A group of Wirral Partnership Homes (WPH) tenants went back to the classroom for an introduction to regeneration. WPH have joined forces with Wirral Council and Merseyside's Compass Regeneration Academy to develop a residents' regeneration academy.
Residents living in key regeneration areas were invited to attend the four day course, which will be run over four weeks and will finish with a graduation ceremony and certificates.
The course covers all introductory aspects to regeneration, such as the jargon, different agencies involved, who the funders are. It includes modules lead by key staff involved in delivering the regeneration.
The course also covers key elements in regenerating neighbourhoods, such as community cohesion. Other issues covered include the Government's Respect agenda tackling antisocial behaviour.
Steve Eaves, regeneration and development manager at WPH said:
"This is an excellent opportunity for our tenants to gain new skills and knowledge in various aspects of regeneration.
"WPH tenants will find the master planning session very useful, as it will focus on their estates and how to tackle their regeneration."
Affordable housing company Lovell became the first housing refurbishment specialist to be awarded the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) quality mark for contractors on a national basis. TPAS is the leading national tenant participation organisation, working to promote tenant empowerment within communities.
The TPAS PINPOINT Quality for Contractors accreditation for resident involvement recognises companies who demonstrate best practice in the way they work with, and engage residents when improving local authority or housing association homes or building new housing.
Lovell, which refurbishes 18,000 homes a year in the UK in partnership with large scale voluntary transfer organisations, arm's-length management organisations, local authorities and housing associations, has become the first national developer to gain the accreditation in its own right across the UK.
To gain the accreditation, the Company's performance was assessed across a number of areas - including support for community initiatives; its resident involvement and customer care strategy and the feedback provided for residents. Lovell had to prove that its teams are trained in and are positive about involving residents.
The assessors interviewed Lovell project staff in England, Scotland and Wales as well as residents on schemes where Lovell has been working.
Marilyn Thornley, TPAS Special Projects Manager, said:
"The assessment is set against a robust framework linked to key Government objectives and the Audit Commission's criteria for resident involvement.
"We found some excellent practice in the Company's approaches to resident engagement and involvement. TPAS is fully confident that Lovell staff are highly committed and fully understand the need to engage and involve tenants. Tenants we interviewed and visited in their homes when conducting the assessments could not sing the praises of Lovell staff enough."
Current Lovell refurbishment projects include a £76 million scheme for Hammersmith & Fulham Homes in west London. Lovell is also about to start survey and pre-construction work for a £60 million four-year housing refurbishment programme for Homes for Haringey, with work set to start on site next year. In Sheffield, Lovell is one of seven contractor partners currently delivering the £669 million Decent Homes housing refurbishment programme with Sheffield Homes, on behalf of Sheffield City Council.
Council and housing association tenants from London and the South East enjoyed a free look around London Zoo after the first of a series of nine regional one-day conferences entitled Bringing Communities Together.
The event was organised by InSTEP, a national tenant participation, training and information service funded by the Housing Corporation's Tenant Empowerment Programme. It included presentations on the history of social housing by leading social historian Professor Carl Chinn and an analysis of the opportunities created by the Quirk Review for tenants to become involved in owning and managing community assets.
Tenants were also able to take part in networking opportunities, a problem sharing 'bear pit' and policy workshops on the implications of the Hills and Cave reviews, the Housing Green Paper and the Right to Manage.
Lindsey Burke, InSTEP Project Manager said:
"We are taking this event around the country over the coming months in a series of nine regional conferences at interesting and accessible venues. They include Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Newmarket Racecourse, Birmingham Hippodrome, St James's Park in Newcastle, Brighton seafront and the Met Office.
"Our aim is to provide a lively and informative day, with both locally and nationally known presenters, for anyone wanting to become more involved in the way their home or neighbourhood is run. We are looking forward to meeting tenants from around the country, listening to their experiences and sharing our knowledge with them."
Full details of the regional events can be found at www.instepservices.co.uk.
