May & June 2007

Following devastating flooding on the Winn Gardens estate earlier this week, Sheffield Homes and its partners have been working hard to help residents of the estate get back to normality.

Youngsters in Burngreave have the chance to be Junior Community Wardens for the summer holidays thanks to a special scheme with Sheffield Homes’ Community Wardens.   The six-week Junior Community Warden programme will involve a wide range of individual and group projects and special activity days with the emergency services.  The events will be held every Wednesday afternoon starting on Wednesday 25^th July.

Sheffield Homes is warning tenants that the imminent smoking ban in public places will apply to communal parts of council properties too. From 1^st July 2007 virtually all enclosed public places and workplaces in England will become smoke-free. This means that smoking will also not be allowed in the communal parts of flats and maisonette buildings.

Young people in Burngreave walked their way into the record books this week by taking part in the UK’s largest simultaneous walking bus.  Sixty children from Firshill Junior School and St Catharine’s School took part in the Sheffield leg of the world-recording attempt as part of the Burngreave Walking Bus Scheme.  Across the UK 80,000 children took part, culminating in a new world record walking bus.

Sheffield Homes is launching ‘Sheffield Gnomes’, a special summer gardening competition specifically for its customers.

 

The competition is open to anyone living in one of the 45,000 council homes the company manages and is designed to appeal to a wide range of customers, not just those with traditional front or back gardens.

Following training sessions with Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS), a Sheffield Homes Neighbourhood Wardens Team is the first in South Yorkshire to be qualified to work as 'Community First Responders' for the Ambulance Service.

People living in the Castledine area of Sheffield will be saying a sad farewell to Castledine Tenants and Residents Association (TARA) when TARA members Chris Bunting and Bob Truelove, step down after 20 years of service.

Residents from the Littledale area packed their bags for their annual summer holiday last week.

 

The residents made the trip to Bournemouth have been going on holiday together for the last thirteen years, with the help of Littledale Tenants and Residents Association (TARA).

The trip this year was extra special, because it’s the final one that Mrs Gwen Dean, TARA Secretary has organised. 

The East of Sheffield will be getting a special makeover this week thanks to local organisations, who will be working together to clean up local estates.

Sheffield Homes is working with South Yorkshire Police and Burngreave New Deal for Communities to help customers living in the Burngreave area of Sheffield.  The organisations are working hand in hand to roll out two initiatives aimed at deterring thefts in the area and to help people feel at ease in their homes.

Sheffield Homes is looking for enthusiastic, dedicated and committed people to join its Board of Directors. This year there are four vacancies for council tenant members and one for an independent member.

A report released today by Sheffield Homes reveals that it was called in to tackle 9489 cases of anti-social behaviour over the past year. The figures, which show a 7% increase on last year, show that more people than ever before are prepared to take a stand against anti-social behaviour. Moreover, 99.1% of the cases were successfully resolved without the need for costly and lengthy legal action.

Sheffield Homes is offering residents in the East of Sheffield the opportunity to have a major role in shaping Council housing services in their local community.  We are looking to recruit new members to our East Area Board, which covers areas including Burngreave, Darnall and Firshill

A special exhibition to gain customer feedback on a range of products that are being used to improve customer homes as part of the Decent Homes Programme and Repairs Service is being held at Ponds Forge on Tuesday 22nd May and Wednesday 23rd May.

 

Sheffield residents who volunteer their time to help bring the community closer together, are being recognised at a special ‘STAR’ awards event.

 

The STAR (Special Thanks And Recognition) Awards were set up by Sheffield Homes to recognise the excellent work carried out by Tenants and Residents Associations (TARAs) in the North of Sheffield.