Swarcliffe. Inside: New contractors, events, apprenticeship vacancies and much more. Summer 2016 Newsletter

Transcription

1 Swarcliffe Inside: New contractors, events, apprenticeship vacancies and much more Summer 2016 Newsletter

2 Swarcliffe Primary School Project The Swarcliffe PFI team worked with Housing Leeds and Grace Landscapes to deliver a fantastic nature area for Swarcliffe Primary School. Grace Landscapes donated and planted ten fruit trees, as well as strimming overgrown areas. The Estate and Environmental team made flower beds and the fence and wall was painted in beautiful bold colours. Local company, Henley Construction, donated the flags for the base of the greenhouse and the sleepers for the new flower beds. Deputy Head Carole Harrower says, The staff and children at Swarcliffe Primary are overwhelmed with the results and effort gone in to organising such a lovely area. It has become the talk of the playground! Many thanks to all who was involved in making this happen. There are aready plans in place to return to the school in the summer holidays to rejuvenate the nursery furniture outside. Watch this space! 2

3 Sherburn Court Yorkshire Housing s Environmental Estate team Leader Mark Lawson has been working closely with the local Youth Offending Service. Wednesday 3 August from 12 to 4pm at Swarcliffe Community Centre, Stanks Gardens, Swarcliffe LS14 5LS Supported by funding from the Youth Activity Fund via the Outer East Community Committee He has initiated some small projects within the Swarcliffe Estate for the Youth Offending Service to use as reparation works. The first project was for the outdoor seating area at Sherburn Court to be revamped. Kevin Astall, leading the project said: The participant is enjoying the work we are doing. This, in my opinion, is due to the kind of tasks that Yorkshire Housing are offering to the Youth Offending Service. They are ideal as it gives young people meaningful reparation works and helps integrate young people with residents that are advanced in age. This benefits both parties, more importantly it gives skills for life to the young people involved. Yorkshire Housing s Swarcliffe team have also committed to deliver some additional Reparation Projects around the estate in August. 3

4 Swarcliffe Work Club A place to meet, exchange skills, share experiences and find opportunities... Local residents have been taking advantage of a new Work Club based at Swarclliffe Community Centre. The Work Club has been running for four months now and as a result of working in partnership with advisors, a number of local residents have already gained new employment. One local resident was particularly impressed with the experience he had. The staff have showed me how to apply for job vacancies in a way that impresses prospective employers. My previous job searches have been unsuccessful. So thanks to Marie and Joanne for the help they gave me and the patience they have shown in helping me back to work. Jimmy Boyne. The Outer East Community Committee secured funding to commission The LS14 Trust to deliver a Work Club at Swarcliffe Community Centre and with opportunities at Thorpe Park and Victoria Gate, and large housing developments planned in the near future it s a good time to visit the Work Club. Councillors Peter Gruen and Cllr Pauleen Grahame have helped to launch the initiative and are passionate about helping people in the Swarcliffe area. Cllr Grahame said: There are a lot of new opportunities, like 550 jobs at John Lewis, coming along. So come along for any free advice and support from helpful local advisors. Cllr Gruen added: We want to help people of all ages to either get into their first work opportunity or to support those residents, who have found themselves out of work and need a friendly face and good advice on how to go about finding new work. Swarcliffe Community Centre is at the heart of our community and is a symbol of our spirit to work together to make things happen. Joanne Curtis is one of the advisors at the Work Club and she is keen to try and help more people in the area. It has been rewarding, seeing people access work and in turn, feel good about themselves. We are here to help people access opportunities of all kinds, be that a job with John Lewis or a volunteering placement to help people become ready for work. Swarcliffe Work Club is based at Swarcliffe Community Centre, Stanks Gardens, Leeds LS14 5LS and is open on Mondays from and on Wednesdays from For more information about Swarcliffe Work Club call or joanne@ls14trust.org 4

5 Cooking up a Storm in Swarcliffe Back in October 2015, Advanced Youth Work Practitioner Deeta Tren-Humphries was calling out for volunteers to help out with the weekly Healthy Eating sessions held on a Tuesday evening at the Community Centre. PFI Administrator Gillian Starkey was keen to pass on some of the skills she had learnt from her own mum and agreed to help out. She says I offered to volunteer as I would like to share with others some of the baking and cooking knowledge I gained from my mum. The sessions are very successful and the young people get a lot of satisfaction from them. Deeta explains Gill has worked voluntary with us for a number of months and she has taught young people the art of baking and supports the youth work staff in delivering the healthy eating sessions. Gill has built up good relationships with young people who enjoy her attending the sessions, especially when she is making a Lemon Drizzle Cake, their favourite. The group have all said that they like her because she is very nice. James Kitchen Fun session focussed on promoting a healthy lifestyle, group members involved in decision making, budget management and developing health / hygiene awareness and cooking skills. Tuesday evenings between 4.30pm and 6.30pm. Swarcliffe Community Centre, Swarcliffe, Leeds, LS14 5LS. 5

6 Spot the difference competition Can you find the six differences in the picture from the primary school project work? You could win 75 shopping vouchers! Send your answers to: Adrian Capon, Yorkshire Housing, FREEPOST RSYT-LGXY-YEUJ, Dysons Chambers, Briggate, Leeds, LS1 6ER Name:... Tel:... Address: Postcode:... Winner! The winner of our last Spot the Difference competition was XXXXX from XXXXXXXX who won the high steet vouchers. 6

7 How are we doing? Figures for the period January March 2016 unless otherwise stated. 8.5 Total number of Responsive Repairs received 1,326, of which 91% were completed on time 84% of customers scored the repairs service as 7 out of 10 or higher 10 properties became void, of which 100% were brought up to lettable standards and on time 97.5% of homes have a current gas safety certificate Cleaning and estate management. Target 85% Actual 98% 100% repairs appointments kept Work on empty homes took an average of 8.5 days to complete New housing The 18 new apartments on the site of the former Squinting Cat Public House are almost complete. The scheme will be called The Plantation and Housing Leeds have allocated the apartments. The new residents will be moving in over the summer and due to the Local Lettings Policy applied to these properties, larger family homes will be released within the Crossgates and Whinmoor ward. Over recent months, ground investigations and surveys have taken place on the site of the former Whinmoor Public House. The Council is now developing proposals for new council houses on this site and expect to be inviting local residents to view and comment on these proposals over the summer before a planning application is submitted. Yorkshire Housing completed 6 major adaptations (ramps or wet floor showers) on behalf of Adaptations Housing Leeds During this period we have also: Completed 206 checks and services to gas installation, lifts, portable appliance testing, emergency lights, fire alarms and smoke detectors. 7

8 Contact information for Swarcliffe Residents: Customer Service Centre: This is a 24 hour telephone line and should be used for all repairs. Yorkshire Housing, Swarcliffe: Housing Leeds, Swarcliffe: Housing Leeds Call Centre: Paul King and Simon Norman Environmental Action Officers: Mark Buccilli - Benefits Advisor: Highways/Street Lighting: Noise Nuisance: Day time Night time Police (non-urgent): 101 Police Helpdesk Killingbeck: Child Protection: Anti-Social Behaviour: Youth Services - Deeta Tren-Humphries: St Lukes Church - Rector Mike Benwell: Inside Outside Childcare Inside Outside Childcare Ltd, are based at the St Gregory s Youth and Adult Centre in Stanks Gardens. It is Ofsted Registered, with a GOOD status in their 2010 inspection. Open Monday - Friday, 7.30am - 9am & 3pm - 6pm and 7.30am pm during school holidays. Call Carole on or Angela on Swarcliffe Good Neighbours Scheme Swarcliffe Good Neighbours Scheme - A neighbourhood network scheme working with and for older people and their carers based at Swarcliffe Community Centre. Call Councillors Advice Sessions Every Monday 2pm pm and Tuesday 7pm - 8pm at Swarcliffe Community Centre, Stanks Gardens For bulky waste, bins, garden waste, environmental health and pest control, or to speak to the dog warden call This newsletter is provided by Yorkshire Transformations Ltd and Yorkshire Housing with the co-operation of Housing Leeds and Leeds City Council. YHL Please recycle this magazine when you have finished reading it. Thank you.