Broadland Housing Association

Homes, community & support since 1963

    • community

    Thanks, Good Neighbours!

    Congratulations to all our tenants and their neighbours who won a Good Neighbour Award recently. We’d like to say a big thank you for helping those around you through the challenges of the recent months!

    The April winners included:

    • Elizabeth and Stephen “for helping their neighbours throughout the lockdown” (from Tamara)
    • Jill “for consistently checking in with her neighbours, leaving little gifts and thoughtful texts. Most importantly, her support is kind and non-intrusive” (from Liz)
    • Janine and Kay “for being so welcoming when I first moved in. Looking after my dog while I was at work. Lending bits and pieces and being there when I needed a chat” (from Andrea)
    • Jean “for helping her neighbour who is on her own after recent knee surgery” (from Mary)
    • Rachel “for always going over and above to provide offers of support. She always thinks of others and asks how we are and is the best neighbour ever. She thoroughly deserves some recognition for being kind, caring and supportive” (from Siobhan)
    Broadland Housing tenants - winners of Good Neighbour Awards April 2021

    Broadland Housing tenants can nominate a neighbour at any time for an award. All the winners receive a £25 shopping voucher, personal certificate and are featured in our Door to Door tenant magazine.

    To find out more, see our Good Neighbour Awards page.

    Broadland helps build new community sports facilities

    We have completed an exciting partnership project with Lovell, Ingleton Wood and other local companies that will provide much-needed respite accommodation at Norwich City Community Sports Foundation (CSF)’s hub ‘The Nest’.

    Watch a ‘before and after’ video of the refurbishment:

    The project involved renovating a dilapidated cottage at The Nest site in Norwich. Adults accompanying young people’s residential trips will now have somewhere to stay.

    CSF runs a range of programmes that use sport, education and the pull of Norwich City Football Club to engage with different groups in the community. The cottage project was part of its #BuildTheNest fundraising campaign to complete the second phase of development works at The Nest.

    Broadland staff used their volunteer days to do the work (and some staff members donated additional time0.

    Broadland’s Development Director, Andrew Savage, says:

    To see the enthusiasm of all the volunteers and the generous donations was inspiring. Our internal maintenance, planned works and landscape teams who were involved with the project are extremely proud of what has been achieved. It was great to be involved.

    Simon Medlar, Lovell Regional Managing Director for East Anglia, said:

    I’d like to personally thank each supplier and subcontractor involved for their hard work and commitment throughout. I’ve been blown away by the generosity of those involved, donating both materials and time, which has led to the fantastic end-result of this renovation.

    Ian Thornton, Chief Executive Officer at Norwich City Community Sports Foundation, said:

    We are incredibly grateful for the support of Lovell and all the suppliers and subcontractors that have come together to make the cottage look so fresh and new.

    It will be such an asset to the site to have these facilities for adults supporting residential visits, and we look forward to welcoming residential groups back to The Nest when conditions allow for it.

    More than 40 local companies as well as those further afield were involved in the refurbishment, which is worth over £50,000. This included remodelling the internal layout and substantial works to fix leaks, stabilise the structure, treat damp and woodworm, and remove asbestos, as well as a complete re-fit, and both internal and external redecorations. The main work was completed in late February 2020, with final touches being finished following lockdown and in accordance with Lovell’s strict COVID secure guidelines for its workplaces and construction sites.

    ‘Garden SOS’ for King’s Lynn families

    Families living at our St James Lodge housing scheme are enjoying a brand new outdoor play area and garden, thanks to a ‘Garden SOS’ style project.

    St James Lodge in King’s Lynn houses homeless families and helps them transition into permanent housing. The newly landscaped space at the scheme now has colourful play equipment, picnic tables and raised plant beds.

    The project took shape after Broadland provided £25,000 and local companies donated materials and equipment. Our skilled Estates Services team and other Broadland staff and contractors volunteered hours of their labour to make it happen.

    The garden and play area were opened by St James Lodge tenant Jenna Gould (pictured above, left) and her children. Also attending were Procurement Officer Will Hunter Rowe and Housing Manager Katie Docherty, who oversaw the project (pictured above, centre and right).

    This is so brilliant, it’s somewhere for the kids to come out and let off steam. It was tough during lockdown not having an outside space for them to play, and with more restrictions possibly to come, this will be fantastic.

    Broadland tenant, Jenna Gould

    After the delay caused by Coronavirus, it’s really rewarding to see this open. It is the fruit of many hours of volunteer labour, and a fabulous joint effort with our contractors and with local businesses which have donated materials.

    Lockdown demonstrated just how important outside space is for people’s wellbeing, so this couldn’t have come at a better time.

    Will Hunter Rowe, Procurement Officer

    St James Lodge consists of 20 flats and studios, and is designed to provide short- and medium-term accommodation for homeless people and homeless families with support needs, all of whom must have a local connection.

    Local businesses which contributed to the project were:

    • Ben Burgess
    • Campbell Tickell
    • CJ Yardley
    • CLC Contractors
    • Efficiency East Midlands
    • Johnstone’s Trade Paints
    • Kevin Cogman
    • Newline Anglia
    • PTS Plumbing Trade Supplies
    • Reconomy
    • Rexel
    • Travis Perkins
    Broadland’s Procurement team helped to deliver the St James Lodge project

    ‘Magick Patch’ awarded community improvement grant

    ‘The Magick Patch’, a community allotment for children in Heacham, Norfolk, is buying a greenhouse with a £515 grant from our Community Improvement Fund.

    The Magick Patch was set up by Broadland tenant Claire Sanders (pictured above right), a former hairdresser, and her teaching assistant daughter Rosie (above left). Claire started the allotment project last winter with an initial grant from the Community Improvement Fund. She sourced additional funding from Tesco and a number of local businesses.

    Claire wanted to give local children a chance to experience the mental and physical benefits of gardening. She has personal experience of the therapeutic power of gardening. After being diagnosed with depression and anxiety, she was signposted to the King’s Lynn community allotment run by mental health charity Mind.

    There are so many children who suffer from anxiety or depression, or who have special needs, and this has been made worse by the whole Coronavirus pandemic.

    Gardening is a really effective way of helping them realise that their feelings will eventually pass, and that they will get through it.

    Claire Sanders

    This is such an innovative and positive project. Claire, Rosie and her team have put such a lot of effort into getting the allotment up and running, and to keep it going during the long weeks of lockdown.

    Their enthusiasm, and the obvious need that the project meets, really struck a chord with the tenants on our Community Improvement Fund panel. We’re delighted to be giving a second grant to The Magick Patch.

    Paula Strachan, Corporate Communications Manager

    Samantha England

    Samantha England works as a management consultant. She has many years in leadership and management and has a passion for learning and development.

    Samantha is Chair of the Ethics Committee and Chair of the IAG (Independent Advisory Group) for Norfolk Constabulary.

    She is involved in many community projects and recently set up a community group which won South Norfolk community group of the year. Other voluntary commitments include being a trustee for a local youth club, school governor and trustee for the Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre Norfolk.

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