Report 2012 - Wishaw and District Housing Association

People and Communities
We believe that our role need not be limited
to building and managing dwellings, and that
we can do a lot to assist and support the
development of sustainable communities.
During this last year we have continued to
lead or be involved in a number of
initiatives, described below, and we continue
to look for other ways to widen our service
where there is a clear need to do so.
Encouraging Credit Union
Membership
Credit unions provide a social banking service
and for many residents they offer a cost
effective savings and borrowing service. Our
voucher scheme continues to be offered to
new tenants, and, by arrangement, anyone
who missed out on the first offer.
Advice for Tenants and
Residents (AFTAR) Project
The AFTAR project is managed by the
Motherwell and Wishaw Citizen’s Advice
Bureau and five partner landlords including
ourselves. It was financed by its partners and
the Scottish Government’s Wider Role Fund
and ran with this funding until the end of
March 2012.
During the year, this free and
confidential service offered advice on a wide
range of benefits, money, debt and fuel
issues at our offices or to residents in their
own homes. It also provided financial
workshops to improve residents’ skills in
money management.
Over the last two years the service has
brought in over £1.35 million worth of client
financial gain to all five
partner landlords. This is
in excess of all the
targets set for the
project.
Just over £307,000 has been put into
the pockets of 398 Association residents,
with a number of claims and appeals
outstanding. People in debt also benefited
from advice in managing repayment.
Unfortunately, the Government has
changed the funding regime for projects such
as this and it must be reassessed in the
context of a new fund with new rules. At
present the partners have agreed to fund the
project at full cost until the end of June
2012, to allow time for alternative grant
funding to be assessed.
Older Persons’ Advice
Service (OPAS)
This service has built
on the work of the
former Older Person’s
Advice Project and offers advice aimed at our
tenants and sharing owners aged 60 plus.
Since the Association participated in this
project over £210,000 has been gained for
our more mature residents.
All our residents who have used the
service have been pleasantly surprised by its
quality and friendliness and have sung the
praises of staff even when they personally
did not get any financial benefit.
We have signed up to this service again
for the coming year.
Provision of Furniture
We are looking at how we can assist tenants
who are struggling to sustain their
unfurnished tenancies. We have negotiated
referral arrangements to Recap (a local
furniture recycling project) that enables
people to purchase low cost good quality
second hand furniture at the lowest possible
prices. We are in the process of negotiating a
similar arrangement with St. Patrick’s
Furniture Project and hope to include an
option to purchase new white goods. In
addition, through the AFTAR project we had
managed to get access to Scottish and
Southern Energy’s appliance service and are
currently waiting to see if this scheme has
been continued for another year.
Welfare
We have negotiated referral arrangements to
the Basics Foodbank, run by local churches.
This service offers practical support by
providing struggling households with food
packages, as well as emotional support at a
time of crisis, usually caused by a change of
benefit that leaves the household with no
income for a short period. Sadly, the impact
of some welfare reforms and other household
circumstances meant that we did have to
make referrals during the year.
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