SAHA log

Transforming Lives

Salvation Army Housing Association

Partnership Excellence
 Summer 2011
Newhaven Foyer Mural

Residents' at Newhaven Foyer, Design Mural for their Residents' Lounge

In This Issue
A Wednesday At Westminster
Tender Successfully Retains SAHA's Doncaster Foyer Service
Foyer Accreditation at Our Supported Housing Project
New SAHA Properties in the North West
SAHA KPI
Welcome to this Seventh edition of SAHA's corporate
e-newsletter designed to keep our partners and stakeholders informed of our performance and the services we provide to people in need of support.  
 
If you would like any more information on our business activities, the work we undertake in your area, or developing a partnership with SAHA please visit our website
www.saha.org.uk  email us on [email protected]  or call Alpita Patel or Peter Latham on 0800 970 6363. 

 

Thank you

Nigel Parrington
Chief Executive
Best Companies 2011 Awards

Pictured above in Nigel Parrington with a group of staff who received the award on behalf of SAHA at an awards ceremony  

SAHA Makes SUNDAY TIMES BEST 100

Companies List 

 

We are delighted to announce that Salvation Army Housing Association have made The Sunday Time Best 100 Best Places to Work in the Public and Third Sectors List.

 

Each year Best Companies and The Sunday Times celebrate the best small, mid size and large workplaces in the UK.  Employees from participating organisations are surveyed based on a rigorous methodology, this enable Best Companies to compile a list of the 100 top companies in each size category which The Sunday Times publish.   

 

This is not only an improvement on our previous years results of "One to Watch", but also places us at number 67 and have been awarded the coveted Best Companies One Star.

 

For further information on SAHA's initiatives to develop staff and the continuous improvement of SAHA as a place to work, please contact Puneet Rajput, Director of Corporate Services at [email protected]

A Wednesday At Westminster 

 

On Wednesday 15 June, Nigel Parrington, SAHA Chief Executive was delighted to take up the invitation to speak with a selection of Members of Parliament in the Speakers House at Westminster Abbey regarding homelessness issues and the wider work of The Salvation Army and SAHA.

 

This meeting gave Nigel the opportunity to highlight the positive and innovative work being undertaken by The Salvation Army and SAHA, namely:

 

  • The in depth 'Seeds of Exclusion' research
  • Engagement with employment initiatives such as the Future Jobs Fund
  • Salvation Army prison and offender outreach work
  • Family tracing services
  • Self esteem and confidence building programmes

All of which demonstrate both The Salvation Army and SAHA's commitment to providing holistic services to vulnerable people with multiple needs.

 

Nigel was pleased to receive positive feedback from MP's about the work of The Salvation Army and SAHA in their local constituencies particularly regarding the voluntary social services work for example helping constituents with their benefits and providing emergency food parcels. Following his speech Nigel undertook a question and answer session to expand on the topics of most concern to the MP's.

 

The session provided a key opportunity for those attending to learn more about The Salvation Army and SAHA's work in their localities. If you would like to know more about what we are doing in your area, please contact Peter Latham, Head of Business Support, via our Customer Service Centre on 0800 970 6363 to find out more.

Tender Successfully Retains SAHA's Doncaster

Foyer Service

Doncaster Foyer

 

We are pleased to announce that SAHA has been announced as the successful bidder following the Supporting People tender of our current service at Doncaster Foyer, which provides key support and life silks training to young vulnerable people between the ages of 16-25 for the Doncaster area.

 

Doncaster Foyer has been providing this key service to young vulnerable people for over ten years and has established key links with local agencies to help provide support and guidance to young people giving them key life skills to maintain and sustain independent living. We had no shortage of positive case studies to include within our tender submission!

 

This is great news for both the residents and staff at Doncaster Foyer who have demonstrated what a great quality and value for money service, is being provided at the Foyer.

 

To discuss SAHA's approach to tendering, potential tendering / consortium opportunities, or how we can use our experience as both service providers and landlords of supported housing to benefit other organisations please contact Peter Latham, Head of Business Support via our Customer Service Centre on 0800 970 6363. 

Foyer Accreditation at our Supported Housing ProjectFoyer Fed logo

 

We are pleased to announce that our supported housing service, The Lawson Street Project, Preston, has successfully been awarded accredited status by the Foyer Federation under its Foyer Accreditation Scheme (FISH).

 

The Lawson Street Project has been housing homeless young people of Preston for over ten years. In recent years the scheme has been developing towards a foyer service model with greater emphasis on education, training and employment in addition to physical housing needs.  The service achieved accreditation status under the guidance of Wendy Smith, Projects Manager, after working with representatives for the Foyer Federation, staff and residents to demonstrate the excellent quality of service they provide. This is a key mile stone in the service evolving into a full Foyer service.

 

Quote from Wendy Smith:

"The staff team has worked hard, and their commitment to the project and to our residents has made this possible.  We have travelled such a long way in such a short time and we can now spend time embedding the Foyer ethos into Lawson Street and fulfilling its true potential".

 

The accreditation is external recognition of the consistently excellent quality services that SAHA schemes provide to vulnerable young people and focused on young peoples needs, offering a holistic service and working towards successful independent living.

 

The Foyer Federation is a national organisation that represent foyers across the United Kingdom.  To achieve accreditation the Foyer Federation look at all aspects of the foyers activities, including strong emphasis on user views and the ability to demonstrate effective resident involvement.  The decision to award accreditation is made by an independent panel after it's is agreed that sufficient evidence has been provided.

 

SAHA thanks the Foyer Federation for all their input and guidance.  SAHA staff also appreciate the support received from all the agencies that work with the Foyers to provide a quality service to residents and the wider communities.

 

More recently SAHA has become an Investor Organisation in the Foyer Federation, which gives us a closer working relationship with the Federation and enables us to help shape the future direction of the movement. All 5 SAHA Foyers are now fully accredited and we are fully committed to providing Foyers as a central function at SAHA. We are excited to be working so closely with the Foyer Federation to shape the strategic future of Foyers, and look forward to the potential of new projects and initiatives that will come out of our enhanced working relationship. 

 

If you would like to know more about SAHA's Foyer Federation Accreditation please contact Wendy Smith, Projects Manager, via our Customer Service Centre on 0800 970 6363 or visit our website on www.saha.org.uk 

Helping Young People into Work FJF employees

 

The Salvation Army Employment Plus UK, has been successful in wining a national contract to create new jobs for Young People across the UK as part of the Future Jobs Fund.  In March this year, SAHA welcomed 22 new employees who joined us through our key partnership with the Salvation Army.

 

The new jobs will last up to 6 months and involve a minimum of 25 hours a week, which include 5 hours each week spent on personalised training and support to help recruits improve their skills in a work place environment and offer one-two-one mentoring to boost their future employability.

 

Quote from our FJF employees:-

Kirsty Holden - Customer Services Administrator - "The team have been really supportive and have gently introduced me to the different systems that SAHA operates. They really have been helpful and encouraging and have motivated me and built my confidence up. After a short while I started working more closely with the Income Recovery Officer which has meant that I have spent quite a lot of time talking to residents and chasing Housing Benefit departments. I have also started working more closely with The Salvation Army's Employment Plus Team answering calls for them as SAHA's Customer Call Centre now looks after their telephone enquiries. SAHA has also sent me on a course about The Big Society to broaden my knowledge of what is happening in social housing. At the end of this contract, I plan to get another job which will let me use the new skills I have learnt here." 

 

David Hoxha - HR Department - David heard about the FJF Scheme through his local Job Centre. Previously he had been working part time as an Administrator at a gym whilst at the same time studying towards a Law degree. David works in our Human Resources department providing administrative support. So David, How are you finding SAHA? "Well it's really friendly, and everybody is helpful. There is always lots going on and the work is varied and so never boring. SAHA has helped me develop my legal knowledge by sending me on an Employment Law update course which didn't cost me anything.  They have also sent me on a Customer Care course. When I finish with SAHA I have some options, I can either start studying for my Masters degree in Law, do a Legal Practice course or get a full time job where I can start applying the skills I have been trained for. We will just have to wait and see!!"

 

Vanessa Hacking - Business Support and Innovation - Vanessa started working in SAHA's Business Support and Innovation Team (BSI) as a Customer Involvement Assistant. Over to Vanessa "I was interviewed by three people at SAHA and was very nervous but they offered me a job!! The BSI team are always really busy and cover numerous projects.  Since I started I have worked on the SAHA Newsletter, Mystery Shopper, Customer Panel Survey, Focus Groups, SAHA Customer Conference and Learning Together Partnerships - so you can see they have kept me busy. I have also had the opportunity to go to Bramwell House, which is a Salvation Army Lifehouse, to oversee a Focus Group on a proposed Resident's Handbook. As it was my first Focus Group, I was a bit nervous but all the residents were really friendly and had lots of ideas which we can use.  I am hoping that my next job will allow me to continue to develop my admin skills."

 

For further information on SAHA's work regarding the Future Jobs Fund project and how we are gearing up for the new 'Work Programme' initiatives, please contact Jacqui King, Head of Partnership Services via our Customer Service Centre on 0800 970 6363 

New SAHA Properties in the North West

Hudson Close - Bolton

 

We are delighted to announce the completion of high quality homes at Hudson Close in Bolton and would like to thank our partners at Bolton Council, Bovis Homes, Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and consultants DBCC for their support in achieving this high impressive new development.

 

The properties have been built by Bovis Homes and form part of the larger Briarwood housing development.  The properties comprise modern, open plan 1 bedroom apartments and a range of, 3 & 4 bedroom houses all with parking and gardens and equipped with the latest energy efficient boilers and insulation ensuring they are affordable to run.

 

These are now fully let at social rent levels to single people and families.  SAHA has been working in partnership with Bolton Council's choice based lettings procedures to ensure they will be let to those identified as being in housing need.

 

Mr Gary Creed applied for one of the properties through Bolton Council's choice based lettings process and has been allocated one of the new homes, he said "the area where I live is not so great I am excited to move in, it's a fresh start in life"

 

Difficult economic times have not prevented SAHA expanding its number of homes, even more exciting is the fact that there are more on the way at this and two other sites in the town. SAHA is keen to develop and has submitted a bid to the HCA with proposals for new developments utilising the new affordable rent arrangements in other locations around the country.

 

 

If you would like to know more about SAHA's other proposed developments and our approach to affordable rents please contact Andy Withers, Head of Capital Projects via our Customer Service Centre on 0800 970 6363.

SAHA KPI's

 

For information on our Key Performance Indicitors, please either visit our website or click on follwing link www.saha.org.uk