Thirteen dedicated Welsh housing associations shortlisted in National TPAS Cymru Good Practice Awards

Thirteen Welsh housing associations have been nominated in this year’s awards, which are taking place on July 5th in Cardiff, and celebrate the work housing associations and tenants do in their organisations and communities.

Those nominated include ClwydAlyn, Tai Tarian and Adra which have all been shortlisted for the Resident Support/Advice Programme award which looks at how social landlords have been investing in and supporting tenants and communities, and how it’s helped residents overcome challenges and enhanced their lives.

Tai Tarian was nominated in recognition of the hard work of its financial inclusion and universal credit teams during the cost of living crisis.The team has helped with an extra 20 referrals a month due to rising costs, offering regular tips and advice through social media, supporting 2,132 successful benefit claims, helping 605 food bank vouchers to be issued - and more.

Adra meanwhile was chosen in recognition of its skills and employment initiative Academi Adra, which helps people living in local communities to develop their skills and find employment. The scheme offers work experience, placements, apprenticeships, traineeships, volunteering and more.

Valleys to Coast has been shortlisted in the Communicating with Customers and Residents Award category thanks to its Pop Up initiative, which encourages face-to-face community engagement and communication with tenants across Bridgend. It has also been nominated in the Communities Supporting Communities Award thanks to its partnership with the Wildmill Youth Club, which aims to engage with young people in communities.

Stori tenant Maria has been nominated for Tenant of the Year, thanks to her dedication to improving the association’s services, communications, and tenant engagement.

Caredig tenant Jo Ashford has also been shortlisted for Tenant of the Year for her involvement, dedication, and contribution to the community for over 10 years and making a positive impact in the lives of others.

Hafod has been shortlisted in the Involving Tenants in Shaping or Scrutinising Services category, for its methods that allow tenants to scrutinise and influence its services, and give valuable insight.

Melin Homes has been nominated in the Involving Tenants in Shaping Services category for to its Listen Act and Learn initiative, which brings together the work that different Melin teams do with residents, identifies trends, gathers resident concerns, complaints, compliments and works to make improvements to its services.

Tai Calon has been shortlisted for the Tenant Voice category, for its commitment to improving customer satisfaction and enhancing how it works with, and listens to, tenants. Over the last 18 months the housing association has been actively engaging with tenants to ensure their voices are heard and that they are able to be more involved in its services.

Newydd has also been shortlisted in the Tenant Voice category for its People at the Heart tenant influencer strategy, which provides tenants with influencing techniques to enable them to get involved with the community and enhance Newydd’s services. Newydd’s influencing opportunities offer tenants options that are inclusive, flexible, accessible, and encourage tenants to get involved.

Newport City Homes has been shortlisted in the Communicating with Tenants and Residents category in recognition of its Duffryn heating system crisis response earlier this year. In February, a leak on the biomass district heating network in Duffryn caused significant disruption to nearly 1,000 homes. In response Newport City Homes established an incident response team to support residents; kept the community updated through dedicated phone, social media, websites and leaflet drops; ensured everyone knew how to access immediate support and facilities; and built positive relationships throughout the community.

Monmouthshire Housing Association has been shortlisted for the Communities Supporting Communities Award, thanks to its Monmouth Motivators community Group. These residents meet monthly and are dedicated to making their community a better place to live. In order to support the community they have organised numerous projects and events, focussing on health and wellbeing, children’s events and entertainment, and also signposted people needing immediate financial and welfare help to MHA’s inclusion team.

Merthyr Valleys Homes has also been nominated in the Communities Helping Communities category for its tenants’ group the Greenwood Golden Oldies; while democratic body representative and resident Nigel Phillips Gunter has been picked for the Tenant of the Year category.