January 2012 - Launch of Venture Online

January 2012 will see the launch of Venture Online, a new online service for our customers, giving you access to your housing information online. Use Venture Online to view your rent account, check progress of reported repairs, report issues to us and much more.

We will be e-mailing tenants in January inviting them to register and use the service, to make sure you don't miss out let us have your e-mail address by completing this form. 

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November 2011 - Mellwood Construction award

Mellwood Construction Ltd has been awarded a “Performance Beyond Compliance” certificate from the Considerate Constructors Scheme. This was awarded to Rob Clarke of Mellwood, who is manager of the site for his performance during the major refurbishment works of Quarrybank, Venture Housing Associations new eco friendly apartment block in Birkenhead. The work is to convert 45 bedsits into 12, two and three bed apartments and will be completed early 2012.
The site is in a very small residential area and Rob has done all he can to reduce any disturbance to local residents including such measures as changing delivery times of materials to miss the school run and people leaving for work.

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October 2011 - New Wirral Neighbourhood Housing Officer

We are delighted to announce that Kerry Watterson has recently joined Venture as a Neighbourhood Housing Officer.

Kerry will be job sharing with Leila Hassan, and works on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesday mornings with Leila covering the rest of the week.

Kerry is responsible for managing the Wirral area together with Leila, and will deal with letting properties, anti-social behaviour and other tenancy matters. Regularly liaising with contractors who provide services such as cleaning and gardening to make sure they are delivered to a high standard.

She has worked in housing, careers and in an advisory capacity for many years and has gained an excellent knowledge of services and resources available for tenants across the Wirral.

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September 2011 - North West Insulations

North West Insulations are working in partnership with Venture to fit cavity and loft insulation, currently working in the Liverpool area, if they do attend your property please ensure appropriate ID is shown before letting them in, if you are in doubt call us on 0151 261 2100.

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September 2011 - Wirral Borough Council - Budget simulation

Local Councils are facing tough choices to meet government spending reduction targets.  Wirral Borough Council has asked residents to say how they would use public money and to suggest ways to raise income.  Have a Go and let them know what you think your council tax should be spent on. Click here to have a go.

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92% satisfied with new repairs service

Morrison and PH Jones became repairs contractors for Venture on 16th May. Since then we’ve been asking all customers (in a short phone call) what they think. 92% are satisfied with the service so far.  A promising start, and a position we hope to improve on month by month.

Our goals going forward are to:

• Have more jobs completed at the first visit - to reduce the inconvenience to you and reduce costs in wasted second visits
• Offer an appointment for every job (except emergencies) – to help you plan your busy life
• Improve the number of tenants who are satisfied with the service

If you’re interested in helping us to monitor this service call our customer service team on 0151 261 2100 who will ensure you are invited to our next performance meeting, or use the Contact Us form on this website

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Venture and Making Space work in partnership

Venture Housing and Making Space, an organisation who provide support services for people who have enduring mental illness, have joined forces to provide 6 homes in the Liverpool 6 neighbourhood.

The six flats have been fully refurbished by Venture and will provide homes for tenants’ with mental illness. Support will be provided to all of the tenants by Making Space to help them to maintain their tenancies.

Venture and Making Space have worked together successfully in the past to provide similar supported housing schemes all of which have been successful in providing long term supported accommodation.

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Sheltered Schemes celebrate 25 years

Our 2 sheltered schemes both celebrated their 25 year anniversary within days of each other recently. First out of the blocks was Bishopscourt in West Derby, closely followed by Brookscourt in Birkenhead.

Bishops Court was opened in 1986 by Archbishop Derek Worlock and Bishop David Shepherd. The scheme gets its name from the Bishops who were both awarded the Freedom of the City of Liverpool.

Residents held a party to commemorate their special anniversary. The popular scheme located in West Derby has many long standing tenants who were able to join in the day.

They were joined in their celebrations by one of their Local Councillors, Norman Mills and the Rector of St Mary’s Church West Derby, Rev. Mark Coleman.

Venture’s Chief Executive, John Tolen who opened the event said “...it was a pleasure to join residents in their celebrations as attending Bishops Court is always enjoyable due to its happy atmosphere.”

Meanwhile, Brookscourt residents celebrated in style by holding a party to which they invited a number of guests including the Mayor of Wirral, Councillor Moira McLaughlin and her daughter Anna who is the mayor’s consort, Councillor Jean Stapleton, Councillor Brian Kenney and Father Michael Hartley.

The day was celebrated in style with a fabulous hot and cold buffet prepared by the scheme manager, Bernadette and her family. A couple from the scheme prepared a delicious beef stew whilst another resident baked home-made scones along with his home-grown strawberries which went down a treat.

The residents enjoyed entertainment and held a competition to “Guess who the baby was!!!!” after supplying photographs of themselves as babies, and partied on into the night long after their invited guests had gone home.

Venture’s Chief Executive, Mr John Tolen attended the event along with several other Venture staff and presented a basket of flowers to Mrs Sally Mitchell who has been resident at Brookscourt since its first opening. Sally was thrilled to cut the celebratory cake which was later enjoyed by all. John said “I was delighted to be invited to join in the celebrations of this popular sheltered scheme.”

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New Repairs Contracts Launched at Venture Housing

Venture Housing Association has today celebrated the launch of 2 new repairs contracts.

All day to day repairs will be carried out by Morrison and all gas servicing and repairs will be undertaken by PH Jones. National companies, but both have a local focus with bases in Liverpool and Wirral. The new contracts are for a period of 4 years.

These contracts will significantly improve the service that we currently offer to our tenants, with appointments being made as tenants report repairs. We will be asking our tenants for their views on their experience of the new service.

The Deputy Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Frank Prendergast officially launched the contract at the Association’s offices.

Representatives of PH Jones, Morrison, Venture tenants’ representatives and the Board of Management also attended. John Tolen, Chief Executive officially welcomed the Deputy Mayor to Venture Housing Association.

Morrison ran a skills taster session for some of the pupils from St Francis of Assisi Academy School based in Liverpool 6. The year 10 pupils were able to try their hand at brick laying, joinery, electrics and plumbing with staff from Morrison on hand to show them the various different trades. The highlight of their visit was the opportunity to build a brick wall; even the Deputy Mayor could not resist cementing the deal!

Morrison are currently recruiting apprentices and it is hoped the new contracts will lead to further opportunities for local residents, as well as improving services for our tenants.

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Re-development scheme in Birkenhead

We are helping to regenerate the centre of Birkenhead with over £1 million worth of investment in an apartment block. The Quarry Bank scheme has recently started on site and will see 12 apartments refurbished to a high standard. The scheme consists of 8 x 2 bedroom apartments and 4 x 3 bedroom apartments which will all benefit from high energy efficiency measures such as photovoltaic’s and rain water harvesting. This development has been made possible due to partnership working with, and financial support, from both the Homes and Communities Agency and Wirral Borough Council. It will be completed by November 2011 and will have a significant impact on the Whetstone Lane area of Birkenhead.

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