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General news
Help us to help you!
We’ve been listening to your feedback and we know you value a service from us that really meets your needs. In order to give you the services you need, in the way that suits you, we need to make sure that the information we have about you and your household is accurate and up-to-date.
Please use the link below to our online Customer Information Form – this will allow you to easily update your household’s details and should take around 10 minutes to complete.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete this form which will enable us to maintain your details and provide you with a service that best fits your needs.
Our young people's hostel gets a makeover!
In the last few months the Foyer in Hatfield, our hostel accommodation for young people, has received a brand new training kitchen, where staff can support residents to experiment and improve their cookery skills and create a range of meals on a budget.
Cookery lessons and the freedom to try new recipes as well as learning about cooking for others and eating together is just one of the current range of educational programmes on offer to support our young adults on their journey to independence.
The old stainless steel commercial kitchen has been replaced with a user friendly, more domestic style of kitchen, with bar stools and plenty of worktop and storage space. We know that learning to cook on a budget is an essential skill and we are really pleased to be able to offer this fantastic facility to our young adults as part of their support programme while they are part of the Foyer community.
We have also given a new lease of life to one of our other communal rooms, and created a Coffee Shop, with its own coffee machine. This room has become a chilled, relaxing area where residents can meet, unwind and enjoy a proper coffee. Last but not least the small balcony area has been converted into a 'compact but bijou' outdoor seating area with planting. Our young residents are really delighted with their new look facilities!
Important change to phone number
So that we can find out what you think about our services, we regularly carry out phone calls to our customers via a surveying company IFF. Recently there has been an issue with the phone number they are calling from being marked as spam, which is a common problem for market research agencies.
As a result, IFF will be changing their phone number from 1 August to 0203 148 7717. Your feedback is vital to the ongoing improvement of our services so, if you receive a call from this number, please do take the time and let us know how we're doing.
Staying safe in the heat
While many of us are enjoying the sun this week, for some of us it can be a dangerous time of year. Younger children and older people are especially vulnerable in this heat, and with temperatures set to climb, it’s important for everyone to stay safe.
Read some tips about coping with the hot weather here.
If you are overheating and feel breathless, dizzy, or have chest pain, weakness, confusion or cramps, seek medical help.
Keeping you safe in your home
Recently there has been an increase in the number of e-bike/e-scooter fires and we wanted to make you aware of the potential fire risk and how to avoid any such incidents:
❌ Do not charge electric bike or scooter batteries unsupervised and never while you are asleep – switch off chargers at night or when fully charged.
✅ If possible, charge electric bike or scooter batteries somewhere outside of your home, e.g. an external garage. If charging in the home, ensure smoke alarms are fitted, working and are regularly tested.
❌ Do not store electric bikes or scooters in escape routes around the home, or in communal areas (or main exit route areas).
✅ Always purchase electric bike and scooter batteries from reputable suppliers and ensure any purchases meet correct and up-to-date safety standards
❌ Do not use conversion kits, as standard push bikes converted into electric bikes pose a higher safety risk due to batteries and chargers often sourced from different suppliers.
Paradigm On Track
Our new service, Paradigm On Track, is now up and running and helping our customers plan their day around their repairs or servicing appointment. As soon as our engineer is on the way to you, you'll receive a text message giving you an expected arrival time and a link to a map so you can see where they are. You can even use the chat facility to give the engineer any specific directions for their arrival. If you don’t receive a text message from us, please log in to the My Paradigm portal and check that we have the correct mobile number for you.
Marking Disability Awareness Day
It was Disability Awareness Day on Sunday 17 July. How do we address the housing needs of our disabled customers? We spoke to Paradigm’s Disabled Facilities Officer, John Smith, to find out...
A committed Paradigm veteran of 14 years and counting, John works with our disabled customers and their families to provide information about services, represent them to their local council, liaise with healthcare professionals and co-ordinate adaptation work. You can find out more about his job and the work Paradigm does around disability here.
In support of ASB Awareness Week
Our Anti-Social Behaviour Service launched in March 2021 with the aim of creating a specialist service to our customers experiencing a nuisance. We want our customers to enjoy their home without interference from those responsible for anti-social behaviour, nuisance, and harassment.
We are proud of the service we deliver and following customer feedback we have made improvements and now provide clear written action plans to every complainant. The action plans list what we expect the customer to do (e.g. keep a diary etc.) and what we will do (e.g. talk to the police etc.)
Working together to improve our services
Resident Services Panel (RSP) update - communication, communication, communication!
It’s not surprising that communication made it to the top of the list for the RSP as their area of scrutiny for this year’s customer challenge to Paradigm (Challenge 22). Customers have told us though the annual customer satisfaction survey that communication with us has improved, but it could be better, and so this challenge will help us with this.
Members decided on this challenge after a meeting in June where they looked at performance reporting for the year. A vote was taken at the last meeting on 7 July and work to fully scope the challenge, agree the approach, and consider who needs to be involved, began on 19 July at a workshop. The review and recommendations for improvement will be presented by mid-December. Members will keep you updated on progress via this newsletter.
Get involved
If you would like to get involved with this review, let us know as the RSP are looking for new members, or alternatively you could help out with things like talking to staff, mystery shopping, doing some research or helping to write the report. This is a great way to see if this volunteering opportunity is something you would like to do, before committing completely. Travel and out of pocket expenses are reimbursed and incentives offered.
Meet Kelly our new Customer Engagement Manager...
Tell us about your role?
I will be supporting teams to understand our customer needs and expectations, providing opportunities to influence decision making.
What are your first impressions of Paradigm?
Everyone is very friendly, there is so much passion and enthusiasm for improvement. I've also met some of our customers who have some great ideas on how we can improve our engagement opportunities, local neighbourhoods, and services – I look forward to meeting more of you in the coming months!
What is your key focus for next year?
To review and widen our engagement offer, provide more opportunities for customer involvement and to support local connections. There will be lots of opportunities to have your voice heard and to meet with us - watch this space!
How can we get involved?
There will be many opportunities to get involved with various projects over the coming 12 months, these will be shared via the newsletter and local communications, see article below.
“If you want to chat, we want to listen!”
Customers told us what they need to be able to go electric
We held a virtual customer workshop in June to get a better idea of what our customers want from us when it comes to electrical vehicle charging points. The workshop provided some valuable learning on what your concerns are.
Michael White, Assistant Director of Compliance, presented some facts about electric vehicles, grants, the governments agenda for going electric, infrastructure, installation of charging points at home and in communal car parks and customer and Paradigm responsibilities. This was followed by a group discussion which lasted just over an hour.
Thanking those who joined the workshop, Michael commented that “the session will have a direct impact on what we are thinking, where we go now and how we do things. Understanding what customers are thinking from their perspective, rather than ours, is really important for us”.
As always, we are incredibly grateful to those customers who gave their time, and we will be keeping everyone updated on the new policy, as well as sharing information on electrical charging points at Paradigm properties at a later date.
Current opportunities for involvement
Resident Services Panel (RSP) new members wanted - Scrutinising our services is all about making sure we provide excellent services that meet the standards that we have set. The RSP brings together customers to check and challenge how we operate. Members choose the service areas they want to investigate, speak with colleagues, other customers, and sometimes our service partners, so they can review all relevant information and make recommendations for improvement. Full training is given, travel and other expenses reimbursed, and an incentive is offered.
The Readership - The way we communicate with our customers, whether it is the words we use, the implied meaning, or how we are making information available, we need to check that we have it right. Getting our communication right is really important. The role of The Readership is to give a customer perspective on the communications we produce, to make sure messages are clear, easy to understand and simple to follow. We email communications to you to review, and you can choose to provide feedback as and when you have time, and on what interests you.
Local Engagement - Do you want to discuss local engagement and opportunities within your community? This could be a local event, litter pick or a community improvement project. Let the engagement team know via the email below and we can arrange to come and have a chat!
If you are interested in joining any of the above panels or opportunities, please email us on Customer.Involvement@paradigmhousing.co.uk
Gardening competition - do you have green fingers?
Thanks to everyone who sent in such great photos of your lovely gardens, containers and balconies. We really enjoyed looking at all the photos you sent in and hearing about how much your gardens mean to you. You told us how pottering about and relaxing outdoors helps your physical and mental wellbeing and how it doesn't have to be an expensive hobby. It's not only gardens though, we had some great entries from people with balconies or who have used planters and boxes to beautify unsightly areas.
The three green fingered winners of a £25 shopping voucher are:
- Julie McKee
- Lesley Waddington
- Collette Boyaram
Below are the winning entries. You can view more of the entries on our website here.
Winner Lesley Waddington says: "We have lived in our property 23 years and the garden was waist high in grass and junk when we arrived! Slowly over the years we have added to it and we planted two trees during the first lockdown in 2020.
Since then, my husband has become terminally ill and I am now caring for him. The garden is a nice space for him to enjoy and respite for me when I'm not working.
My top tip would be to buy plants from the sale section in garden centres or supermarkets. Most plants can be rescued and nurtured back to health, saving a lot of money! Alternatively, exchange plants, cuttings or seeds with friends and family to boost your garden for free!
Julie McKee, who sent us her little slice of sanctuary and told us how much she loves the calming effect of her garden! It's all in pots so is easy to manage.
Collette Boyaram is very proud of her garden balcony which gives her something to look forward to when she can't go out. Collette has demonstrated how you can be creative even with a small space.
Home of the month
We are pleased that we now have the remaining seven homes ready to house families living or working in Aylesbury Vale at Twelve Leys in Wingrave, Aylesbury.
That makes a grand total of 11 homes - three for shared ownerships and eight for rental.
Right to buy scheme
We’re aware of the Government’s announcement about the extension of the Right to Buy scheme.
We need to wait to see the detail of the policy before deciding exactly what this means for us as a business and for you, our customers.
In the meantime, if you are interested in buying the home you currently rent from us, please visit our page about buying your home or contact the Sales team as below.
Check out our Support Hub...
For more information on any of the topics below, please go to the Support Hub on our website here.
- Foodbanks
- Help into work
- Managing your home
- Managing your money
- Your energy
- Your family
- Your wellbeing
Want to work for us?
We're hiring
If you are interested in working for Paradigm, check out our job vacancies on our website here. It could be the start of a whole new career!
We are currently looking for skilled technicians, housing, H&S, finance staff and more!