Our newsletter will include business news, information about events, and updates about what’s going on in your community.
From upcoming community events to essential maintenance updates, this monthly round-up will ensure you stay connected, celebrate shared successes, and embrace what it means to be our resident.
If you would prefer to receive a paper copy of Havebury Highlights please let the communications team know by emailing communications@havebury.com
Fire safety at home
We all need to play our part in keeping you safe in your home.
We do this by carrying our fire safety checks and providing you with important information about your building.
Watch this useful video which was produced by Arlo and Lena from West Suffolk College working with Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service and us, to highlight further tips on how you can stay safe whilst at home.
Since filming this video, both Maria and Alan have taken on new roles within Havebury. This shows our continuous commitment to our team members, their development and that we are focused on keeping our residents safe.
Our sustainability strategy
Firstly, we’d like to say a huge thank you to those of you who completed our sustainability strategy towards the end of last year. We received over 700 responses, which demonstrates that sustainability is just as important to you as it is to us.
Although this is our first sustainability strategy, we are starting from a good place. In delivering this strategy, we want to measurably reduce our environmental impact, as a whole, year on year.
You can read more about the strategy here.
The following six to eight months are the busiest time for our teams and we need to work together to ensure that your communities are looking their best.
Ahead of the summer works, could we please ask that:
These Neighbourhood Check-Ins look out for the following:
We have worked on a shortlist of 21 locations, and we look forward to sharing these with you soon.
Resident Experience Committee (REC)
Last week, our communications manager, Hayley, caught up with the Chair of our Resident Experience Committee and Board Member, Sara Garnham. They talked about what REC does, what was discussed at the last meeting and the plans to expand the the committee. You can watch the video by clicking the image above.
If you’d like to chat to us about joining our Resident Experience Committee, contact our Engagement team. You can call 0300 3300 900 and enter extension number 7316 when prompted, or email engagement@havebury.com
This week is National Apprenticeship Week
Last month, Henry Griffiths, our apprentice property maintenance operative, completed his apprenticeship with us. He’s worked really hard over the last two years to complete his apprenticeship, with the help and support of his mentor, Ian Sisson.
Henry will continue his career with us as a technician within our Repairs team.
Supporting survivors
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, there is help out there. We’ve added more information on our website.
Anyone can be a victim of domestic abuse, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, social or economic status, sexuality or background. If you feel you are at risk of abuse, or think you know someone who is, there is help and support available.
Supporting a survivor of sexual violence can be daunting. You might be afraid of saying or doing ‘the wrong thing’. Click here for information you may find useful.
Being safe online
Havebury News
In December, we sent our our winter 2024 edition of Havebury News, which you can read here.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this issue. If you have any feedback you would like to give, click here to send the Communications team an email.
Here is some of the feedback we have received so far:
How do you want to share your voice?
To make sure we focus on what really matters to you moving forwards, we are asking for your feedback on our services and what more we need to do to make sure your voices are heard.
We’d also like to know how you think we can better invest in your communities through our community investment grant funding, which you can find out about on our website.
Thank you to the 454 of you who have already taken part in the survey. The winner of the vouchers was P. Hancock. There is still time to take the survey if you haven’t already, click here to get started.
Eco-carriers Bury St Edmunds
Have you heard about Ecocarriers BSE?
They aim to promote and facilitate increased cycling in Bury St Edmunds and surrounding villages to help tackle climate change. They offer various services to the local community, with the main one being a zero-emissions delivery service called ‘Shop & Drop’. The idea is that Ecocarriers can deliver shopping bought from the town centre (including by phone or online) to anywhere in Bury for just £2, Monday to Saturday.
You can find out more about how the service works on their website.
Keep your eyes peeled on our social media channels and website for more competitions and surveys coming soon.
Domestic abuse support
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, there is help out there. We’ve added more information on our website. Anyone can be a victim of domestic abuse, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, social or economic status, sexuality or background. If you feel you are at risk of abuse, or think you know someone who is, there is help and support available.
Upcoming events
If you want to find out more about any of the above events, please email engagement@havebury.com
Damp and mould
We’re in the process of making some improvements to our damp and mould service to ensure it’s as resident-focused as possible.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be introducing you to our new Healthy Homes team! This dedicated team want to work with you to fix the issues you are having in your homes that have resulted in you experiencing damp and mould and ensure these problems don’t return.
In October, our Communications team spent the day with our damp and mould technicians, Darren and Joe. Here’s what they had to say about making sure our residents always come first.
The 2024 Independent East Conference
Earlier in November, we attended the 2024 Independent East’s Board and Engaged Tenants Conference.
Independent East is made up of five housing associations – us, Broadland Housing Association, Freebridge Community Housing, Orwell Housing and Saffron Housing Trust.
The partnership aims to share knowledge, experience and good practice, and create a collective lobbying voice for social housing in the region. You can find out more on our website.
Award winning Communications team
A huge congratulations to our Communications team!
We are beyond proud to announce that our amazing team won ‘Comms Team of The Year’ at the #CommsHERO Awards last week.
This recognition highlights the creativity, dedication, and hard work that Hayley, Kathryn and Lauren put into every project
Our Annual Report
We publish our annual report, financial statements, and value for money statement every year. Our chief executive, Andrew Smith, says:
“I am pleased to present to you our annual report for the year 2023-24. This report provides an overview of our performance from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, highlighting some of our achievements, challenges, and future plans. You, our residents, continue to be at the very heart of everything that we do and we look forward to the coming year.”
This short video provides an overview of our year. Read the full annual report.
We’ve been awarded the top consumer grade by the Regulator of Social Housing.
In the summer, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) carried out our regulatory inspection.
The RSH inspects housing providers like us every four years, to assess how well we’re delivering our regulatory requirements.
There are three key areas, with each being awarded a score between 1 and 4, with one being the highest.
Governance (G) – Assesses how well we’re run.
Viability (V) – Assesses how financially strong we are.
Consumer (C) – This is a new rating which assesses housing associations against the new consumer standards and it came into force on 1 April 2024. You can read more about these here. These standards strengthen the accountability for housing providers in delivering good quality homes and services. We were one of the first providers to have this included as part of the inspection.
Our regulatory grading was published on 25 September, and we are pleased to share that we maintained our G1/V2 ratings, and we were also awarded a C1.
Sustainability survey
In September, we asked you to complete our sustainability survey so we could understand what you think our priorities should be over the next few years.
Thank you to the 750 of you who completed the survey. Your feedback will help develop our first Sustainability Strategy. We are working alongside sustainability specialists, Encredible, to create this strategy and we look forward to sharing it with you early next year.
You can read our 2023/24 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report here.
Our Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs)
Upcoming events
If you want to find out more about any of the above events, please email engagement@havebury.com |
