Celebrating 10 years…
Newport Housing Trust celebrated its 10th anniversary since being established on 19 March 2001, following a small scale voluntary transfer from Newport City Council.
The Trust redeveloped the prefab sites around Newport and built new bungalows for the over 60s to a standard above the Welsh Housing Quality Standard. The redevelopment took six years to complete with the last prefab resident moving into their home at the Gaer in November 2006 and the last bungalow handover taking place on 19 March 2007 at the Treberth estate.
In the early years, the Trust managed with a small team of four employees until 2002 and then three resident liaison officers were employed to help tenants move into their new bungalows on a temporary basis. The Trust experienced steady growth and in 2007, following consultation with tenants, the housing management function was brought in-house. Since then the management of maintenance was also brought in-house in 2010 and from April 2011 rent collection will also be brought in-house. The Trust currently employs a team of 15 staff members.
The following are just some of the achievements made by the Trust since 2010.
Consolidating the human resource, public relations, health and safety and IT functions in Corporate Services has led to a number of achievements. Following extensive consultation with tenants, members of staff and Board members, a new NHT corporate identity, which more clearly represents the aims and values of the organisation, was launched. This was seen as a necessity as we move to promote and develop the unique older person services we provide more widely within communities.
The Trust’s commitment to improving management systems has been recognised by a Leadership and Management Award from Investors in People, which was achieved through assistance from the Welsh Assembly Government workforce development programme. Other work has included the introduction of a new health and safety procedure and the training of staff and Board members.
A major achievement during the last year has been bringing the repairs and maintenance function in house following a review. This means that Charter Housing stepped down as our managing agents and we welcome our new repairs and maintenance contractors, Monmouthshire Housing Association, and look forward to a productive and mutually supportive relationship.
We also agreed a new partnership to provide maintenance services for Aelwyd Housing Association. It is hoped that this is the first of many new developments in the area of service provision.
It is the aim of the Board to engage with tenants in initiatives that go beyond service delivery. To deliver this aim, we have continued with our support of the very successful and popular Over 60s IT Project and launched a Community Celebration Event that recognises the contributions that tenants make to their communities.
George Thomas, 86 and his wife Josie Thomas, 83, took part in the prefab development and moved into their new bungalow back in March 2003. When asked whether the bungalow was everything he and his wife expected, George says, ‘There are no words to describe this bungalow, it’s like Buckingham palace compared to some places, I’m happy with the bungalow and the area, can’t fault it.’
The bungalows were built to enable older people to live more independently for longer. George told Newport Housing Trust how he now has bad legs; however the level access in the bungalow has allowed him to continue living there with little difficultly, with just Ridgeway Hill to tackle George says he’s, ‘always glad to get home.’
Phil Toms Chief Executive said, ‘Looking back over the last decade of the Trust; recalling the hurdles we overcame and the characters we met along the way, it has been a great experience. New challenges face our communities in a changing world. It is up to the Trust to find ways to continue to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of our tenants.’