides humanitarian aid in natural disasters around the world.
The group started by cooking and preparing meals at home for distribution to the homeless community from the back of a van.
Since then, the charity has grown hugely and operates from Langar Aid House where before the pandemic they opened their doors for clients to stay overnight during cold weathers. Since the first lockdown in March 2020, Langar Aid have supported various families and individuals and have responded to emergencies such as Operation Stack in Dover, Worcester Floods and supporting Afghan and Ukrainian Refugees arriving into the UK.
Our Neighbourhood Services Manager Bal Basi said: “We are so grateful for the help Langar Aid provided us on the days following the Nauls Mill House fire. Many of our customers lost food during the fire and Langar Aid helped to make sure they had something to eat.
“Langar Aid have done a fantastic job and we are so relieved they were on hand to help everyone affected by the fire. We are donating £500 as a thank you for all their help and we are keen to see how we can work together in future to support our communities.”
Inderjit Singh from Langar Aid added: “Throughout the pandemic we have been focused on supporting those who are most in need. All of our volunteers have gone out of their way to provide food and support for the vulnerable and isolated.
“At Langar Aid we want to help feed humanity and our mission is to serve the homeless, vulnerable and those struggling with poverty in the UK. We also provide food and water to the vulnerable where it is needed in emergencies.
“We are pleased we were able to help Citizen customers following the Nauls Mill House fire and we are grateful for the donation which will help us to help others.”
Langar Aid are always looking for volunteers who can give their time and skill to help support their work. They are looking for people who can volunteer all year round, who are good listeners with a desire to help.
For more information about Langar Aid, click here and to find out more about volunteering, click here.
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Posted on June 13th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
Work has started on our new scheme at Dudley Road.
There are 26 affordable homes being built at the site in Rowley Regis, which will bring much needed affordable housing to the area.
We are working with Village Partnerships on the £3,592,850 development.
Our Director of New Business John Halton said: “We’re pleased to have started work on our Dudley Road scheme in Rowley Regis.
“It’s great that this is the first of several schemes we are working on with Village Partnerships to build affordable housing in the areas where it is needed the most.
“We will be providing modern homes which are affordable for families to thrive and comfortably live in.
“We’re looking forward to seeing the development progress over the coming months.”
The homes are being built on the site of a former community centre.
Director of Village Partnerships Tom Ayers said: “It’s great that work has started on Dudley Road and work is well underway.
“We’re pleased to be working with Citizen as part of a partnership which includes other schemes across the West Midlands. We’re looking forward to working on the development over the next few months.”
The development is set to be finished in March 2023.
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Posted on June 6th, 2022 by Elaine Davies
We are working with the Emmaus Coventry and Warwickshire charity to help people who have found themselves homeless.
The charity recently approached us as they have a community in Coventry providing housing and work for homeless people.
Emmaus develop social enterprises that provide jobs for homeless people to help fund the charity. They also have a charity shop in Red Lane, Foleshill, Coventry, selling recycled furniture.
We will be supporting the charity by connecting our customers and staff and offering nominations from the charity a permanent home.
We are also investigating if we can develop a furniture offer for new customers through their charity shop.
Our Director of Housing Peter Gill said: “This will be a new partnership for Citizen and another great example of our social investment in our communities. While we have been aware of Emmaus we haven’t until recently met with them to discuss how we can help.
“The work Emmaus are doing has clear links to our looking out for our citizens business strategy pledge and our objective to improve support services and tackle homelessness. This initiative providing affordable furniture to our customers and providing permanent homes fits well with our objectives.”
The charity is also looking for volunteers to become trustees to help and support their work. One of our Board members, Sue Brooksbank-Taylor is already a trustee of Emmaus.
Peter added: “All charities need expertise and skills to help them thrive. This could be housing management, homelessness, development, knowledge of repairs and technical skills, welfare rights as well as finance and strategic skills.
“Working as a trustee as well as being rewarding and contributing to your community can also provide you with transferable skills to use in your career.
“I would encourage anyone who is interested in becoming a trustee to get in touch with the charity.”
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