Helena Housing is passionate about involving residents in what we do and how we do it ... putting you at the heart of Helena. There are lots of ways you can get involved, by filling in a questionnaire, reading our newsletter Helena Headlines or being part of a tenants group . We want you to feel valued, involved and positive about the contribution you make to help us to deliver the best possible service to the people of St Helens.
Involving residents means Helena Housing can deliver better services – it helps the organisation by letting us know what we are doing well and where we need to improve.
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In focus groups and resident meetings, you have told us what you want:
- To be listened to and taken seriously.
- To be provided with information in plain English.
- For every resident to have the opportunity to be involved at a level they feel comfortable with.
- To be supported, empowered and given the resources to be involved.
- To improve services provided by Helena Housing.
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There are many ways you can get involved and all of them are important. Not everyone can serve on the Board of Management or has the time to attend meetings but most people can take part in a survey or a telephone survey or complete a brief questionnaire. Just logging onto the Helena website and finding out what is going on is a valuable way of staying involved.
The ticks will tell you how much time it takes to get involved.
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less than an hour |
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between 1 & 3 hours |
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more than 3 hours |
The frequency of meetings, etc is also detailed in order that you can judge the likely weekly/monthly/bi-monthly commitment.)
- If you are interested in getting involved or want to set up a group in your area please contact the Resident Involvement Team on 01744 675678 or via e-mail at residentinvolvement@helenahousing.co.uk .
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Useful for: Residents who want to get more involved at a corporate level. Up to a third of Helena’s Board are tenants. The twelve strong Board of Management includes four Tenant Board Members. There are also three co-optee members on the Board.
Key features: Formal meetings with Directors and Chief Executive. Involved in the decision-making that affects the whole Company. Expenses are paid for attending meetings e.g. travel costs. Training is provided by Helena Housing and regular appraisals undertaken.
Time Commitment:
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Umbrella group of representatives from all tenants and residents associations and buddy groups.
Useful for: Residents from tenants and residents groups who want to get involved in shaping policies and monitoring performance.
Key features: Representatives from each buddy group and tenant and resident association meet every two months to discuss and comment on areas of Helena’s work and policies. Travel expenses of £5 are paid to those attending meetings.
Time Commitment:
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Useful for: Feedback on the improvement programme, individual schemes and regeneration initiatives.
Key features: Individual letters may be used to invite residents to visit show houses to choose their new kitchens or bathrooms. Surveys will also be used to find out how satisfied residents are with the work carried out.
Time commitment:
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Useful for: Keeping up to date on things that are happening at Helena Housing.
Key features: Produced four times a year and sent to all residents. Includes information on the improvement programme, local news and opportunities to get involved. You can be involved in the newsletter by joining the Editorial Panel (see below).
Time Commitment:
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Useful for: Residents who want to find out about our performance during the last twelve months.
Key features: Provides information on our performance and compares it to that of other similar organisations so that you can see how we are doing. Produced once a year and sent to every home.
Time commitment:
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Useful for: Gaining residents views of our services and how we are doing.
Key features: Sent to all homes every three years and residents are involved in the design of the questionnaire. Feedback is provided to Board and our future plans are based on the responses given.
Time commitment:
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Useful for: Those who have access to a PC and can go “on-line” (you can use a computer at libraries across St Helens).
Key features: You can go on-line and get information from our website about all our activities and services. You can report repairs, e-mail enquiries and access available properties from Under One Roof.
Time commitment:
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Useful for: Giving you useful information to move into your new home.
Key features: Given to all new residents moving into a Helena home. Advises you how to report repairs, make rent payments, report anti-social behaviour and make complaints. Also details your neighbourhood office and dedicated officer.
Time commitment:
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Useful for: Giving us feedback on your experience of our day-to-day repairs service.
Key features: A satisfaction card will be given to you after each repair is completed. You tick the boxes to advise whether the repair was completed to your satisfaction and return it to us via the pre-paid card.
Time commitment:
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Useful for: Telling us what you think about our services and giving you the opportunity to bring a specific issue to our attention.
Key features: Available at all neighbourhood offices and open days. We will provide a personal response to residents who give their name and address.
Time Commitment:
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Useful for: Those who wish to discuss matters on a one-to-one basis with a member of staff.
Key features: Home visits are available to all residents, including evening appointments. Surgeries are held on site regularly and more details can be obtained from your neighbourhood office.
Time commitment:
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Useful for: Contacting residents direct to findout their views and opinions on a particular service.
Key features: one to one contact with service users over the telephone. Provides us with useful instant feedback.
Time Commitment:
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Useful for: Telling us about issues that concern you.
Key features: Leaflet available at all neighbourhood offices and online here . We analyse complaints to try and improve our services. We will speak to some people who have made a complaint to see how they feel it was dealt with, and if they are happy with the result.
Time Commitment: or
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Useful for: Asking you why you are moving out.
Key features: Residents are asked for this information to help us to understand any issues in their neighbourhood and to plan for the future e.g. building certain types of homes in an area because there none available such as bungalows.
Time Commitment:
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Useful for: Getting your views on how the programme was delivered and how the contractor performed.
Key features: May involve a satisfaction survey, meeting or focus group to discuss what went well, what didn’t and what have we learned for the future.
Time commitment: or
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Useful for: Commenting on articles for our newsletter Helena Headlines and reviewing leaflets.
Key features: Regular meetings prior to the printing of Helena Headlines. Leaflets are reviewed on an annual basis or when there is a change in policy.
Time commitment:
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Useful for: Listening to issues of concern about the environment of your estate.
Key features: Members of tenants and residents groups and any interested resident get together with a neighbourhood officer and walk around the neighbourhood to identify and highlight concerns and issues. Details of walkabouts are displayed in reception areas of neighbourhood offices.
Time Commitment:
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Useful for: Getting residents views and opinions on a particular issue.
Key features: An informal discussion with about 10 people. Focus groups usually meet on a one-off basis and the discussion would be run by someone from Helena Housing. Expenses are paid for residents attending such meetings and this is currently £15.
Time Commitment:
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Useful for: providing information about a wide range of services and asking your views.
Key features: We will hold an event at a local venue where there are activities for families, young people and older people. A wide range of services will be there to inform you about their work.
Time Commitment: or
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Useful for: Getting involved in more detail concerning a specific service area e.g. grounds maintenance group.
Key features: Groups may meet on a monthly basis for a specified period to complete a service review or be ongoing to look at issues such as the improvement programme.
Time Commitment:
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Useful for: Residents who want together to discuss how their estate is being run. Great way for residents in a neighbourhood to get together to have a collective voice, arrange social events and build community spirit.
Key features: Buddy groups are more informal. Residents associations must be constituted with a Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. Staff can be invited to meetings as and when required to answer particular queries. We currently recognise 17 associations and 13 Buddy Groups across St Helens. Funding of either £300 or £500 per year is available for associations and buddy groups can receive up to £60 per year. Starts up grants are also available for new groups. Ask at your neighbourhood office for more details and please see the leaflet called Starting a Residents Group.
Time Commitment:
- The time commitment can be high for a residents group but there is some flexibility depending on your circumstances and whether your group is a buddy group or a tenants and residents association.
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Useful for: Residents who want to play an active part with partner contractors working on their estates.
Key features: Residents can be involved in the selection of the contractor, agreeing the specification, monitoring of performance and post contract evaluation.
Time Commitment:
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Useful for: Residents who are interested in helping us to take a closer look at the standard of our empty properties.
Key features: Residents visit empty properties both before and after letting and speak to new occupiers. They will assess where the service needs improving and help promote examples of good service.
Time Commitment:
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Useful for: Residents who want to agree standards for service on an individual estatebasis.
Key features: The agreement will normally include anti-social behaviour and environmental standards. It can also include a local lettings policy. Helena currently has three estate agreements in Wargrave, Appleton Road and Brunswick Road estates.
Time Commitment:
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Residents should not be out of pocket due to being involved in Helena’s business. To ensure this doesn’t happen Helena will provide expenses to residents who take part in events and activities and have had to pay for things such as travel or child care.
There are current standard payments to residents who attend a focus group or working groups. Helena will pay expenses to residents who attend focus groups, working groups and other consultation events.
Helena does not pay travel expenses to resident groups who attend regular walkabouts, meeting and surgeries in their neighbourhood.
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If there are other ways in which you would like to get involved please let us know.
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The Resident Involvement Team is here to help you get involved – that’s our job! Please get in touch with us:
Alternatively. come and see us or write to us at:
- Resident Involvement Team
Duke Street Neighbourhood Office
144 Duke Street
St Helens
WA10 2JL
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