Heart of the Matter - Newsletter 2

Heart Matterofthe

Winter 2010 Issue 2

Bloomingmarvellousgardens!

Paying your rentHelping to fund improvements

QDF: Designfor the future

Mrs Priddy receives firstkitchen refurbishment

By the end of March 2011approximately 250 homesthroughout the County Boroughwill have received the upgradesas part of Tai Calon’scommitment to investing£111 million pounds in tenants’homes.

Tenants have been able tochoose kitchen door types,worktops, tiles and flooring.The work is being carried outby three contractors, namelyAPWaters, Ian Williams andGlanmor Developments.

John Wedlock Chair of NewtownTenants and Residents said“the consultation with thetenants within the community ofNewtown has been very good.

It is excellent that tenants nowhave a choice as to what finishesthey prefer so you have akitchen that is to your liking.You can have your kitchentailored to suit your specificneeds”.

Tenants have been keyto designing the initialimprovements programmethrough participating in theQuality Design Forum (QDF)i.e. a representative group oftenants, staff and BoardMembers. A ‘most in need’approach was adopted by theQDF as the rationale forselecting which kitchens andbathrooms needed replacement(on an estate basis) during theinitial round of works.

The QDFWhat has itachieved?• Agreed the ‘most in need’

principle for the internalimprovement programme

• Involved in the selectionof the contractors

• Selected the kitchensuppliers

• Selected the four choicesof kitchens to be offeredto tenants

• Developed a Code ofConduct for Contractors

• Prepared the satisfactionsurveys for the repairsand improvementprocesses

What will it doin the future?• Monitor how satisfied

tenants are withTai Calon, its contractorsand the finished works

• Be involved in theselection of any furthercontractors needed forthe improvement works

If you would beinterested in participatingin the QDF please contactNatasha Jones on0300 303 1717.

2 | Heart of the Matter

Tenants from Briery Hill, Newtown, Waundeg andWaunheulog have been the first to receive newkitchens and bathrooms as part of the first waveof internal improvement works.

Which kitchenunits do you like?

www.taicalon.org

Which Kitchen UnitsDo You Like? 2

Join Tai Calon 3

Competition Winner 4

Tenants AreBlooming After Win 4

Fire Fighters OfferFree Safety Check 5

Paying Your Rent 6

Rumour Busting... 6

Free Money Advice 7

Sign Up Sign Up 7

Get A Step Up To Work 8

Bogus Callers in Blaenau Gwent 9

Electrical Safety at Christmas 10

BloomingTenants

Page 4

JoinTai Calon

Do you know you canbecome a member ofTai Calon and have a realsay in how Tai Calon is run.

The members are the legalowners of Tai Calon and areable to decide on the future ofhomes, housing services andlocal neighbourhoods.

Membership entitles tenants toelect tenant board membersand attend member events tovote on key decisions.

Tenant and leaseholders whohave already signed up asmembers have decided to holdelections for a MembershipScrutiny Committee. The roleof the Scrutiny Committee is tohold the Board of Tai Calon toaccount on behalf of all itsMembers and to ensure thatTai Calon is delivering thecommitments made in theOffer Document.

Elections for the ScrutinyCommittee are going to beheld in the new year. If youwould like to put yourselfforward for election to theScrutiny Committee orwould like to become amember please contactNatasha Jones on0300 303 1717.

ContentsHeart of the Matter | 3

www.taicalon.org

Congratulations toMrs Joan Lewis who wasthe lucky winner in‘Name Your Newsletter’competition.

Joan said “I think it was anappropriate name, I was verypleased to be chosen. I was verydelighted to receive the flowersand vouchers.

Joan was presented with abouquet of flowers and £50worth of shopping vouchers.

Through all the excitementand anticipation of the2010 Blaenau Gwentin Bloom AwardsMr Williams of GwentWay and Mrs Love ofBeaufort were amongstthe lucky winners topick up an award.

Mr Williams said “We were verypleased with the prize. I thinkthe garden is lovely but it isreally nice when someoneelse also notices it”.

Mrs Love said “Blaenau Gwentin Bloom is a hugely populargardening competition that isfree to enter for local peopleand local businesses. Theharsh weather conditions did


Competition Winner

Tenants are Blooming After Winnot hinder the standard ofentrants which again was veryhigh.”

Tai Calon were one of the mainsponsors at the awards andsponsored the Communitiescategory.

www.taicalon.org

Joan’s entry of ‘Heart of theMatter’ was picked by theCommunications Working Groupconsisting of staff and tenants,as the new name of the tenantsnewsletter.

Heart of the Matter | 5

Fire Fighters OfferFree Safety Check

www.taicalon.org

The South Wales Fire andRescue Service is offeringyou the opportunity to havea FREE Fire Safety Check onyour home, carried out byfire fighters from your localfire station. The check takesabout 30 minutes.

To arrange your FREEcheck phone FREE(from a landline) on0800 169 1234

OrComplete the OnlineRegistration Form atwww.southwales-fire.gov.uk

OrE-mail: Home Fire Safety [email protected] your contact details.

On booking a Home Fire SafetyCheck Fire Fighters will arrangea convenient time to visit yourhome to carry out aninspection.

They will give life saving adviceon how to identify fire hazards inyour home, what do to in theevent of a fire and how to makea fire escape plan.

When Tai Calon carries outits services such as repairsand improvements your renthelps to pay for theseservices.

It is important that everyonepays their rent on time andkeeps up to date with payments.Rent is charged over 48 weeksso you will have 4 rent freeweeks throughout the year. Wewill send you a quarterly rentstatement to let you know yourrent balance.


www.taicalon.org

We hear there is arumour going aroundat the moment thatTai Calon have run outof money... weIl I canabsolutely assure youthat this is not true.

We have a fundingarrangement in place for thenext 30 years where we canborrow up to £125 million.We will need this moneyover the next few years tocarry out all of the workspromised to tenant’s homes– so now you know, and ifsomeone tells you that TaiCalon have run out ofmoney – you’ll be able to tellthem it’s not true!

Jen BarfootCEO

David LloydResources Director

Paying Your RentYou can pay your rent by:• Direct Debit• Post Office - Please use your

new Tai Calon payment card• Pay Zone - Please use your

new Tai Calon payment card• Telephone Payment• Internet Payment -

visit www.taicalon.org• Cash Desk at the Civic Centre

- Opening hours are 8.30amto 5pm Monday to Friday

• Rent Collector

If you find it difficult to pay yourrent please contact theIncome Team on 0300 3031717 who will help anddiscuss payment optionswith you.

For any other informationplease telephoneTai Calon on0300 303 1717.

We are glad to tell you thatthe issues we have beenhaving with our telephonelines are now sorted out.

We are very sorry to anyone whohas tried to call us where it hasappeared that we have just notanswered the phone. It hastaken us 3 weeks to locate the

Rumourbusting...

source of the problem, and itturns out that the calls were notgetting to us. Once again, we arevery sorry that people have notalways been able to talk to uswhen they wanted to over thelast few weeks.

Jen BarfootChief Executive Officer

Teething Problems


www.taicalon.org

Ever wanted completely free,impartial information andguidance to help you withyour money, with absolutelyno selling?

Moneymadeclear™ can help youwith all sorts of concerns aboutmoney, for example:• I’m struggling to pay my rent

and other bills – how am Igoing to manage?

• I’ve separated from my partner– what should I do about thefinances?

• What benefits and tax creditsam I entitled to?

• I’d like to borrow some money– what are my options andwhat does it cost?

• I’m worried about repaying mymortgage if interest rates goup. What can I do?

Moneymadeclear is a serviceto help everyone. Below is anexample of how we were able tohelp a woman with debts:

Awoman came to ask for adviceon a number of debts. She hassought debt advice beforethrough a private debtmanagement company. Theyarranged for her to make tokenpayments of £1 per month to8 creditors. The woman pays £26per month to this company whichincludes a £17 administration fee.Moneymadeclear was able tohelp the woman find out aboutthe free, impartial debt adviceagencies and she can nowreorganise her debts withoutpaying a fee.

You should have by nowreceived copies of your newTai Calon Tenancy Agreement,this gives you all the rightsthat were promised in theTai Calon offer document.

There will be two copies (or in thecase of joint tenants three copies)of your tenancy agreement, inwhich you the named tenant(s)will need to sign all copies andreturn them all in the freepostenvelope provided. We will signall copies and return yourcopy(ies) to yourself. Please signthe forms and return them as

soon as possible to ensure thatyou have the rights that wehave promised you.

In the package with the tenancyagreement you will find a TenantCensus questionnaire. Thepurpose of the Tenant Censusquestionnaire is to enableTai Calon to fully understand theneeds of its tenants and developits services in line with thoseneeds. For example if a memberof your family is disabled andwould take some time to get tothe front door we would want tolet our staff know in order that wewait longer. NB This information

will onlybe used byTai Calonand itspartners toshape orimprove ourservices totenants.

Bothdocuments are very important tous so please complete them assoon as you can. All documentsreturned within the date on thequestionnaire will be entered intoa prize draw.

For more information pleasetelephone Tai Calon on0300 303 1717.

Sign Up, Sign Up!

Call our Moneymadeclear™dedicated helpline on0300 500 5000 or visitwww.moneymadeclear.org.ukfor a wide range of impartialinformation, tools and resourcesto help you get to grips with yourmoney.”

Ceri Morgan is the Money Guidewho works for the ConsumerFinancial Education Body(CFEB). His job is to improveyour understanding of moneymatters and help you makeinformed decisions about yourmoney. And, because CFEB isindependent, you can restassured they’re not sellinganything. Tai Calon’s IncomeTeam on call 0300 303 1717to make an appointment.

Need help with your money?

Do you want to work butcan’t get the experiencefor the jobs you would likeor have the confidence toapply. Why not contactthe Job match team?

Job match is an organisationfunded by the Welsh AssemblyGovernment that works with thelong term unemployed, youngpeople that are not in training,employment or education andgroups such as lone parents.

For more information onJob Match and its work withTai Calon contact:

Kerry Goodenough [email protected]

Tel: 07855 233849

George [email protected]

Tel: 07813 638436

Lynne [email protected]

Tel: 07814 124216


www.taicalon.org

Get a step up to work

Tai Calon is working with JobMatch to provide training andpaid placement opportunities.

Kim Whittington, who wasunemployed, was acceptedon to the JobMatchCommunity ApprenticeshipTraining Scheme (CATS)route, which has now kickstarted her new career.

Please be aware thatTai Calon has beeninformed that bogus callershave been operating inBlaenau Gwent.

All contractors used byTai Calon and Tai CalonOfficers must show you theiridentity badge prior to enteringyour home.

Bogus Callers inBlaenau Gwent

If you are not sure whether toallow someone into your homeplease telephone Tai Calon on0300 303 1717 to check theirdetails.

Remember – our staff andcontractors will be happy towait whilst you check.

It is important to Tai Calonthat when contractors areworking in your home youhave a point of contact.

Fernando Greco and EmmaRidout are the newly appointedTenant Liaison Officers who arecurrently supporting tenantswhose homes are receivingkitchen and bathroomupgrades, new roofs andcentral heating systems.

Meet Your TenantLiaison Officers

They will be responsible forensuring tenants are fullyinformed as the work isongoing, presenting tenantswith kitchen choices andproviding support to thosewho need assistance.

For more informationcontact Tai Calon on0300 303 1717


www.taicalon.org


www.taicalon.org

If you would like tocontact Tai Calon youmust telephone0300 303 1717.

Blaenau GwentCounty Borough Council’sHousing Hotline telephonenumber ‘01495 354600’ willno longer divert your call to us.

If you wish to report a repair,enquire about your rent, orwould like to speak to a memberof staff from Tai Calon pleasetelephone 0300 303 1717.

Or you can:Write to or visit us at:Solis One, Rising SunIndustrial Estate, BlainaNP13 3JW

Email us: [email protected]

Electrical Safetyat ChristmasTo help prevent the most common electrical problems withChristmas lights the Electrical Safety Council recommendsfollowing these simple precautions and checks:

Always• Read and follow the

manufacturer’s instructions,and retain instructions for futurereference

• Check that your Christmaslights are not damaged orbroken before use and look outfor loose wires

• Use only replacement bulbs ofthe same type and rating asthose originally supplied withthe lights

• Ensure all outdoor lights areconnected via a 30mA RCDprotected socket. An RCDwillprovide added protectionagainst electric shock

• Replace failed lampsimmediately to preventoverheating – if lamps are notreplaceable, the whole lightingproduct may need to bereplaced

• Ensure that plugs andtransformers are plugged-inindoors, even if the lighting issuitable for outdoor use

• Switch Christmas lights off andunplug them before you go tobed or go out - Even Christmaslights need a break!

• Keep lights away fromflammable decorations andother materials that can burneasily

• Keep the packaging for safestorage after use.Avoidstorage in damp or excessivelyhot conditions

Never• Use the lights outdoors unless

specially designed for such use• Connect different lighting sets

together• Connect lights to the supply

while in the packaging• Remove or insert lamps while

the chain is connected to thesupply

• Overload sockets and try toavoid the use of extensionleads or adaptors

• Allow children to play withChristmas lights

• Attempt to repair faulty lights –replace them

• Use lights that are damagedor faulty

The Electrical Safety Councilrecommends the use of “LED”over traditional “filament”Christmas lighting because:

• They operate at extra lowvoltage which significantlyreduces the risk of electricshock

• They use much less power,generating little heat and soreducing the risk of fire andburns. This makes them saferto use.

• They are estimated to use80-90% less electricity thanfilament lamps so they are lessexpensive to run and typicallylast up to 60 times longer.

Contact Us

• They are more durable.Because LED lights are madeof a special plastic with nofilament, there are no glassbulbs to break or flake.

• They are a great deal moreefficient to run and good atsaving energy so are moreenvironmentally friendly.

Documents

Heart of the Matter - Newsletter 2