Tenant Friend Contents

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Crystal Neal
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1 INDUCTION PACK

2 Tenant Friend Contents Table of contents Useful contacts Page 3 Who else do I need to know? Page 4 Tenants Friend information sheet Page 6 Fact Sheet 1 Where do I fit in? Page 7 Fact Sheet 2 Welcome pack Page 8 Fact Sheet 3 Role description Page 10 Fact Sheet 4 Information sheet Page 11 Fact Sheet 5 Grounds maintenance criteria Page 12 Fact Sheet 6 Tenant Friend agreement Page 14

Useful contacts Useful Contacts Chair (Ipswich Tenants Voice) Lisa Mills Email lisa.

org Phone Number - 07715977933 Chair (Bury Tenants Voice) -Gill Pugh Email - gillian.

org Phone Number - 01284 850452 Vice Chair Andy Balfour Email ukmotorsltd@hotmail.

Vacant Tenant Friend Representative for Bury Tenants Voice Graham King - Phone Number 07807

3 Useful contacts Useful Contacts Chair (Ipswich Tenants Voice) Lisa Mills Phone Number Chair (Bury Tenants Voice) -Gill Pugh - gillian.pugh@suffolkhousing.org Phone Number Vice Chair Andy Balfour ukmotorsltd@hotmail.com Phone Number Tenant Friend Representative for Ipswich Tenants Voice Vacant Tenant Friend Representative for Bury Tenants Voice Graham King - Phone Number grahamd2011@hotmail.co.uk Staff Support Our staff are here to help you every step of the way, if you have any questions or concerns please get in contact with us. Abbie Jordan Tenant Liaison Apprentice Abbie.Jordan@suffolkhousing.org

areas. Christine brown 01284773447/07921483597 Christine.

org Ipswich, Hadleigh & surrounding areas Sarah Norman 01473

org Bury St Edmunds, Mildenhall, Thetford,Stowmarket Sue West

org Sudbury, Gt Waldingfield, Glemsford,Haverhill &

4 Who Else Do I Need to Know? Area Housing Officer Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket & surrounding areas. Christine brown / Christine.brown@suffolkhousing.org Ipswich, Hadleigh & surrounding areas Sarah Norman / sarah.norman@suffolkhousing.org Bury St Edmunds, Mildenhall, Thetford,Stowmarket Sue West / sue.west@suffolkhousing.org Sudbury, Gt Waldingfield, Glemsford,Haverhill & surrounding areas Lauren Mitson / lauren.mitson@suffolkhousing.org Ipswich, Felixstowe, Shotley Mark Alway / mark.alway@suffolkhousing.org

5 Who Else Do I Need to Know? Technical Services Officer Steven Galvin Steven.galvin@suffolkhousing.org Tom Wray Tom.wray@suffolkhousing.org Oliver Feely Oliver.feely@suffolkhousing.org Joseph Williamson Joseph.williamson@suffolkhousing.org

Tenant Friend Information Sheet Tenant Friend What is the role? Being a tenant friend is an important role and best described as being a good neighbour.

You can assist your neighbours by reporting repairs, keep and eye on the area generally and bring any necessary matters to our attention.

6 Tenant Friend Information Sheet Tenant Friend What is the role? Being a tenant friend is an important role and best described as being a good neighbour. you would be the point of contact for us in your local community. You can assist your neighbours by reporting repairs, keep and eye on the area generally and bring any necessary matters to our attention. This is not a time consuming activity and you can dedicate as much or as little time as you like. Why do you need me? We would like tenants to join our network of friends to help build stronger communities and assist other tenants who ay need a little support. As you live in the community you will know your neighbourhood and so understand it better than we do. What s in it for me? A sense of community, being able to help others. Being a point of contact for Suffolk Housing you will get to know our business better. This could be used as a stepping stone for other tenant involvement activities. How much time do I need to give? The role is what you make of it; it can be as simple as putting a letter through a new resident s door and then generally being a good neighbour, to getting more involved by joining Housing Officers on site visits. You will also be a point of Contact for our Grounds Maintenance Team, who will put a card through your door to let you know when they have been and what they have done. Do I get any support? I am always on hand and can be contacted if you have any issues or concerns, other contact details and information can also be found in this pack. Expenses Suffolk Housing will cover travel expenses along with any child care costs.

We hope that all our tenants look out for one another, and many of our Tenant Friends may look through the role description and see what they have been doing for years, however, by being a Tenant

7 Welcome Pack Fact sheet Two (pg. 1) Welcome to our network of Tenants Friends. Tenant Friends are important, they are people scattered throughout our communities who are there to look out for their fellow neighbours and help those in need. We hope that all our tenants look out for one another, and many of our Tenant Friends may look through the role description and see what they have been doing for years, however, by being a Tenant Friend, we know who you are and hopefully by communicating with you, we can help you and you can help us. We do not expect being a Tenant Friend to be an exhaustive role for you, we appreciate that family and work commitments come first, all you need to do is be the eyes and ears in your neighbourhood and be a good neighbour whilst we support you. How involved you become is entirely up to you and the size of your street or community. We hope that by being an active Tenant Friend you will become a point of contact for not just our residents, but also our Housing Officers and Tenant Voice members. Over the following pages we will endeavour to help clarify exactly what we expect from a Tenant Friend and provide you with contact details and information to help you in the role. Thank you for your help. Abbie Jordan Tenant Liaison Apprentice

Introduce yourself to new tenants We will let you know when a new tenant arrives in the area by sending you a notification and Tenant Friend intro form.

8 Fact sheet Welcome Pack Two (pg. 2 ) To help give you an idea of what the role of a Tenants Friend is, we have listed below what we would expect from a Tenant Friend and how you can go about fulfilling the role. Introduce yourself to new tenants We will let you know when a new tenant arrives in the area by sending you a notification and Tenant Friend intro form. The intro form will tell the new tenant who you are and where you can be found if they need any help with any aspect of their tenancy i.e. how to report a repair, who to contact to discuss rent payment, or even just information about the local area i.e. nearest post office, bank etc. You may never hear from them again but it s nice for people to know there is someone friendly nearby they can ask for help and make them feel welcome. You can either visit the tenant or introduce yourself, or you can post the intro form through the letterbox. The Housing Officer should also make the new tenant aware of whom their nearest tenant friend is when they are given the keys to their new home. Keep an eye out for vulnerable neighbours We don t all live near someone who is classed as vulnerable but we all need to do our bit to make sure they are ok. Someone classed as vulnerable could be anyone from a young mother on her own, to single elderly people. We don t want you to call and check up on them but just bear them in mind, especially older residents during extreme weather when it s difficult to get out and about. Housing Officers may let you know from time to time if they are concerned about someone nearby. Issues in the local area Unfortunately, our Housing Officers cannot be everywhere at the right time and we need tenants to keep us updated on any issues in their local area. Not all our tenants do this and therefore it would be extremely helpful if Tenant Friends can be vigilant and let us know of any issues. Staying in contact It s important that we stay in contact with you so the Tenant Liaison Officer will write or you every 6 months to check how you are getting on and discuss any issues you may have had. Your nearest Tenants Voice member should have contacted you to introduce themselves at least once. You will receive an annual newsletter which is posted to Tenants Voice and Tenant Friends. If you have the Internet and a Facebook account you can become a fan of the Suffolk Housing Society page which is regularly updated with new information. Your Housing Officer may contact you from time to time. Grounds Maintenance Our Grounds Maintenance contractors, Country Grounds Maintenance, will put a card through your door once they have been to your site to let you know when they have been and what they have done. They will also let you know if they were not able to carry out something on that day and why. As a Tenant Friend we ask that you have a look around the site to make sure nothing has been missed or overlooked. Assisting Suffolk Housing You will be invited by your Housing Officer to accompany them on your local site visit, if you would like to join them. This will help as the point of contact you may be aware of something they are not. Also, from time to time, you may be asked to deliver letters and other flyers to our residents in your area. And Finally.. Do not become disheartened if you never hear from any residents or rarely from SHS staff, on the whole, it probably means there are no issues and that s not a bad thing! The most important thing is that you are there if we or a resident need you.

Role description Fact sheet Three Role Description Tenant Friends are tenants who look out for their neighbours and are a link between us and the community.

Below are the key tasks associated with the role; Being available as a point of contact in the local area and introducing yourself to new tenants.

Our Grounds Maintenance team will put a card through your door to let you know when they have been and what they have done, as a tenant friend we ask that you have a look round to

9 Role description Fact sheet Three Role Description Tenant Friends are tenants who look out for their neighbours and are a link between us and the community. The role does not require a huge amount of time and anyone involved in being a Tenant Friend can dedicate as much, or as little time as they like. Below are the key tasks associated with the role; Being available as a point of contact in the local area and introducing yourself to new tenants. We will provide you with information when a new tenant moves in nearby. Our Grounds Maintenance team will put a card through your door to let you know when they have been and what they have done, as a tenant friend we ask that you have a look round to make sure nothing has been missed or overlooked. Joining the Housing Officer on site visits. Details of how to contact the Housing Officer, and nearest Tenants Voice member are in the front of the booklet The role is almost completely what you make it,you may want to pro-actively get involved with your community more, or just introduce yourself to new residents it s entirely up to you.

Information sheet Fact sheet Four Below is a copy of the letter that you will post through the door of the new resident to introduce your self and help them out with any thing they may need to know.

10 Information sheet Fact sheet Four Below is a copy of the letter that you will post through the door of the new resident to introduce your self and help them out with any thing they may need to know. On behalf of the residents of Suffolk Housing I welcome you to your new home. May I introduce myself, my name is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and I am your local tenant friend. My role is to make sure that new tenants are aware of local amenities and provide any other information that may be helpful as you settle into your new home. I hope you will find the following helpful. BIN COLLECTION CAR PARK - DOCTORS- Other useful information here you may want to include things such as public transport, the nearest supermarkets/ corner shops, banks and post offices. Secondly may I just say I hope you will be happy in your new home. If there is anything you would like to know please contact me. Very soon you will receive a Resident Involvement Pack and letter from Gill Pugh, Chair of Bury St Edmunds Tenants Voice or Lisa Mills Chair of Ipswich Tenants Voice. Tenants Voice is one of the panels who represent residents and is able to put your views or issues to Suffolk Housing. It maybe something you want to get involved as a tenant yourself. Yours sincerely,

11 Grounds Maintenance Criteria Fact sheet Five

12 Grounds Maintenance Criteria Fact sheet Five (Pg. 2)

Our Tenants Voice committee Reps like to be able to contact our Tenant Friends on some

varied feedback regarding Grounds Maintenance, repairs, ASB or Tenant Friends.

Please indicate below weather you would be happy for your local tenants voice reps to

Email - I am / am not happy for my local Tenants Voice Reps to have my phone number

13 Our Tenants Voice committee Reps like to be able to contact our Tenant Friends on some occasions to get an update of how things have been going in your area, so they can get varied feedback regarding Grounds Maintenance, repairs, ASB or Tenant Friends. They then feed this back to the committee and discus it at meetings. Please indicate below weather you would be happy for your local tenants voice reps to have your details I am / am not happy for my local Tenants Voice Reps to have my - I am / am not happy for my local Tenants Voice Reps to have my phone number Phone Number - Finally it leaves me to thank you for joining the team of active tenants. Please Sign Below Name- Date- Signature-

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Applying for housing How do I apply? Exchange students To apply for accommodation you will need to fill in the application form which you receive via a link to your email.