The Word, December 2012

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With an incredible 189 nominations received for the awards, a panel of judges made up of senior members of staff from across the Group and Staff Voices representatives, selected 58 finalists and 16 winners from the impressive entries.

The winners are:Value AwardsBrian Costello, Trittiford Road

Kevin Smith, Broadway North

Theresa McKenna, Lonsdale House

Jenny Mullinder, Cartlidge House

Stacey Pearce, Jervis Court

Phyllis Senior, Newell House, Fry Housing Trust

Tina Lloyd, Caldmoreaccord

Tina Rickus, Customer First

Peter Helly, Moseley and District

Bhupinder Kaur, Ghulab Ashram

Best Community Initiative Mary Brough, Trittiford Road

Make it CountLisa Johnson, Bennett House

Scheme of the yearEllen Court

Team of the yearJackalin Webb, Keith Lanchbury, Kelly Williams and Rod Brown, Caldmoreaccord

Best newcomer of the yearHolly Breslin, Ashram Refuge

Volunteer of the yearRoy Parker, Old Vicarage

Sharon Blower Special Recognition AwardDavid Hardwick, Payroll

Congratulations to all the winners and everybody who was nominated this year. You can find a full list of all nominations on the intranet now. Look out for the 2013 awards which will be launched in the spring of next year.

Putting people f irst

Going for gold! Colleagues come together to celebrate this year’s staff awards

December2012

LoCaL Homes factory is one year old

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Former footballer boings back in time

p5 p5

Charity championsHistorian launches book

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DON’T MISS!What’s on and where across

the Group

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On 14 November over 100 finalists attended this year’s Great People Awards ceremony at Wolverhampton Racecourse. The event celebrated the achievements of individuals, teams and volunteers from across the Group, who were nominated by their colleagues.

2 3December 2012 December 2012wordthe wordthe

W elcome to the December

edition of The Word. This issue showcases

news from across the Group, including a year in pictures to celebrate the factory’s first birthday, a lovely story about a former footballer and a very entertaining Meet the Team.

We also take a look at the results from the staff survey which asked all colleagues to answer some questions in order to build up a true picture of our colleague profile. The findings can be found on page 6.

Finally, as the end of 2013 approaches, we celebrate two years of a new format newsletter. The Word’s newspaper style aims to give you more news and stories than ever before, but we’d love to hear what you think so we can make it even better! Email your thoughts and suggestions to [email protected]

Happy holidays and see you in 2013!

Happy reading,

Elaine

Welcome

I n November, the Accord Group’s factory, LoCaL

Homes, celebrated its first anniversary.

Based in Beechdale, the factory is a closed timber panel manufacturing hub which produces high-quality,

environmentally-friendly homes that reduce waste and speed up the construction process.

When it was opened LoCaL Homes was the first factory of its kind in the UK to be launched by a housing association.

Since then it has gone from strength to strength, winning two awards and expanding its

premises to incorporate a new storage warehouse to help speed up the production process.

LoCaL Homes also showcased a full-sized timber home at national eco exhibition Eco-Build in London this year.

The first development of timber homes manufactured at the factory is being built in

Darlaston and is partly funded by the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). The development comprises of 90 timber homes and offers homes for rent, shared ownership and outright sales.

As part of our commitment to becoming the

Greenest Housing Association in the UK, the Group sign up to the Eco Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS).

We are still one of only two registered providers to have this level of recognition for our work in this field. As part of EMAS we are audited every year and as such have to refresh and rewrite our EMAS statement every three years. The statement provides information about how we have progressed over the last three years and challenges us to set more ambitious targets.

So, how did we do?• The installation of water

meters at some of our offices and schemes has helped us to measure our usage more accurately which has contributed to a 20 per cent reduction of water consumption from 2009 to 2012

• The Group has considerably reduced the amount of electrical waste (computers, fridges, kettles) over the last three years by an impressive 90 per cent

• Recycling has improved by 40 per cent but our general waste has doubled. This could be because in 2012 we reported on six offices, which is two more than in 2009. We now need to increase recycling awareness at these other offices.

• Our paper use has increased by 50 per cent over the last three years. We need to refresh our thinking towards paper, especially at the central services office, to only print when necessary, always use the duplex option, use scrap paper for notes and research paperless solutions where possible.

• Our average emissions per property have reduced by two and a half per cent as our awareness around travelling (car sharing, public transport usage) has improved and our development and regeneration processes have become more efficient.

Have you got a story to tell?

W e want to hear what you’re up

to across the Group. The deadline for the next newsletter is 22 February, 2013.

Contact Elaine Middleton, Senior PR and Marketing Officer, on 0121 500 2393 or [email protected]. If you’d prefer to receive your newsletter electronically, then please forward your name, department, organisation and work email to [email protected]

November 2011Official opening event with Councillor Adrian Andrew.

July 2012Shadow Housing Minister visits first factory timber home development in Darlaston

January 2012First factory homes roll off the production line.

September 2012Timber homes factory recognised as Accord Group scoop Gold Green Apple Environment Award

March 2012Full-sized timber home goes on display at eco conference.

May 2012Team behind timber home factory win national Housing Heroes Award.

2011 2012

Overall, we are doing well and working towards our 10 year targets. To help us stay on course we have nine new corporate environmental objectives to measure against for the next three years.

Factory is one year old!

In 2010 the Group launched a management charter so that all staff are aware of the commitments their managers have signed up to. Here are the 10 key points from the charter. These points summarise what you can expect from your manager.

Did you know?Managers should...1. Demonstrate and champion our values.

2. Listen and communicate regularly, openly and effectively through monthly team meetings, one-to-ones and performance and development reviews.

3. Welcome new ideas and involve people in key decisions at a strategic and operational level.

4. Live Fairness by valuing everyone as an individual and ensuring opportunities are open equally to all.

5. Lead by setting clear targets, measuring success, providing feedback and planning ahead to improve services for customers.

6. Remain positive at all times and show people appreciation for the work that they do.

7. Motivate people and provide support and encouragement so that people are happy in their work and can develop.

8. Empower people and trust them to take responsibility and take managed risks to try new ways of doing things.

9. Manage their time and resources so they remain effective and calm under pressure.

10. Act as a positive role model for you.

The Accord Group have a management charter!

1. To construct new properties to the highest possible level of sustainability where practicable. (Develop low and zero carbon housing).

2. To conserve and enhance existing biodiversity wherever practicable.

3. To reduce the amount of waste produced.

4. To reduce our reliance on energy consumption in business premises and properties from unsustainable sources.

5. To encourage sustainable methods of transportation, work and training.

6. To extend the Waste Reduction Action Programme (WRAP) process across the Accord Group to reduce the amount of waste generated for site builds.

7. To increase environmental awareness across the organisation and with residents.

8. To procure as far as practicable ‘green’ products and services

9. To reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted.

These are:


I n April, Caldmore and Accord Housing Associations

came together to form the partnership. As part of this work the transformation team was created to research and develop projects that aim to support our customers, review policies and launch new initiatives.

The team are:

Wendy Powell Director of Transformation

Stephen Sharman Transformation Manager

Tina Dalton Transformation Officer

Jill Sargeant Jobs and Skills Coach

Thersea Bickford Jobs and Skills Coach

The team are based at Jervis Court. Jervis Court now offers meeting rooms and hot desks available for all staff to use. An Outlook calendar has been created for staff to check availability. Bookings can be made by emailing details to [email protected]

The team’s work is very varied and they are often required to pilot and lead on projects that can be rolled out across the Group.

Transformation current projects:

Resident incentive scheme

This project aims to encourage our under-occupying residents to transfer to smaller properties so that we can make better use of our stock. Research is currently being undertaken to determine what we should incentive and how.

Facebook mutual exchange forum

Working alongside the residents incentive scheme, this project aims to encourage our residents

to source, discuss and arrange mutual exchanges with other members across the Accord Group via Facebook.

Furniture re-use

We are currently investigating the viability of offering our own furniture re-use service. This service would see residents donate their unwanted items of furniture for other residents to buy at reduced prices.

Walsall work club

The team is also hoping to offer the Jobs and Skills service to members of the general public via weekly drop-in sessions at Jervis Court. So far the team has been succesful in receiving funding from JobCentre+ for a coffee lounge to be created, which will provide a comfortable learning environment.

Resident Learning Programme

The team is also working alongside other members of the Group, including AddVentures, to create a learning programme for residents. This will offer a range of training opportunities.

For more information about these projects and the team, please email [email protected]

4 5

Local historian and BBC WM presenter,

Professor Carl Chinn MBE, launched our unique Accord Group history book at the Group’s annual general meeting (AGM) in September.

The book, ‘In Accord’, is based on a series of interviews from key members of the Group, including Group Chairperson Barrie Blower, Board member Akshay Parikh and Chief Executive, Chris Handy.

The AGM was held at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley where Carl Chinn gave a speech and signed copies of the book for guests. Guests, including key stakeholders, also enjoyed traditional fish and chips and watched fire juggling street entertainers.

We have a limited number of books available for staff. If you would like a copy, please contact Elaine Middleton or a member of the Communications team on 0121 500 2393 or email pr&marketingteam@ accordgroup.org.uk

A grandad of six toured West Bromwich

Albion’s football ground 60 years after he played for the top flight club as part of a unique digital project being run across the Black Country.

Tom Bromley, from West Bromwich, used to sweep the terraces and maintain the grounds at West Bromwich Albion’s stadium, the Hawthorns, before he started playing for the club’s youth team in the 1950s.

On Friday, 9 November the 79-year-old visited the Club as part of a special project to support older people in the community to assemble digital scrap books of their lives to improve their health and wellbeing.

During the visit Tom took photos of the stadium to add to his digital scrap book, which

will also feature music and film clips to support the grandad to reminiscence about his past.

The project is being rolled out through the Group’s dementia café support groups. The informal and friendly groups, which are run in Sandwell, Dudley and Walsall, offer information, support and activities to people with dementia, their carers and families.

The project uses My Life Digital Reminiscence Therapy Software, which is a touch screen programme featuring a range of photographs, video clips and music, dating from the 1930s, which can be hand-picked by an older person to form their own digital scrap book.

Personal items can also be uploaded to the programme, allowing families, carers and older people to view images from a person’s past to aid communication and boost health and well-being.

Acclaimed historian launches Group’s history book at AGM event

Former footballer boings back in time for unique digital project

Urban 180 is an exciting new development of 63 contemporary and comfortable homes, which will comprise of three and four bedroom properties.Based in the heart of Sandwell, Urban 180 is set in an ideal location offering all local town centre amenities right on your doorstep. This flagship development is only minutes away from the new Sandwell College building, health centre and community library.

Urban 180 forms part of the £25 million investment package which is set to transform the West Bromwich town centre. The regeneration plans introduce a brand new Tesco superstore, New Square shopping centre with a Next, Primark and JD Sports, as well as an entertainment complex, complete with an eight-screen Odeon cinema.

The homes at Urban 180 have been architecturally designed and boast stylish, contemporary features including fully fitted kitchens and well-appointed bathrooms.

Carefully planned, the full development offers communal garden areas to ensure attractive surroundings for you and your family to enjoy. For more information, please contact Elaine Middleton on 0121 500 2393 or email [email protected]

Coming soon...

‘In Accord’ launched at the Group’s AGM.

Meet the team... InDesignTell us a bit about the team

InDesign is the in-house design team for the Accord Group. Performing the architects function, they were formed in 2007 out of a desire that the Group should control the quality of design for new build schemes. We now have seven team members and have worked on dozens of schemes in the last four years which has saved the Group the money that would normally have paid out in fees to consultant architects. The first few projects are on site now.

Who is in the team and what do they focus on?

The team is lead and managed by John Bedford, Head of Project Development. We have two managers, Kevin Paddock and Kumar Muniandy. Kevin looks after the job programming and the detailed construction drawings whilst Kumar is our designer and comes up with the initial proposals controlling the design quality and planning application processes.

We also have Angela Atkins who is our Code For Sustainable Homes Assessor and advises on low carbon building techniques and how to score on the Government’s scale of ‘greenness’.

We also have three technicians, Jessica Boothman, Tim Sullivan and Dean Carr. Without them, we could not produce the vast amount of drawings needed to explain how the project goes together. Dean has an additional skill around presentation and 3D modelling which can further explain and showcase the intended appearance of the design concepts.

Are customers involved in your work?

Yes, but in two distinctly different areas. John runs the residents design panel. The panel meet around every three months to look at the most recent schemes and offer a customer opinion, which is like a critique. We share knowledge and experience and hope to capture our customer’s lifestyle preferences in our designs. In addition, everything we design has a direct impact on our customers. They will eventually live in the homes we design. We hope we get it right first time, every time.

How does your team and its work fit into the Group?

We get involved in all aspects of the built environment. We offer advice around refurbishment and work closely with the Assets team.

We help the Care and Support department in remodelling of schemes and support Fry Housing Trust in the changes needed to their stock and give planning advice. The team also carry out feasibility studies on new sites and inform the financial appraisal process. Most of all we design new schemes for the Regeneration department and ensure we create fantastic places for our customers to live and promote sustainability.

Tell us a fun fact about the team?

Whilst John runs the Group’s EMAS and green agenda, he loves cars and is on his 29th since he was 17, Jess has skydived, Kumar was 34 before he had beans on toast and Kevin once won a holiday by dressing in a jump suit and dancing on stage in a night club to “Dancing Queen.” Tim spent three nights trapped in his car in snow with nothing but flipflops and shorts and Dean got thrown out of a nightclub because he showed off his ‘Superman’ pants whilst dancing and then claimed he could get back in with his special powers. His girlfriend didn’t even know he’d gone! And finally, Angela has a beautiful new baby boy and a Lotus Elise. Congratulations!

Tom Bromley (L) and Alan Cleverly (R).

from the Transformation team


Entrepreneur unwraps success with help from the A-Fund

An award winning young entrepreneur from West Bromwich is enjoying the sweet taste of success after receiving support from an investment fund to develop his fledgling Indian snacks venture.

Ravinder Deol, voted West Midlands’ Entrepreneur of the Year for the Peter Jones’ Enterprise Academy (Solihull) this year, has expanded his business Indian Snack Box with help from the Accord Group’s A-Fund initiative.

The 18-year-old, a former apprentice of the Accord Group, is now in touch with a network of other entrepreneurs and is set to launch a new website to promote his product – uniquely packaged and delicious Indian sweets and snacks – after receiving mentoring via the A-Fund.

Launched in April this year, the A-Fund offers grants and mentoring to teenagers across the West Midlands to help them to develop their business ideas and unleash the talent and potential of young entrepreneurs. Group organisations’ services rated top class with national accreditation

Redditch Co-operative Homes and bchs have been recognised with a national accreditation for the services that they provide to housing co-operatives in their local areas.

Following an audit of their services from an external assessor, the two organisations are now accredited by the Confederation of Co-operative Housing – the UK’s organisation for housing co-operatives and tenant-controlled housing organisations.

The kite-mark is awarded to organisations that can show that their services meet the specific criteria and standards set by the Confederation, which works with over 100 organisations nationally.Gas safety tour sparks launch of new service

Residents of Caldmoreaccord housing association can now get gas cookers and boilers safely installed in their homes thanks to the launch of a brand new service.

The gas installation service is open to all residents of the 7,200 homes that it manages across the West Midlands.

Qualified gas engineers from the Association can fit gas appliances including boilers, cookers and gas fires, with prices starting from as little as £41.

The launch of the low-cost service follows a tour of homes managed by the not-for-profit landlord in September to raise awareness of the dangers of using ‘cowboy’ gas fitters.Service to reduce offending rates amongst women launched in Coventry

A brand new £25,000 initiative targeted specifically at cutting the number of crimes committed by women offenders in Coventry has been launched.

The ‘Springboard’ scheme is being run by Fry Housing Trust in partnership with the Staffordshire and West Midlands Probation Trust and a host of other agencies.

Women referred to ‘Springboard’ as part of their sentence receive a package of support and guidance to help them to establish a stable lifestyle away from crime and avoid further reoffending.

Specialised support includes help to get into education, training or jobs – such as signing up to courses or applying for jobs - guidance on finances and debt and referrals to agencies specialising in drug or alcohol treatments. Help on offer for victims of anti-social behaviour at support group

Residents of Moseley and District who are worried about anti-social behaviour can raise their concerns by signing up to a support group.

The group, launched in partnership with the local police and other organisations, is open to any Moseley and District resident who is experiencing or has come across anti-social behaviour in their neighbourhood.

Attendees to the group can get confidential information and advice from qualified staff and hear from guest speakers.

in brief

Following on from the success of last year’s Christmas

Hamper raffle, Charlotte Holmes and Tina Chapman from the Finance team will be selling raffle tickets across the Group this month to raise money for our charity of the year, Dogs for the Disabled.

The draw will take place on Wednesday, 19 December. If you would like to enter the raffle,

please contact Charlotte Holmes on [email protected] or call 0121 500 2310 or Tina Chapman on [email protected] or call 0121 500 2389.

In other news, well done to 11 year-old Elliot Wood (son of Rachel Wood, Regeneration team) who raised an incredible £58 by serving muffins, carrot cake and coffee and walnut cupcakes to the West Bromwich office.

Raffle tickets on sale to raise money for Dogs for the Disabled

Staff survey - the resultsThis year we asked you to complete a staff survey to help us create a true picture of our colleague profile. Here are the results:

By day Dan Berry works his magic designing posters

and promotional literature, but after hours he practices a different kind of artist talent, martial arts.

Dan has been training for the last four years at Rob Lock’s Academy in Stourbridge and holds senior grades in a few different types of martial arts including Muay Thai and Mixed Martial Arts. Dan explains why he does so many varied types of training:

“Each of the styles is different, which ensures I never get bored and always have plenty to learn. I will hopefully be doing my Black belt first dan in Muay Thai next year, which will be a great achievement. Recently, I have also started training in Escrima, which is an art originating from the Phillipines.”

With at least three training sessions a week, his hobby keeps him very busy so it must be very enjoyable, although, as Dan explains, very challenging and not for the faint-hearted.

“The most challenging part of my hobby is maintaining a level of fitness that allows you to perform the moves and activities. Some classes are very gruelling and sometimes result in a few bruises and cuts. However, this

is outweighed by the benefits which include meeting some fantastic people, keeping fit and helping other people develop and improve. I’m really lucky that I have a great place to train – some of the best fighters have come from Rob’s academy. A recent highlight was training alongside KFM (a martial arts style) founder, Andy Norman, who was responsible for the fight choreography in the Batman Dark Knight movie trilogy.”

Dan discovered martial arts after a few years playing football socially: “I had played football at various levels until I was around 26 and fancied a change and new challenge. I stumbled across martial arts through a friend and decided to give it a go. There are so many different types of martial arts it definitely keeps it interesting for me.”

So would he recommend this gruelling hobby to others? “Yes I would. It not only improves your fitness and well-being but also can help you build upon your own self-confidence. I think one of the most important things at first is to go to a well established and respected training club or academy. I train at one of the top places in the UK with a previous British karate champion. I think knowing that the instructors have

a good reputation gives me the confidence to push myself with the security and reassurance that they know what they are doing and it’s safe for everyone.”

Me and my hobby

Elliot Wood selling cakes at West Bromwich office.

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Dan in training.

Members of Dan’s local

academy.

8 December 2012wordthe

Take a breakWordsearchWIN £20! Love to Shop Voucher

Questions about this issue WIN £20! Love to Shop Voucher

Try solving these puzzles

Please send the word that is NOT in the wordsearch to Elaine Middleton, 178 Birmingham Road, West Bromwich, B70 6QG or email [email protected] Closing date is Friday, 25 January 2013

Please send the COMPLETED ANSWER SECTION to Elaine Middleton, 178 Birmingham Road, West Bromwich, B70 6QG or email [email protected] Closing date is Friday, 25 January 2013

Congratulations to Ann Partridge and Tamseela Sanam, who both won Love to Shop vouchers in the previous edition.

1. Snow

2. Holly

3. Robin

4. Gifts

5. Sledge

6. Stockings

7. Frost

8. Mistletoe

9. Tinsel

10. Ribbons

11. Cake

12. Crackers

1. How many eggs do you need to make the gingerbread cake?

2. Who won the Sharon Blower Special Recognition Award?

3. How old is the factory?

4. Name one point from the management charter?

5. What team does Tom Bromley support?

6. Who launched our history book at this year’s AGM?

7. What is Dan Berry’s hobby?

8. Who heads up the InDesign team?

9. Name one of the Transformation team’s current projects?

10. By what percentage has the Group reduced it’s electrical waste?

S Y A Z E M R L E D A M R

H N H S N O B B I R A O Y

U I O Z R E S E P O B U S

Z P L W E A P L A I P C L

N L L R G S B T N I L R C

D U Y T H E E T S C S A B

L M T R E U R H I L S C E

S T I N S E L N O C G K L

S B P C D T Y E N C N E P

S P A L I N G E F O I R P

A E G D E L S E R K K S A

E V U A N M T N U E C R E

O K M A N G F I I G O A N

L U A C F O I L T I T M I

F I Y C R E G W A R S S P

D E O T E L T S I M V S S

Gingerbread cake with orange icingIngredients

For the cake

• 225g/8oz butter, softened

• 225g/8oz light muscovado sugar

• 225g/8oz golden syrup

• 225g/8oz black treacle

• 225g/8oz self-raising flour

• 225g/8oz wholemeal self-raising flour, sifted

• 4 tsp ground ginger

• 2 tbsp stem ginger (from a jar), chopped

• 2 free-range eggs, beaten

• 300ml/10½fl oz milk.

For the orange icing

• 150g/5oz icing sugar

• 1 orange, juice and zest.

Preparation method

1. Line a 23cm/9in square cake tin at least 4cm/1½in deep with baking parchment.

2. Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3.

3. Place the butter, sugar, golden syrup and black treacle into a pan and heat gently until the mixture has melted evenly. Set aside to cool slightly.

4. Sift the flours, ground ginger and stem ginger into a large mixing bowl and mix gently. Pour the cooled butter mixture into the flour. Add the eggs and milk and beat with a wooden spoon until well combined.

5. Pour the cake batter into the tin and level the surface with a palette knife or the back of a spoon. Bake for 50 minutes, or until the cake has risen and is golden-brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Set aside to cool slightly in the tin, then transfer the cake to a wire rack and set aside to cool completely.

6. Meanwhile, for the orange icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Add about two tablespoons of the orange juice and mix to a smooth paste. Add more orange juice, as necessary, until you get a smooth icing of the consistency you desire.

7. Pour the icing over the cooled cake and spread lightly, allowing it to ooze over the edges. Sprinkle over chopped orange zest and set the cake aside until the icing has set.

Recipe taken from the BBC.

Recipe

The Word, December 2012

Documents

Transcript of The Word, December 2012