Opportunities for Change with SWHA

Thursday 17th September 2009

South Wight Housing Association (SWHA) held its September residents’ conference at the Riverside Centre in Newport on Wednesday 9 September.

The theme of the event was Opportunities for Change, with speakers, including Margaret Wright, SWHA’s Executive Director, and Kemi Awolola from the Tenant Services Authority, focusing on issues affecting residents’ quality of life.

Guest speaker, Kemi Awolola, from the Tenant Services Authority gave a talk on the National Conversation, a campaign to give residents their say about new standards for social landlords. Residents took part in interactive workshops, which gave people the opportunity to meet staff and share their views.

The event was a chance to discuss opportunities for residents to become involved in shaping the future of their services. SWHA’s new resident involvement menu offers residents a wide range of ways that they can get involved, including forums, panels and committees.

Partners, the Footprint Trust, spoke to residents about the benefits of sustainable living and environmental awareness, and Change 4 Life were on hand to give advice on improving health and wellbeing.

Executive Director, Margaret Wright, said: “The conference was an excellent way to show residents what improvements we’ve made in response to their involvement. Residents have helped us to shape every aspect of our service, from the contractors we use to our volunteer policy - and it shows.

“This year SWHA was the only housing provider on the island to obtain the highest level of achievement from the Communities and Local Government’s Supporting People programme for all six of its services: Young People, Mental Health, Older People, Teenage Parents, Homeless Families and Learning Disabilities. The Care Quality Commission has also rated our Learning Disability care service as three star excellent.”

Resident Linda Burnett said: “I found the conference very informative and useful. The highlight for me was the discussion on the Group policy around pets and noise nuisance. It was very useful and I was glad we were given a chance to be involved in drafting new policy.”

Posted by Kim for South Wight Housing Association