Your latest newsletter from Paradigm Housing
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Wishing you a very merry Christmas from us all at Paradigm Housing.
We hope you all had a good year and are looking forward to your festivities if you celebrate Christmas. We're looking forward to 2024, continuing to involve as many customers as we can in improving our services for our customers, neighbourhoods and communities.
This will build on some of the activities we’ve done this year - we held our first-ever Big Door Knock, knocking on 1,417 customers’ doors. We also held events at our Older People’s Schemes and recognised Time to Talk Day, where we spoke to 214 customers. We’re looking forward to connecting with even more of you next year.
We were also really pleased to be able to support so many of our customers this year by introducing new partnerships and grants to help you save money on energy costs in your home. We also supported customers with fuel and food vouchers and referred some to our partner organisations who provide debt advice and support with mental health.
I hope you stay safe and well this festive season, and we’ll see you in the New Year.
Hannah Manyewu, Executive Director – Customer
Fancy winning a £20 voucher?
We've hidden several snowmen in this newsletter, simply tell us how many snowmen you can find by replying to this email, and we'll pick a winner from the correct answers (this one doesn't count, but he's who you're looking for!)
Our Christmas opening hours
Even though our offices are closed for the festive period, you can still call us in the case of an emergency. Call 0300 303 1010 and our out of hours team will help you with any emergencies and tell you what will happen next. For anything else, email ContactUs@ParadigmHousing.co.uk and we'll get back to you in the New Year.
A new home just in time for Christmas
After five years on their local authority’s waiting list, we were delighted to hand over the keys to a two-bed home for a family just in time for Christmas.
The family had been privately renting a one-bed flat, with the two children sharing the bedroom and the parents in the living room. Their new home in High Wycombe is the perfect Christmas gift for the whole family:
“Our new home is closer to our son’s school, closer to our daughter’s nursery, is walking distance from town and has a garden. Along with an extra bedroom, a separate sitting room and a much bigger kitchen. For the first time in five years, we’ll be able to have a proper Christmas dinner together at a table.”
The family are now starting the process of unloading their belongings and decorating their new home. You can read more here.
Providing storage for donated furniture
Kings Church in Amersham helps people who can't afford furniture by providing good quality items for homes.
Recently, they received furniture from a hotel closing down but didn't have space to store it. We stepped in by lending them secure garages, allowing Kings Church Amersham to store the furniture and continue helping those in need.
Rockin' around the Christmas tree
Some of our teams took time out to spread some Christmas cheer to customers in our over 55s schemes, spending time meeting and speaking to our customers, many of who live alone. Colleagues wrapped over 60 presents, wrote 30 cards and decorated two communal lounges - in just one morning! 🎁
Donating hampers to customers in need
Thanks to donations from colleagues, board members and other companies we work with, we were able to donate 119 hampers to customers this Christmas.
Paradigm colleagues from around the organisation volunteered to pack hampers and deliver to customers – and Matthew Bailes, our Chief Executive, even loaded up the sleigh to get involved with deliveries!
Keeping you informed about your rent
Over the coming months, you may receive texts from us about paying your rent, this could be because you’re in arrears or your direct debit didn’t go through. These messages will come from Paradigm and will ask you to follow a link in the message to find out more. If you are concerned that the message may not be from us, please call us on 0300 303 1010 and we can verify the text.
Staying #SaferTogether this festive season
Many people enjoy the festive cheer that a Christmas tree and decorations can bring to a home. But the sad fact is that all this can act as extra fuel for a potential house fire. Here's our top tips for how you can stay safe over Christmas and into the New Year:
We're here to help
This festive season, we're here to help. Please call us on 0300 303 1010 if you are worried about your finances, and we can refer you to specialists who can support you. We can also provide foodbank referrals and support you with help into work.
We need your help
We’ve got exciting news! Towards the end of next year, we’ll have a brand new version of our MyParadigm customer portal. You can use the current portal to see a summary of your rent account and repairs history and make a payment online (click here to register if you haven’t already).
From next year you’ll also be able to use MyParadigm to log a repair, make lots of service requests, report concerns about your neighbourhood and see many more details about your Paradigm account.
But first, we need your help! We are looking for customer volunteers to help us test the new portal. We’ll ask you to complete some tasks and let us know how it went. All you’ll need is a phone, tablet or computer with internet access and a few hours spare between 12 and 25 February. The testing can be carried out in the comfort of your own home and at a time that suits you.
Register your interest by Monday 5 February by giving us a few details on this form and a member of our Customer Engagement team will be in touch in the new year.
