Broadland Housing Group

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Tenants raise £900 for Ukraine

Tenants raise £900 for Ukraine

Generous tenants at our Woodcote sheltered housing scheme have raised £900 for the Red Cross. The fundraising will help support children and elderly people caught up in the conflict in Ukraine.

The 60 residents at Woodcote in Hethersett held a special coffee morning, where they watched 2 films about the background to the conflict. One film was presented by Red Cross workers on the ground in Ukraine.

Stephen Baxter, scheme manager (far right in picture), said:

Lots of residents had been asking what they could do to help. They were moved by images of families and elderly people suffering terrible conditions as a result of the conflict,

Also, one of the carers who works here has a Ukrainian husband, so that has also brought the crisis closer to home.

Woodcote tenant Richard Headicar said:

The suffering of elderly people and children and families caught up in what is going on in Ukraine has tugged on all of our heartstrings.  We all wanted to do what we could to help mitigate their plight.

Fellow tenant Molly Allison added:

I have cried every morning when I see what is happening on the television.

Humanitarian aid

Red Cross teams are working both in Ukraine itself and in neighbouring countries, where they are providing humanitarian aid to the influx of refugees. This includes food and water, first aid and medicines, warm clothes and shelter.

The charity has distributed over 90,000 food and hygiene parcels and provided food, warm clothes and other aid to around 7,000 people sheltering in metro stations in Kyiv. It has also delivered first aid training to over 12,000 people in Ukraine.

World-leading construction industry body visits Canary Quay, Norwich

CIOB visit to Canary Quay, Norwich, 17 March 2022

World-leading construction industry body visits Canary Quay

Caroline Gumble with Andrew Savage, Executive Development Director, and James Carter of RG Carter

We recently welcomed Caroline Gumble, Chief Executive Officer at the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), to Canary Quay. The CIOB is the world’s largest and most influential professional body for construction management and leadership.

Now in its final phase, Canary Quay will provide 323 mixed tenure apartments when complete.

Caroline noted the close working and collaborative approach between Broadland Housing Association, Broadland St Benedicts and our construction partners RG Carter. The Canary Quay project has turned an industrial warehouse and car park into a new residential area in the heart of the city.

Caroline was in Norwich promoting the launch of the new CIOB equality, diversity and inclusion charter for the construction industry.

Webster Court, Norwich

  • kitchen at Webster Court, Norwich
    Kitchen of Lakenfields apartment
  • Living room, Webster Court, Norwich
    Living area of Lakenfields apartment

We worked in partnership with Norwich City Council to provide 6 new affordable homes at Lakenfields, Webster Court for people experiencing homelessness. A modular system was used to deliver high-quality homes, with minimal impact and disruption to the local community.

A former car parking area north of Webster Court now accommodates 6 x 1-bedroom, 2-person flats. The single block of 6 flats over 3 storeys has a communal garden area and vehicle parking accessed off the existing access. The first tenants moved in during December 2021.

Lakenfields (Webster Court), Norwich, on Day 3 of construction
Modular construction of Lakenfields apartments was completed in 3 days in December 2021
Manufacturer Mod Pod International’s video, including pod interiors (1.30)

Tenants can now get training in independent living skills

Independent East / Your Own Place / Broadland Housing logos

Broadland Housing tenants can benefit from tenancy and independent living skills training – thanks to our membership of Independent East.

Your Own Place CIC successfully delivered its Tenancy and Independent Living Skills (TILS+) workshops to Saffron Housing Trust tenants last year. These engaging, practical workshops are now being offered to tenants of Broadland, Freebridge and Orwell housing associations, through their membership of Independent East.

From January 2022, Your Own Place, a social enterprise based in East Anglia, will deliver the workshops to tenants at locations across Norfolk and Suffolk. The workshops, a mix of digital and face-to-face sessions, provide opportunities for people of all ages to develop and build on existing skills. A wide range of topics is covered, including saving and budgeting, self-care and wellbeing, and digital skills. The aim is to make a positive difference to tenants’ lives through developing their confidence and resilience.

Helping more people into employment

The partnership with Your Own Place is an exciting collaboration for Independent East. The new initiative aims to help more people into employment, reducing rent arrears and potential future evictions.

Helping people to sustain their tenancies is a central part of what Broadland do. We are thrilled to be part of this partnership with Independent East and Your Own Place to invest in more support and training for many more people.

Catherine Little, Executive Housing Director, Broadland Housing Association

We’re absolutely delighted to be working not just with the residents of 4 regional housing associations, but with 4 housing associations that want to collaborate, support residents from across East Anglia and recognise that our Tenancy & Independent Living Skills Plus (TILS+) are beneficial for any person in any situation. Their compassion and understanding that having an impact on lives goes way beyond just being their landlord is why we want to work with them and be a part of building on the skills that tenants already have. We know that the residents we work with are experts in their own lives, we respect their experiences and contributions and love the two-way learning. Fun, participative and engaging workshops will be delivered with 400 tenants during 2022 across 8 different locations – with the aim of building the skills to be happy in their homes and ultimately prevent homelessness.

Rebecca White, CEO, Your Own Place

We have been really pleased with how well the workshops have been received by Saffron’s tenants and it’s fantastic that it’s now going to be delivered by Independent East to help even more tenants across the region. Not only is it a great opportunity for them to learn new skills, but it provides scope for tenants to meet those from other housing associations, share their experiences, support one another and help create cohesive communities.

Paula Tuck, Assistant Director of Customer Services at Saffron and member of the Independent East Residents Group

Watch a video of Chantay, one of Saffron’s tenants, talking about her experience of the TILS+ workshops (credit: Your Own Place).

4 new affordable homes at Clenchwarton, near King’s Lynn

We are pleased to announce 4 new affordable homes at Clenchwarton, near King’s Lynn in west Norfolk, acquired from Trundley Properties.

The 2 x 2-bedroom and 2 x 3-bedroom semi-detached houses are a mix of shared ownership and affordable rent. They are part of a new development of 18 homes at Laurel Farm Meadow by Trundley Properties and Buildwise.

Andrew Savage (Executive Development Director, Broadland Housing Association) with Ben Trundley (Construction Manager, Trundley Properties Ltd) at Clenchwarton, west Norfolk
Andrew Savage with Ben Trundley (right)

We are delighted with the progress made on this development, despite the challenges of the restrictions we have been subject to over the past 2 years. The development includes a social housing element and we are pleased to have identified Broadland Housing as the social housing provider on this scheme. We very much hope we can work with them again in the future.

Ben Trundley, Construction Manager, Trundley Properties Ltd

This is the first time we have worked with Trundley Properties and we are very pleased with the outcome. We have been able to acquire some very well built, energy-efficient homes to increase the choice of affordable housing in this area of the county.

Andrew Savage, Executive Development Director, Broadland Housing Association
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