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Three Rivers Housing launches one of the country's first groups of community mediators
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| Thursday 21st July 2011 |
Social housing landlord Three Rivers Housing has provided funding for a group of residents to be trained by Unite Mediation Services to act as community mediators. This is one of the first programmes of its type in the country and a direct response to recentgovernment funding reductions that mean limited access to mediation resources.
Anti social behaviour (ASB) is a problem that many housing estates face, but research undertaken by Three Rivers shows that 65% of all disputes can be resolved by early intervention. Provision of mediation services helps to prevent disputes from escalating.
Six residents have so far graduated from the NVQ Level 3 course that will enable them to act as mediators on low risk and minor neighbour disputes. They will receive intensive support during their first year of activity, when they will work in pairs to help other residents resolve disputes. Recruited from estates in Sunderland, Gateshead and the Wear Valley, the mediators will work across the Group's housing stock but will not work in their own estate or area. Each has agreed to give up 25 voluntary hours of their time per year.
Patricia McNay lives on the Three Rivers estate, Alderley Close estate at Grangetown, Sunderland. She joined the group of mediators after being part of the 'One Voice' continuous improvement group. Patricia says, "I have been a Three Rivers resident for over 12 years and, more recently, have been involved with the ASB service improvement group meetings and was appointed as a community representative for my estate.
"In the ASB group we knew that mediation services were vital and that changes were coming in terms of funding, so we discussed recruiting local representatives with Three Rivers. I'm really pleased to be part of the team. I've seen what a difference early intervention can make on estates like mine, and hope I canhelp in other regions where Three Rivers have housing.
"The Unite course we took was really eye-opening in terms of how to be a good mediator, and how to help people come to their own resolution. I work as a domestic carer at the moment so am well-used to seeing all different walks of life, and am looking forward to the new skills I think I'll gain, as well as meeting more people and seeing how I can help them."
Three Rivers says that it expects the mediators will help reduce the number of disputes that need to be escalated to injunction or court proceedings.
Dawn Keightley, Group Director of Operations at Four Housing Group, Three Rivers' parent company, added, "We know, through research and our extensive experience of managing housing stock, that mediation is the most effective way of handling and limiting ASB. Appointing mediators who are based in the community will mean we can act quickly and responsibly to resolve issues.
"The mediators are extremely positive and enthusiastic about the challenges that may lie ahead. We will be supporting them throughout the process and helping them host monthly meetings to continue honing their skills and discussing how toapproach resident disputes. We are very proud that we are one of the first housing associations in the country to employ this method of mediation and will be looking forward to expanding the programme to more of our housing stock,including at Berwick Borough Housing, after this first trial year."
The community mediators recently completed their training and received their NVQ Level 3 certificates. They are expecting to start helping residents resolvedisputes on Four Housing estates within the next three months.
Picture caption: l-r Three Rivers Managing Director, Chris Reed, Community Mediators, Emma Moore, Patricia McNay, Frederick Adedeji, Rachel Lofthouse from Unite Mediation services, and Community Mediator Cassandra Bisset |
| Posted by 0 for Three Rivers Housing Association Ltd. |
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