ANCHO
  • Welcome
  • Your home
  • What we do
  • Thinking of Moving
  • Contact Us
  • News
  • Annual Report
  • Cairn
  • Downloads
  • Board portal
  • Vacancies
  • Consultations
  • Coronavirus
  • Links
  • Welcome
  • Your home
  • What we do
  • Thinking of Moving
  • Contact Us
  • News
  • Annual Report
  • Cairn
  • Downloads
  • Board portal
  • Vacancies
  • Consultations
  • Coronavirus
  • Links

A welcome boost for the North Ayrshire Foodbank

14/1/2021

0 Comments

 
A welcome boost for the North Ayrshire Foodbank
 
Ancho, a housing association based in Irvine with nearly 700 homes, would usually celebrate Christmas by delivering hampers to tenants over 60 years of age.  This year, in recognition of the hardship facing many people across North Ayrshire, Ancho has made a £2000 donation to the North Ayrshire Foodbank.
 
The North Ayrshire Foodbank provides a lifeline to people across the region who are experiencing financial difficulties.  1 in 5 people in the UK live below the poverty line and the Trussel Trust, who support the North Ayrshire Foodbank, anticipate that as the impact of coronavirus takes hold the demand on foodbanks will have increased by 61% from October to December this year.
 
Mary Black, Chair of Ancho, said: 
 
“The North Ayrshire Foodbank provides an essential service to our communities and we are proud to have had the opportunity to give them some much needed support at a time when their services are in greater demand than ever.  We are inspired by the amazing work they do.”
 
Craig Crosthwaite of the North Ayrshire Foodbank said:
 
”This is an amazing act of compassion for those facing a food crisis. We thank everyone at Ancho for this act of generosity and concern for their communities. The Foodbank can only do this work due to the support of concerned organisations such as Ancho. Whilst 2020 has been a challenging year for us all it has been terrible for a significant proportion of our neighbours. It has also been one of amazing kindness and sacrifice, of which this is a shining example. Thank you on behalf of those we will be supporting with these funds”.
 
There is always a lot going on at ANCHO – we never stand still. Our attitude to customer service is focussed on delivering whole solutions - if we can’t help someone ourselves, we always know someone who will. Our aim is not customer satisfaction – it is customer delight!
 
ANCHO is a partner of the Cairn Housing Group.  For further information, contact Neil Golightly, Cairn Housing Group’s Business Service Manager, on 0800 990 3405 or neil.golightly@cairnha.com. 
 
For the North Ayrshire Foodbank contact Craig Crosthwaite at nafoodbank@btinternet.com or 07908469556.
0 Comments

Christmas Holiday Dates

15/12/2020

0 Comments

 
Our offices will be closed on Friday 25th December and reopen on Wednesday 6th January.

You can report emergency repairs 24 hours a day while we are closed by calling 03030 300 999.
0 Comments

Results of the Repairs Survey

15/12/2020

0 Comments

 
Thanks very much for giving your feedback on our repairs service through the last newsletter email. Your feedback is really useful and lets us know what is important to you. It is reassuring that most of the feedback is positive and supportive of our service delivery.
Overall, our tenants value the quick response times of our contractors, and their overall professionalism. The most pressing concerns are about communication and timing: tenants would like to be more informed about contractors coming to do work with better response times.
We will work through the comments and suggestions as part of our review process and see what we can take into account as we move forward.

​You can click here to look at all the responses we received.

0 Comments

A new look team at Cairn Housing Group

8/12/2020

0 Comments

 
Cairn Housing Group is preparing for 2021 with a reshaped Executive Team, designed to support a step change in services to customers, continued modernisation, and investment in homes.
 
The Group recently celebrated the second anniversary of Ancho tenants voting in favour of a constitutional partnership with Cairn, and discussions have resumed with Pentland Housing Association about a proposed transfer of engagements.
 
A new look Executive Team has been designed to support a One Team approach across the Group, with a focus on service delivery and improvements in key performance areas.
 
Morag Boyter is the new Director of Business Services, Meg Deasley is the new Director of Business Services, and Derek Adam is the Director of Finance & People Services. Cairn Housing Group are now recruiting for a Director of Customer Services to complete the new look team.
 
Jason MacGilp, Chief Executive of Cairn Housing Group, said:
 
“We have made great progress over the last five years in modernising services, investing in systems and people and raising new finance, all underpinned by values that drive what we do and how we go about our work.  The new team bring a great mix of skills and experience to help drive Cairn in the next stage of our journey to achieve our vision of Great Homes, Great Services and Great People.”
 
For more information about the new role at Cairn visit https://www.aspenpeople.com/cairn/
​
0 Comments

Our annual performance report: out now!

4/12/2020

0 Comments

 
In addition to the highlights report we sent out last month, we have created an online report where you can see our full range of performance information.

Our aim for 2021 is to repurpose the report and start to publish our quarterly performance. We hope that this will not only improve the quality of data on offer, but will also increase the level of transparency we provide to tenants.

​You can view our online report here.

0 Comments

Our Partnership Promises

21/10/2020

0 Comments

 
When we asked you to vote for our partnership with Cairn Housing Association we made some promises about what the partnership would mean for you.  These were:
​
  • Local services from the Ancho team in Irvine
  • £4.5m in additional investment in your community, with hundreds of new kitchens and other home improvements
  • An affordable rent guarantee for five years
  • The potential to develop new affordable homes in North Ayrshire
 
The partnership between Ancho and Cairn is now firmly established in both organisations, with a lot of work going on behind the scenes to ensure better value for money and equip our team to provide better services in our communities.

​We are facing challenges with the impact of coronavirus but the partnership with Cairn has given Ancho the strength and resilience to face the problems that lie ahead.  We know there is much more to do, and in the year ahead we’ll be looking at how we can work together to provide better services to our tenants and other customers. 
 
We have completed the second year of the five year planned maintenance programme, with £1,159,962 spent on upgrades in 2019/20.  These included:
Picture
0 Comments

Looking to the future on our 20th anniversary

21/10/2020

0 Comments

 
​Ancho has celebrated their 20th anniversary at their 2020 annual general meeting, two years after tenants voted to become a subsidiary of the Cairn Housing Group.
 
Reflecting on the last year, Mary Black, Chair of the Ancho Board, said:
 
“We have faced up to a challenging year as we responded to the national lockdown that put restrictions on our ability to provide housing services.  Housing associations are not immune to the impact of Covid-19 and the benefits and support of our partnership with Cairn Housing Association are clearly showing.  Being part of Cairn Housing Group has made both organisations more resilient to the challenges of this year and those that are still to come.  In the year ahead, we will be looking at how we can further integrate operations and strengthen the bonds between our organisations, to plan for the best possible services to our communities.”
 
Mary Black said, “The AGM gave an important opportunity to mark the retirement of Jackie Brown after 19 years’ dedicated service as a member of the Ancho Board.  Jackie served as Vice Chair and Chair and her commitment and energy to the work of Ancho, including steering the Association into the partnership with Cairn, is very much appreciated and we wish Jackie well for the future.
 
“Our Board are delighted to announce Bill Finlay’s election as Vice Chairperson.  Bill brings many skills to Ancho from his career as a Chartered Accountant, where he provided audit, accounting, corporate governance, legal compliance and business advice to company boards and CEOs.  Bill’s wealth of experience is a great asset to our team and I look forward to working with him in his new role on the Board.”
 
Jason MacGilp, Chief Executive of Cairn Housing Group, said:
 
The Ancho team has kept focus on service delivery in a challenging year.  As part of the Cairn Housing Group we continued to roll out our five-year programme of improvements in Irvine, with £2.1m spent on upgrades including kitchens, roofs, windows and doors.  Ancho tenants are also benefitting from a five-year rent guarantee as part of the partnership with Cairn, which offers reassurance of continued affordability at a time when every penny counts. 
 
“We are grateful to our team for their hard work and commitment during an incredibly difficult time for everyone, and the incredible support they’ve offered to our tenants in North Ayrshire.”
 
0 Comments

Become a Shareholder

20/10/2020

0 Comments

 
Did you know that for just £1 you can become a shareholding member of Ancho?

Shareholding membership is open to anyone over the age of 16 that is a tenant, service user, or anyone who makes an active contribution to Ancho activities. As a member you can get involved and shape the future of the association by:
  • Electing the right people to serve on Ancho’s Board, who will effectively govern the Association
  • Voting at Annual General Meetings and any Special General Meetings
  • Applying to be a Board or Sub-Committee Member based on your skills and experience.

If you are interested, please get in touch with Carolyn Owens by emailing carolyn.owens@ancho.co.uk or by calling 0800 990 3405.
0 Comments

Customer Involvement

20/10/2020

0 Comments

 
We really want to involve tenants in a more meaningful way in how decisions are made. Traditionally this has always been about bringing tenants together in a room but with all the other pressures on people’s time, we struggle to get people to come along. We want to shake up how we do things and try something new, so we drafted a new Customer Involvement Strategy for how we see this working over the next three years.

We recently sent this draft strategy out for consultation and here are the results…

What kind of involvement would you participate in?
Completing surveys or questionnaires (online) 10
Estate walkabouts with staff to find improvements 8
Feedback about our publications 3
Focus groups or meetings in person 3
Scrutiny projects lasting one or two full days (in person) 3
Completing surveys or questionnaires (by post) 2
Long term scrutiny projects (lasting many months) 2
Focus groups or meetings by video conference 2
Scrutiny projects lasting one or two full days (online) 2
Total 37

Are you more or less likely to participate online or face to face?
I'd prefer to get involved online 5
I'd prefer face to face meetings 1
I have no preference 7

Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond. We will take this feedback into account when we are planning ways to involve you in decision making and consultations.

At the time of writing we’re updating the strategy to reflect your feedback and ideas. We’ll have more
detailed feedback on this consultation shortly and the final strategy will be posted once its been approved by our Board.
0 Comments

Phone Lines

6/10/2020

0 Comments

 
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Our news

    This is where we will let you know about anything new thats happening at ANCHO.

    You can also download copies of our newsletters from our downloads page.

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    September 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    June 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    August 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    November 2012
    April 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed


What can you do online? | Request a Repair | Make a Payment | Apply for Housing | We Care, Please Share | Report Antisocial Behaviour | Contact Us |

Contact Us

ANCHO Ltd
Sovereign House, Academy Road,
Irvine, Ayrshire, KA12 8RL
Tel: 01294 313121
Emergency Out of Hours Repairs: 03030 300 999
Leave a comment

Opening hours

Mon: 9.00am - 4.00pm
Tue: 9.00am - 4.00pm
Wed: 9.00am - 4.00pm
Thu: 9.00am - 4.00pm
Fri: 9.00am - 4.00pm

Company Information

Registered Society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014
No 2559R(S)
Scottish Housing Regulator
No 306
Recognised as a Scottish Charity 
No SC036082
Registered property factor
PF000346

Our mission is to provide quality, safe, affordable homes and services, in our communities and with our partners, throughout Scotland.

Celebrating 20 years of Ancho in 2020

Ancho is part of Cairn Housing Group


| Terms & Conditions | Privacy | Data Protection | Website Survey | Online Communication Guidelines​ | Freedom of Information |