Working with our customers: engagement update October-December 2022

Engaging with our customers and listening to their views is very important to us. Customer feedback makes a difference to the way we deliver our services, drives improvements for everyone who lives in a First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO) home and local communities, and helps us as we strive to be an excellent landlord.

On this page you can see all the ways we’ve worked with our customers to make positive changes October-December 2022…

Our Customer Voice Panel (CVP) is made up of customers from across our neighbourhoods and has been set up to give a real voice to those who live in our homes, so they influence our services and bring about improvements.

• 152 customers now part of the CVP.
• 18 CVP meetings and other engagement activities held this quarter.
• Review of the Investment service held with CVP members, facilitated with a face-to-face meeting with Heads of Service for Assets-Investment delivery.
• 4 CVP members participated in the Chief Executive recruitment day.
• Final 'customer call listening' group of the year held - 9 customers attended.
• Survey inviting feedback on cost-of-living customer-related communications was sent out to CVP members. 24 customers responded.

Our Neighbourhood Champions carry out quarterly neighbourhood inspections and report back on the condition of their neighbourhood including grounds maintenance, communal area cleaning, litter and fly tipping.

• 41 customers took part in the November Neighbourhood Champions inspections
• We are continuing with work to develop our Neighbourhood Champions’ work by introducing the ‘Place Standard’ survey to explore the needs of different neighbourhoods.

Customer Sustainability Champions

Our Customer Sustainability Champions are helping us on our journey to make our customers’ homes and communities, and our business, more sustainable and fit for the future.

• This quarter we held our second and third meetings with our Customer Sustainability Champions.
• The October meeting was held online and attended by 9 customers. The session focused on cost-of-living pressures and how we can help customers during this tough period.
• The November meeting was attended by 6 customers and was a field trip to the retrofitted Cosy Home, developed by Greater Manchester housing association, MSV. The visit was a chance for our Champions to see how existing homes can be upgraded with energy efficient measures and the difference they can make to domestic energy consumption.

We support community and voluntary groups in Oldham with a number of funding streams.

ROCA (FCHO Funding)

ROCA (Respect Our Community Awards) is our grant scheme which offers funding to community and voluntary groups in Oldham.

• All 2021/2022 outstanding ROCA grants brought to conclusion.
• £1500 of grants in pipeline across two community pilots – one to support people in need to access basic furniture items and one young people’s project Chadderton.

External Funding

• Awaiting decision on £141,500k of community funding across ten different community projects/partnerships.
• 8 new external funding applications supported this quarter.

Locality Plans

Active involvement in two Oldham Locality Plans: One Glodwick and Big Local.

Community/Place Based Research

Everyone has their own experience of the place where they live and work, and we want to get conversations going with our customers about what matters to them in their neighbourhood. We are using the Place Standard questionnaire to do this.

• Three community/place research initiatives planned in reporting period (Barker Street, Alt, Sholver & Moorside).

Community Groups/Networks

We are involved in multiple community partnerships and networks. It supports community groups with activities like grant funding applications outside of ROCA and our Community Awards.

• 6 community centres open and providing a variety of weekly sessions including community activities, youth provisions, health and wellbeing classes, surgeries & support sessions. Recently added sessions include ESOL Classes & Cost of Living drop-in support sessions.
• We’ve joined forces with Oldham Council and the voluntary sector to create even more Warm Spaces across the borough. We run Warm Spaces at four of our community centres (Daisy Hill, Ridgefield Street, Alt Café and Apfel Lane), and these are open throughout the week for people to visit and keep warm at no cost.
• Tensing Street Community Centre is preparing for re-opening in January 2023.

West Vale is our project set to transform the area where tower blocks Crossbank House and Summervale House once stood. On the vacant site we are building 88 high quality, new homes to help meet local housing need. We are working with local people and organisations for the benefit of the community as the West Vale project progresses.

The Towers: A history of Summervale and Crossbank project, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund

• Digital Historians project has continued recruitment and is beginning to build the final place history platform.
• Digital skills sessions are continuing at Barker Street Community Centre on Monday mornings,10am- 12pm.