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Cairn Housing Group’s Out of Office Festival
 
Cairn Housing Group is celebrating Scottish Housing Day with the start of their inaugural Out of Office Staff Festival, which will see Cairn Housing Association and Ancho colleagues participating in a wide range of online workshops and events over the next three weeks.
 
The festival programme includes sessions on topics such as mindfulness, yoga and unconscious bias, as well as workshops on health and safety, service design, new systems for staff feedback, and Cairn and Ancho’s wider role in their communities across Scotland. 
 
The festival coincides with the AGMs celebrating Ancho’s 20th anniversary and Cairn’s 30th anniversary, with updated staff awards confirmed to celebrate the outstanding contribution of colleagues during the Covid-19 lockdown.
 
Michael Catlin, Cairn’s Organisational Development Business Partner, said:
 
“Our teams have responded brilliantly to working from home, so it is no surprise they’ve been snapping up spaces for our different events across the festival programme.  Cairn has an ambitious strategy for the innovative use of technology for service delivery and staff engagement, and our Out of Office Festival is another big step forward.”
 
Jason MacGilp, CEO of Cairn Housing Group, said:
 
“We are always ready to try something different, and the Out of Office Festival is a great opportunity to focus on staff wellbeing.  Through these events we are reaching out to colleagues and reinforcing our One Team ethos, with a great range of sessions to support staff and to share experiences and ideas, and to have a bit of fun along the way.”

 The Warm Home Discount could help you save you money on your energy bill.
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The Warm Home Discount scheme requires suppliers, by law, to help vulnerable people in the UK pay for their energy. The money isn’t paid to you, it’s a £140 rebate applied to your electricity bill between September and March – unless you’re on prepay meter, in which case you’ll usually be sent a top-up voucher.
There are two ways to qualify, with a different process for each.

• If you get pension credit, you should receive the warm home discount automatically.If, as of July, you received the guarantee credit element of pension credit and your name (or your partner’s) is on the bill, you’re in what’s known as the ‘core group’. Provided your energy supplier is part of the scheme.  You should receive a letter (usually sent between October and December) confirming when the £140 will be deducted from your electricity bill. The letter may also ask you to contact a helpline to confirm your details if required.  If you don’t receive this letter it is important to contact your supplier direct.

If you don’t qualify for pension credit, you can still apply providing you get certain benefits, under what’s known as the ‘broader group’ criteria.
To qualify you must

• have an annual household income of less £16,190 pounds per annum or less and be in receipt of either:
• child tax credits,
• income support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance,
• or income-related employment and support allowance,

you’re also eligible to apply if you are in receipt of any of the following benefits including:

• A disability premium
• A pensioner premium.
• A disabled child premium.
• Child tax credit that includes a disability or severe disability element.
• Parental responsibility of a child aged under five living with you.

If you get universal credit and earn an income of less than £1,349 pounds in an at least one month since November 2018, you’re eligible if you have any of the following:

• Limited capability for work element
• In receipt of the disabled child element.
• Parental responsibility for a child aged under five living with you.

If you’re eligible, you’ll need to apply directly to your supplier. You should do it as early as possible as discounts are often limited and cut-off dates vary between suppliers. Applications can open as early as August.
Please note that not all suppliers offer the warm home discount and criteria can vary between suppliers, to find out if your supplier does offer the Warm Home Discount, contact your supplier direct.  Their contact details can be found on your last bill.  You can also find out this information by going onto their Website.  Your supplier may allow you to register your interest in the warm home discount in which they will send a TEXT alert when the application process opens.

​With regard to switching suppliers It’s important to check the qualifying criteria if you are thinking about changing suppliers.
To get the rebate next year, you’ll need to be with a participating supplier on the ‘qualifying date’.  This is usually in June or July.
If you’re on certain benefits and you have to apply to get the discount, you should always check before you switch that the supplier offers it to those on benefits, as criteria can differ between providers and check that the supplier’s scheme is still open to applications. You will then need to apply with the new supplier


If you would like further information on this scheme please contact ANCHO on 01294313121. We'll be able to provide advice in relation to any queries you may have.

We recently sent an email survey to 228 ANCHO tenants to ask their views on the frequency, content and format of the ANCHO newsletter.
17 people completed the consultation, which is a response rate of 7.5%. The survey asked a series of multiple-choice questions and questions that allowed our tenants to provide written feedback. This helped us to get a wide range of data about how they feel about the newsletter.

Summary of responses

91% of tenants surveyed replied that they read our newsletter in some way, be it cover to cover or skim reading.

6 out of 9 respondents preferred to receive email bulletins, with 1 preferring printed copies and 2 preferring both printed and online copies. Tenant responses showed that tenants demonstrated equal preference for an email bulletin once every two months and once every three months.
Tenants told us that they liked the content of the newsletter. Key themes brought up in the content feedback included news that related directly to tenants, and content about important contacts or services that could help them.

Outcome

The high level of readership among our tenants shows that there is a definite need for a newsletter or a news bulletin.
Due to tenant’s preference for email bulletins and their concerns over the financial implications of producing the newsletter we will send a newsletter email bulletin every two months and a printed version of our newsletter every six months so that there are two printed copies every year.
Doing this will let us communicate with our tenants more frequently, reduce waste, and support those who do not have access to the internet.

​The Scottish Housing Minister Kevin Stewart has moved to reassure social housing tenants of the safety measures in place as landlords, including ANCHO, plan the resumption of routine repairs and planned maintenance work.  The letter also outlines measures which have been put in place to assist tenants through the pandemic.
In an open letter to council, housing association and housing co-operative tenants to provide advice and information on Scotland's route map for moving out of the coronavirus crisis, Mr Stewart said individual landlords are now beginning to plan for resuming services following the guidance available, and taking account of local circumstances.
Kevin Stewart's open letter to housing association tenants

CHAP operate a Housing Advocacy service in North Ayrshire which provides free, confidential advice, information and advocacy support on housing and housing related issues. They also offer Welfare Rights and Money Advice which provides support for people who have multiple and/or complex debt issues.

They have launched a new website this week, which contains useful information and downloadable documents on housing, debt and welfare rights issues. They have also launched a new online advice service where people in North Ayrshire can chat to a trained advisor about their situation.

To find out more you can visit their website at chap.org.uk or call 01294 475636.

Lots of people across the country are suffering from a loss or reduction in income just now. If you’re struggling with money, there is lots of support out there. From information on how to claim benefits, to grants you might be able to apply for, this handy guide rounds up some of the help available just now.

• This website provides information about the changes the government has brought in to support people who are already claiming benefits, need to claim benefits, or are at risk of losing their job as a result of coronavirus.
• The DWP has launched a new video relay service for deaf claimants to use when accessing universal credit.
• If you are struggling with the cost of your energy bills, then you can look into changing your tariff. Check out Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert, Money Advice Service, or uswitch.
• Families on benefits may be able to receive Best Start Grant payments. These payments give financial support to families on lower incomes during the key stages in a child’s life. Social Security Scotland are calling on families on benefits to check if they are entitled to this extra help and encouraging those who are not already in receipt of a DWP benefit to check if they are eligible for financial support. You can find out more here.
• One Parent Families Scotland are offering grants to single parent families on low incomes and under financial pressure due to coronavirus. They have an emergency energy fund that can provide a one-off payment of £50 to single parent families in Scotland who need help with energy bills. Applications must be endorsed and submitted by a sponsor. Examples of eligible sponsors include your housing officer, health care professional, social worker, teacher, clergy and third sector organisations. You can find out more here.
• Did you know that if you have children at school who qualify for free school meals, your local authority are now providing an alternative arrangement? Check with your local authority to find out the details as eligibility and schemes vary across the country.
• The UK government has this week announced a new scheme that will allow small businesses to access loans of up to £50,000. Businesses will be able to apply online from Monday 4 May. The terms of the loan mean that no capital or interest repayments will be due for one year, during which time the government will pay the interest. Unlike the existing loan scheme, banks will not retain any of the risk for these loans. In applying for the loan, businesses will only have to show that they were sustainable before the pandemic, not that they will be after (as was the case with initial loan schemes) as businesses have found it difficult to predict how they will fare in the future. For more information on the scheme, see here.

Our team is on hand to help you with any money worries. They can talk you through your situation and the options available to you, including benefits and other help and support you can access. Please get in touch if you'd like to speak to them.

The Scottish Government, Scottish Housing Regulator and Scottish Federation of Housing Associations have up to date guidance and information on what is expected from social landlords, like ANCHO, during the coronavirus outbreak.
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If you’d like to find out more, you can visit their websites:

Scottish Housing Regulator

Scottish Federation of Housing Associations

Scottish Government

​Ready Scotland has published a helpful guide to organisations that provide advice and support to anyone needing it during the coronavirus crisis.  This guide is regularly updated and is well worth a visit if you or someone who know would benefit from accessing some of these services.