News

‘Better Together’ is our new campaign to raise awareness of the impact of loneliness to our tenants, staff and stakeholders. The campaign, led by our Tenancy Support team, will run from 27 November-1 December 2017.

Better Together is being launched in the run-up to Christmas – a time when many people, regardless of age or situation, can feel alone and isolated – but will continue throughout 2018.

The campaign will highlight the wide range of services, events and activities available in our local communities that can help tenants make new connections, find support networks and meet new friends.

Loneliness is as big a health risk as smoking and obesity. It can harm your health, physically and mentally. It can also increase your risk of premature death by 30%

 

Connecting people

During ‘Better Together’ week, our Tenancy Support team will:

• visit tenants in some of our more rural schemes, such as in the Forest Heath area and north Norfolk
• hold drop-in sessions at Broadland area offices, offering tenants and staff the chance to learn how to Skype and FaceTime to keep in touch with friends and family
• host Christmas craft activities at St Katherine’s Court, King’s Lynn, bringing older residents together with local Brownies
• raise awareness of the issue of loneliness on our social media pages and internally to Broadland staff
• place foodbank collection boxes in our area offices to help those in need this Christmas
• support the Salvation Army’s Toys and Tins Appeal in Norfolk

Going forward, Broadland will be working closely with Norfolk County Council, supporting its award-winning In Good Company initiative.

Alison Thomas, Deputy Leader of Norfolk County Council said: “People who are lonely are more likely to suffer ill health, more likely to be reliant on public services and more likely to lose their independence. Recent research* also suggests that loneliness is a particular challenge in Norfolk.

“In Good Company is designed to combat loneliness by galvanising individuals and organisations to do as much as they can to ensure no one spends a lonely day in Norfolk if they don’t want to.

“We know that there are many organisations and businesses that are working hard to tackle this problem across Norfolk, so we’re delighted that Broadland is reaching out to its tenants and communities to do just this through its Better Together campaign.”

 

Charity sleep out

A group of Broadland staff will also be taking part in the Benjamin Foundation Sleep Out on 17 November. The event is to raise money and awareness of the ever-increasing issue of youth homelessness.

“This issue links strongly into our Better Together campaign,” explains Kevin Gee, Tenancy Support Manager (pictured, far right), who is one of the team sleeping out on 17 November. “Homelessness can often be a very lonely, isolating and traumatic experience, which can have a major effect on somebody’s mental health.

“The event is not meant to replicate the hardship faced by those who are homeless. However, it will highlight the difficult challenges of sleeping outside in the elements.”

UPDATE: The Broadland team, which included Kevin Gee, Jess Kent, Daniel Nolan, Sarah Cook (pictured above) and Sophie Wiles, doubled their fundraising target, raising more than £1,000 for the Benjamin Foundation. The team’s fundraising link is http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Broadland63.

 

*Research by the Campaign to End Loneliness and London School of Economics

Broadland Development Services held a successful information event for local residents in Binham recently (25 September 2017).

Neighbours and members of the wider community had the opportunity to view the  finalised designs for a mixed-tenure development of 27 dwellings on Walsingham Road, as well as the associated infrastructure improvements and construction schedule.

Representatives from Hudson Architects and H Smith & Sons (Honingham), the main contractor, were also on hand to discuss the detailed proposals and run through any concerns raised.

The affordable homes are being developed for people in housing need who have a strong local connection. Broadland Development Services will be inviting members of the community interested in the affordable homes to an event nearer to completion. This will explain the application process via North Norfolk District Council’s ‘Your Choice Your Home’ website.

Off-site highway improvements to the Binham scheme are due to start in October, followed by the main construction works in December 2017. The open market sales are due to be launched early in 2018.

‘Getting started with digital skills’ is a FREE 2-hour taster session for Broadland tenants, part of our programme of activities to celebrate Get Online week 2017 (2-8 October).

The session will be held at our King’s Lynn office, from 1.30-3.30pm.

‘Getting started with digital skills’ will support tenants to develop their digital literacy, whether they want to set up an email account, manage their money online or be able to log onto government websites.

The aim is to give tenants the confidence and knowledge to explore and benefit from digital technology in everyday life. Participants will also find out where to access and use digital equipment for free and what support services are available.

To book, telephone 0303 303 0003

Broadland is running a week-long programme of free digital taster events, 2-8 October 2017, for tenants across the region.

On Saturday 30 September prospective buyers can reserve a home off-plan on our new development ‘The Hoppings’ in Bodham. Estate agents William H Brown in Holt are holding an open day, 10am–3pm, when prospective buyers have the chance to reserve one of these beautiful new homes, discuss buying options and choose from a range of kitchen finishes.

The Hoppings is being built by Broadland St Benedicts – part of Broadland Housing. The mixed tenure scheme consists of 16 open market, shared ownership and affordable rental homes. A selection of 2- and 3-bedroom open market and shared ownership, semi-detached and detached homes are available to purchase.

The first release includes 3 open market and 1 shared ownership 3-bedroom detached new homes that are both high quality and affordable. 

Traditional design

All homes are traditionally designed with brick and flint to blend sympathetically with the surrounding village and in keeping with north Norfolk style. The contemporary interiors include high-quality kitchens with integrated appliances, flooring throughout the bathroom, kitchen and WC, landscaped front and rear gardens, a garage or private off road parking space and a 10-year NHBC warranty for each home.   

Open market homes offer bathrooms with Twyford’s sanitary ware, heated towel rails and some come with en-suites.  For early reservations there is also a choice of kitchen finishes from Symphony, with fully integrated Bosch appliances.

“It’s an absolute pleasure to release our first market sales properties in the village of Bodham. These new homes are high-quality, especially designed to complement the community of Bodham,” said Andrew Savage, Executive Development Director.

“The Hoppings is set in a wonderful location and offers a choice of properties to suit all needs and budgets. It’s particularly well suited to first-time buyers and families, coming with all fixtures and fittings as standard – which is a rarity for new build homes – and also offering Help to Buy. We’re urging prospective customers to get in touch now and register their interest in attending our open day, as we expect this to be a very busy day,” said Natasha Baring, Field Sales Manager at William H Brown. 

Bodham’s historic links

The Hoppings is set in Bodham village, north Norfolk, 26 miles from Norwich, 4 miles from Holt and just 2 miles from the coastal village of Weybourne. The area has a wealth of amenities, including good schools, shops, restaurants and leisure facilities. It also has its own village hall, public house and playing field.

The village has a rich historical background, with links to the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, who were stationed at neighbouring West Beckham airbase, and B Site ‘Mal Pit WAAF camp’, located in nearby Lower Bodham. The 1950s weekly dance event known as the ‘Bodham Hop’ was held in Bodham village hall, giving the development and the homes within it their dance-themed names.

Prices are available on request and buyers can choose from a range of options, including the Government-backed Help to Buy scheme with the option to purchase one of these properties with as little as a 5% deposit.

For further information and to make an appointment to attend the open day on Saturday 30 September, 10am -3pm, please contact William H Brown Holt on 01263 713343 or email holt@williamhbrown.co.uk

 

 

 

 

Broadland Housing tenants Richard and Mo have inspired a unique guide for media workers.

Fair Press for Tenants seeks to challenge media bias. It describes the impact of poor reporting and provides an alternative way to cover stories about social housing.

To compile the guide, journalists from the NUJ (National Union of Journalists) surveyed and interviewed people who live in social housing across the UK, including two of our tenants.

The Fair Press for Tenants guide is aimed at journalists, PR professionals, documentary makers and any media workers keen to hear the views of their readers, viewers and listeners on media representation of life in social housing. It is informed entirely by the ideas and words of people living in social housing.

Richard Peacock, Chief Executive of Soha Housing said: “The kind of stigma we commonly see attached to living in social housing is more than unfair. It’s damaging. Many tenants have told me of their frustration at the lazy stereotypes shown in newspaper images, stories and on TV reporting. My concern is that this negativity only leads to sidelining of tenants’ views and I think that this is ultimately dangerous for the balanced society we surely all want. Respect for people in our diverse society seems more crucial now than ever. A failure to have this can lead to unfair and unjust policy making and allocation of resources.”

Benefit to society

The guide is part of a wider Benefit to Society initiative. This acknowledges common misrepresentations of social housing tenants in the local and national media, such as tenants being associated with exploiting the benefit system and living in run down estates. These misrepresentations reinforce negative stereotypical views of social housing tenants among the public.

Benefit to Society also hopes to challenge those responsible for pushing the negative stereotypes, including government, the public and housing organisations themselves. See www.benefittosociety.co.uk for more information.

Leslie Channon, a tenant representative on the project steering group and a Director of Tpas said, “I’m proud to be part of something that is challenging the negative way we tenants are viewed all too often in the media. We’re just normal people, living our lives and we deserve the same respect as everyone else”.

‘Lazy stereotypes’

NUJ activist Rachel Broady, Equality Officer at Manchester and Salford Branch, worked with a group of social housing tenants to decide the content and wording of the guide. Rachel, who is a social housing tenant herself, said: “The tenants I worked with agreed that lazy stereotypes of nuisance neighbours need to be confronted and the clichéd photos of grim streets need to be reconsidered.

“Stereotyping social housing tenants has real consequences; it denies us a voice and allows our concerns to be dismissed because it too often portrays us as nuisances, as demanding something we’re not entitled to. I think this is particularly apparent after the Grenfell Tower atrocity where, combined with a lack of local reporting, the legitimate concerns of tenants were too easily ignored.”

The guide was launched on 14 September 2017 at the University of Salford, Media City UK. Watch the launch video.

Broadland support

Broadland is one of 17 housing organisations who sponsor Benefit to Society:

• Aspire Housing
• Bolton at Home
• Broadland Housing Association
• Homes in Sedgemoor
• Optivo
• Progress Housing Group
• Red Kite Community Housing
• The Riverside Group
• Rochdale Boroughwide Housing
• Soha Housing
• South Yorkshire Housing Association
• Town & Country Housing Group
• Wythenshawe Community Housing Group
• Tpas
• ARCH
• NFA
• NFTMO

For more information and photographs contact: Catherine Little, Soha Housing, 01235 515900 clittle@soha.co.uk