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We have just posted out our Ancho newsletter for Spring 2021! The newsletter will be arriving through your letterbox in the next couple of days. 
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As part of the partnership with Cairn Housing Association, Ancho tenants have an affordable rent guarantee which means rents will be raised at Consumer Price Index (CPI) only. This year that meant a 0.5% increase.
We wrote to all tenants in December to ask your views on the proposed 0.5% rent increase for 2021/22. A total of 4 responses were received. This represents 0.6% of all letters issued. Of those that responded, two tenants were positive towards the proposed increase, and two held negative views towards the proposals. Our Board met at the beginning of February to discuss the results of the consultation and, after considering all of the responses, have agreed to approve the proposed 0.5% rent increase. This will be applied from 1 April 2021. We included a survey in our email newsletter in December to ask tenants what they thought about the bi-monthly email bulletins we've recently started sending them. The consultation was sent to 240 tenants and we received 23 responses. They were asked three questions:
Our tenants demonstrated an overwhelmingly positive response to our email newsletter, with 98% of respondents saying they liked the new format. When given the chance to voice dislikes about the publication, all tenants unanimously responded there was nothing to dislike. In future, tenants would like us to continue to write about the topics we currently focus on, but 20% of responses to Q3 would like to know more about refurbishments and upgrades. We will be including future content suggestions in our next bulletins. You can click here to read the full range of responses to each question. If you feel that you or someone you know needs additional support, here’s a list of organisations who may be able to offer help and advice.
SUPPORT WITH SELF-ISOLATION If you are self-isolating and need help accessing essentials such as food and medicine which you cannot get through friends and family, please call the National Assistance Helpline: 0800 111 400 OLDER PEOPLE, AND THOSE CARING FOR OVER 70S Age UK www.ageuk.org.uk 0800 12 44 222 THOSE WITH A DISABILITY Disability Information Scotland www.disabilityscot.org.uk 0300 323 9961 THOSE WHO ARE WORRIED ABOUT LOSING THEIR JOB, OR SEEKING ADVICE REGARDING EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS Citizen Advice Scotland www.cas.org.uk 0800 028 1456 FOR DEBT ADVICE Step Change www.stepchange.org 0800 138 1111 Or National Debtline www.nationadebtline.org 0808 808 4000 THOSE WITH DEMENTIA OR THEIR CARERS Alzheimer Scotland www.alzscot.org 08080 808 3000 FOR HOUSEHOLDS LOOKING FOR ADVICE ON REDUCING ENERGY BILLS AND STAYING WARM Energy Saving Trust www.energysavingtrust.co.uk 0808 808 2282 THOSE WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES AND THEIR CARERS Enable Scotland www.enable.org.uk 0300 0200 101 THOSE WITH AUTISM OR THEIR CARERS Scottish Autism www.scottishautism.org 01259 222 022 FOR ANYONE EXPERIENCING DOMESTIC ABUSE Scottish Women’s Aid www.womensaid.scot 0800 027 1234 FOR ANYONE AFFECTED BY SEXUAL VIOLENCE Rape Crisis Scotland www.rapecrisisscotland.org.uk MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT BREATHING SPACE www.breathingspace.scot 0800 83 85 87 SAMARITANS www.samaritans.org 116 123 SHOUT www.giveusashout.org Text 85258 If you’re a primary caregiver for a school age child you may be looking for further resources to keep your children occupied. But finding something free and suitable can often be hard work. Look no further, we’ve compiled our best discoveries so you and your child can get on with the task in hand.
The BBC From broadcasts to online resources, the BBC have you covered. TV CBBC are broadcasting three hours of primary school programmes from 9am every weekday and two hours of senior school programmes. This includes BBC Bitesize Daily and TV shows with an educational twist such as Horrible Histories. You can also catch up on previous learning programmes on BBC iplayer, here. You will need a television license for this service. Online BBC Bitesize's Learning At Home have lots of resources for children up to 12 years old. You can access it here and don’t need a TV license for this online resource. Khan Academy Khan Academy are a non-profit American organisation on a mission to provide education for everyone. Sign up for a free membership and access to 100s of free mini lessons and schedules for pupils aged 2-18. Sign up here. TigTag TigTag are offering educational free educational resources in Science and Geography. Find out more, here. Lunch with Jamie Oliver Jamie Oliver's cooking resources are the perfect step for getting your child understanding and excited about their own nutrition. Click here. Audible Audible have made their children's stories entirely free. Click here to find out more. Further resources If you're looking for more ideas, check out this list from Tes (Times Educational Supplement). IDEAS FOR KEEPING YOUR CHILDREN ENGAGED Whether you're children are nursery age and in need of new activities or you are looking for things to do at the weekend, we've got some activities to while away the hours. BookBug We love Bookbug and their special online live activity videos. There are lots of way you can tune in, but we really love the sessions from North Ayrshire Libraries which are streamed live from their Facebook page on Fridays at 10am. Storytime with a twist String-along-stories
Starting exciting conversations with your little one are lots of fun and can lead to all sorts of discoveries!
Teddies+plastic cups and saucers= a fun time for all! Try asking:
Take a sound walk Make the most of your daily walk by asking your child all the things they can list. It may be the passing of cars, a bird or water dripping off leaves in the trees. Once you get inside, these ideas can be food for art work or storytelling. Cairn Housing Group has appointed Sean Connor as their new Director of Customer Services to complete a reshaped Executive Team. Sean will join Cairn and Ancho in April from the Wheatley Group, and will lead an ambitious team with responsibility for delivering modern, customer focussed services across Scotland. Sean Connor said: "I am both excited and eager to be joining the team at Cairn Housing Group. The opportunity to provide leadership and build upon the strong foundations already laid, will be a challenge that I will relish. I look forward to bringing energy, determination and a commitment to innovative ideas and a 21st century service for our customers”. Jason MacGilp, Cairn Housing Group Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming Sean into the Cairn Housing Group. He brings a wide range of skills and experience in housing services, community regeneration and third sector organisations. Sean will have a leadership role across Ancho and Cairn, developing a new, post-COVID-19, service model and will drive forward our customer service offer in local communities across Scotland. This appointment now completes a recent Executive Team restructure at Cairn.”  Sean Connor 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. 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. 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. 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/ |
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