Update on our services
One News
For residents of the Back Church Lane, Flower and Dean, and Suttons Wharf estates and surrounding areas
Welcome
Welcome to the first issue of the newsletter for the residents of Back Church Lane, Flower and Dean and Suttons Wharf estates and the surrounding areas.
As part of our commitment to deliver a fresh approach to our services, we will be sending you this publication every three months to keep you updated on our work in your neighbourhood and to share events and initiatives that may be of interest to you. We will also be telling you how we have implemented your feedback to ensure we get our services right first time and develop communities that thrive and flourish.
To help us understand more about your experience, we will shortly send you a survey to complete. Please look out for the link and have your say.
In addition, we’re currently recruiting Tenancy and Leasehold Managers who will be present on your estate to answer any queries you may have. We will publish their contact details in the next issue so you can learn more about how we can work together.
If you have any comments or suggestions in the meantime or if you wish to share a story in the next edition of this newsletter, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.
News and announcements
Our £250K Community Fund is now open. Bid now!
Do you run a TRA, community group, or club that supports One Housing or Riverside residents?
If so, you could benefit from our new £250,000 Community Fund.
Through the Riverside Foundation, we’ve made £250,000 available in 2022/23 to help fund projects that promote opportunities and wellbeing and tackle poverty in our communities.
So, if you’ve got an idea that could make a difference, we want to hear from you.
There are three levels of funding:
- under £3,000, which has a relatively simple bidding process
- between £3,000 – £10,000, which requires slightly more input
- grants above £10,000, for which we’ll require some more detailed information to ensure the money will make a really big difference to our residents.
There’s no closing date and we’ll come back to you as soon as we’ve assessed your application.
For more information or to request an application form, please email residentengagements@onehousing.co.uk.
Do you qualify for the Household Support Fund?
We know that sudden unexpected costs can create real challenges if you’re already experiencing financial difficulties.
To help families, the Government has extended a grant for households, known as the Household Support Fund, to provide short-term financial support to anyone who is struggling to cover essentials such as food, clothing and utilities.
Please contact your local council directly to find out more about how you can apply and whether you qualify for the additional funds. The closing date for applications is 30 September 2022.
If you’re worried about rent payments and rising costs of living, we’re here to help. Our team of Welfare Benefits Advisors can provide advice on various benefits you may be eligible for. Please call us on 0300 123 9966 to speak to a member of the team.
Get help to buy food and milk
If you’re more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, you could get a Healthy Start card to spend on your food.
If you’re eligible, you’ll receive a pre-paid card which you can use to pay for fruit, vegetables, milk and other healthy essentials. It will be topped up every 4 weeks.
Dates for your diary
East Resident Panel meeting
September 2022
Our next East region Resident Panel meeting will take place in September via MS Teams. To find out more, get in touch at residentengagements@onehousing.co.uk. You can also learn more about our Resident Panels on our website.
Our services
Working together to combat fly tipping
We know that when you step out of your front door, you want to see that the building you live in, and the surrounding estate, are well looked after.
When bulky rubbish gets dumped down your street, it’s ugly, can be dangerous and is expensive to clear. Every call-out to remove old mattresses, fridges and furniture costs us in excess of £50 – and that’s money we could be spending on better services for you.
Unfortunately, it’s not our responsibility to remove fly tipping as a service. Therefore, we charge this to you and your service charge increases for that year. We provide adequate waste and recycling bins across our schemes, so fly tipping is avoidable.
If you see that your bin area has black bags on the floor or fly tipping occurring, please don’t follow in others. Just because someone else is doing, it doesn’t make it okay. The more fly tipping, the greater the cost to remove it and the bigger the increase in service charge.
Save time and manage your account online with MyOneHousing
As our lives are getting busy, we know that having access to information while you’re on the go is a must! We’ve been working hard to improve MyOneHousing, our safe and secure self-service online account for residents, to enhance your experience and increase the number of things you can ask us for.
You can use it to:
- view and manage your account details
- check and pay your rent and service charges securely at any time
- report and check the status of repairs
- report a whole range of issues, including anti-social behaviour, tenancy fraud, safeguarding concerns and complaints
- apply for a mutual exchange, request a change to a joint tenancy agreement or terminate a tenancy
- benefit from new features as they are added in the future.
Sign in or register today at www.myonehousing.co.uk. If you need help registering, please watch our step-by-step guide here.
Employment and training surgery
If you or anyone in your household is looking for employment, we invite you to attend our fortnightly drop-in Employment Surgery at Flower and Dean Community Centre, which launched on Thursday 7 July.
The service includes sourcing suitable training, career advice and guidance, CV and cover letter writing, help with application forms, interview techniques and in-work support.
Your local Resident and Engagement Officer will be in attendance together with an experienced Employment Advisor who will be able to answer any queries you may have.
For more information, please contact us on 07717 692 911 or email employmentandtraining@onehousing.co.uk.
Your community
Involved Residents Induction Day
Residents have told us they want to be involved in shaping and improving services. We have been working with our Residents Associations and Resident Panels to look at activities to support this.
If you’re interested in being involved in your local community or want to help us shape our services, then come along to our Involved Residents Induction Day on Saturday 6 August 2022, 10am-4pm, which will take place at the Arlington Conference Centre, Camden. Lunch and expenses will be included.
Places are limited so to book a place or for more information, please email residentengagements@onehousing.co.uk.
Your local TRA
Our Tenant and Residents’ Associations (TRAs) help to make sure that residents have a voice and can share their views. By being involved with your local TRA, you can stay informed about issues affecting your local area, organise neighbourhood events and activities, and discuss service improvements with One Housing on a regular basis.
To find out more information about your local TRA, or how to set one up, please contact residentengagements@onehousing.co.uk.
We are also planning to set up a TRA forum, which will bring together all TRA Chairs to discuss best practice and to receive training and support. We are aiming to hold the first Forum meeting this September. If you would like your TRA to be part of this, please contact yahmed@onehousing.co.uk.
The Pink Ladies
Our community group ‘The Pink Ladies’ organises community events for women in the Suttons Wharf area, such as coffee mornings, dinners out, seaside excursions and Zumba classes.
They regularly meet at the Cranbrook Community Centre, E2 0RB, and all female residents are welcome to come along.
For full details of upcoming events, and to become a Pink Lady, please email ohgpinkladies@outlook.com.
Apply for our Environmental Improvement Bid
If you have any ideas to make improvements to your local area, you could receive up to £3,000 to fund your project through our Environmental Improvement Bid.
Successful projects in the past have included the creation of communal garden areas for residents to enjoy.
Your money could be used to set up a gardening group to bring your community together this summer. Whatever your idea, we’d like to hear from you.
We can also provide support with the application process by working with you and your property manager.
To apply, please contact Amma Nkrumah at ankrumah@residentengagements@onehousing.co.uk or ring 07342 062 379.
Meet the team
Amma Nkrumah
Resident Engagement and Partnerships Officer, East region
My name is Amma Nkrumah, your dedicated and passionate Resident Engagement and Partnerships Officer for the East region.
I have had the pleasure of growing up with a diverse group of people from various backgrounds, which has fuelled my love for people, community and meaningful
engagement. There is nothing like rallying up the community in positive ways that can help towards us interacting with one another supporting each other’s well-being.
As well as being an employee of One Housing, I am also a One Housing resident of 14 years, starting out as a Community Champion arranging community events for my estate. My previous roles have reflected my passion for people, which include being a youth worker, a support mental health worker, an activities co-ordinator in a care home, and now your Resident Engagement and Partnerships Officer.
To get in touch, you can reach me at ankrumah@onehousing.co.uk or on 07342 062 379.
Contact us
There are several ways to get in touch: online, by email, phone and via social media.
Website: https://onehousing.co.uk
Email: ask@onehousing.co.uk
Telephone: 0300 123 9966
Twitter: twitter.com/AskOneHousing
Sacha Black
Property Manager
(Back Church Lane and Flower and Dean)
Baydul Alom
Property Manager
(Suttons Wharf)
