Changes to our Wirral services

In March we asked for the views of our Wirral residents on how they would like to access Venture’s services in Wirral. 

They said:
• Only 20% had used our Clifton Road office in the last 12 months
• 90% prefer to contact us by phone
• 52% felt it was important to be able to see someone face to face
• and 75% of those people preferred a home visit for face to face contact
• 26% would like to see extended opening hours but 56% didn’t

It’s clear from these messages that they would prefer us to provide access to our service differently so from Monday 5th July 2010 we intend to:
• Close our Clifton Road Office and transfer the staff to answering the phone
• Provide face to face contact through home visits
• Provide a monthly housing surgery at a local community resource centre
• Ask all Venture tenants for their views on opening hours

Thank you for taking the time to share your views with us.  As you can see they really do matter.

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Fun and games on Neighbours’ Day – June 2010

Crowds turned out to enjoy a feast of fun and games at Venture Housing Association’s European Neighbours’ Day celebrations.

More than 100 people gathered for the family fun day at the Association’s Boaler Street offices on 2nd June.
Attractions included a children’s entertainer, face painting, a bouncy castle, a disco, karaoke, bingo for all age groups and complementary therapies.
There was also a “Hook a Duck” competition, arts and crafts, workshops to show people how to make their own hanging baskets, plus international food tasting – with Spanish, Indian, Italian and Chinese dishes on offer.
Louise Powell, Venture’s Regeneration and Projects Officer, said: “European Neighbours’ Day, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, is an international initiative which aims to get people within local communities together.
“The idea is to foster community spirit and encourage people get to know their neighbours. The day went really well – everyone loved it.”

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100% Gas Servicing achieved!!

We have hit the 100 per cent mark in ensuring gas appliances in all of our homes in Liverpool and the Wirral are safe and meet legal standards.

The achievement means that gas safety certificate checks have now been carried out on gas fires, boilers and any other gas appliances in the 1,300 homes managed by us.

We have seen a steady increase in the number of checks completed over recent months but hit the 100 per cent mark this week.

John Tolen, Chief Executive, said: "We have been at almost 100 per cent in terms of gas safety certificate checks since early 2009 but had a few cases where access was proving difficult and we are proud that, this week, we have achieved our goal.
This excellent result is testament to the hard work and dedication of our team which has worked relentlessly towards ensuring all gas appliances in our homes are safe. I’d also like to thank all of our tenants for their cooperation in helping us continue the trend of keeping our tenants, their families and neighbours safe."

By law, landlords must arrange annual checks of all gas appliances and flues which must be carried out by a registered Gas Safe engineer. Landlords are also required to carry out any necessary maintenance repairs needed to gas appliances, flues and pipework.

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Housing Association joins national crackdown on misuse of social housing – April 2010

Venture Housing Association is backing a national drive to crack down on the misuse of social housing.

The Association is supporting the Government’s national fraud initiative to tackle housing cheats.
As part of the scheme, Venture will be carrying out tenancy audits over the coming months to make sure that the people living in its properties are the legal tenants.
If you suspect a neighbour may not be living in their property or they may be sub-letting to someone else, call Venture anonymously on 0151 261 2100.

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Wednesday Winners - April 2010

The following tenants have won £50 in High Street Vouchers simply by keeping their rent account clear.

• Miss W, Liverpool 5
• Ms A, Birkenhead
• Mrs L, Birkenhead
• Mr L, Liverpool 7

Details of the scheme can be found here.

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Sparkles Day - February 2010

Our recent Sparkles day was held on Saturday 13th February in the Elm Park and Molyneux neighbourhoods.

Over 25 skips were placed around the areas for local people to come and ‘Dump their Junk’ in a bid to curb fly tipping. A litter pick of the area also took place on the day.

Joint partnership working with other RSL’s, the local councillors, the Police, the Academy, and Liverpool City Council contributed to yet another effective neighbourhood event.

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Communities Secretary visits Venture - January 2010

Parliamentary hopeful Luciana Berger visited Venture Housing Association during the first public appearance of her election campaign.

The 28-year-old Labour candidate for Wavertree and Communities Secretary John Denham met local tenants during the visit to our head office in Kensington.
Ms Berger, a former National Union of Students executive, said: “I’ve heard about some of the fabulous work that you do around empowering tenants to work together. Housing is one of my top three priorities.”
Ms Berger was selected as the Labour candidate for Wavertree after Jane Kennedy, who represented the constituency since 1992, announced she was stepping down last year.

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Venture takes care of vulnerable tenants during cold snap – January 2010

Venture Housing Association went the extra mile in looking after its older and more vulnerable tenants by contacting 200 residents to check their well-being during the coldest winter in years.

Members of the Association’s Customer Services Team checked on the most vulnerable residents to make sure they were coping with the extreme weather.
The call-round led to the repair of one resident’s heating system, which was not working properly but had not previously been reported.
The Customer Services Team used customer profile information to identify who would be most vulnerable during the cold weather.
Staff boosted Venture’s customer profile information last summer when they carried out a tenancy audit, door-knocking and talking to more than 400 residents.

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Weekly Jobs Cafe - December 2009

A JOBS cafe is offering the unemployed the chance to go for a “cob and a job”.

Every Wednesday morning from January 6, the Job Bank, in Tunnel Road, Edge Hill, will serve breakfast and a relaxing atmosphere where people can search the latest jobs, access skilled help with applications and get sound general employment advice.

Job cafes are also held at ELECT’s offices in Ruscombe Road, Dovecot, every Monday from 1pm-4pm and at Venture Housing, in Boaler Street, Kensington, every Thursday from 10am-1pm.

For further information, ring 230-0300 or visit www.liverpooljet.org

The events are run by Liverpool council’s JET service.

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Christmas comes early for a Venture tenant - December 2009

Christmas has come early for one of our Liverpool families who will be spending the festive season in a new home.

Christopher Beatson and his family were handed the keys to their new three bedroomed bunglaow in Belle Vale last week. Mr Beatson suffers from a myscle wasting disease and needed a home specially adapted to his mobility needs. We adapted the neighbouring property for the family to move into. The bungalow was extended to create a third bedroom and was newly fitted out throughout with features such as a level access shower.

Work, which cost £45,000, was carried out by Frank Rogers Building Contractors Ltd over the last two months.

Mr Beatson, who has lived next door since 1998, said "Me and my family are really pleased with what Venture Housing has done for us. We are really looking forward to moving into our new home as it will make a massive difference to our everyday lives."

Louise Powell, our Regeneration and Projects Officer, added "We are always pleased to accommodate the changing needs of our tenants whenever we can, and we are keen to get the work completed before Christmas so the family could enjoy the festive celebrations in their new home."

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Tenant Committee - September 2009

Our new Tenant Committee was launched at our Annual General Meeting on 22 September, click here to read more about this exciting development for our tenants.

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