Another successful meeting of the Midlands Regional Network was held on 19 March 2013 at Stretton Lodge, one of Whitefriars Housing’s sheltered housing schemes in Coventry.
Kindly hosted by Whitefriars Housing the meeting was well attended. Carole Halfacre from HouseMark gave an interesting presentation on STAR satisfaction surveys and resident involvement focusing specifically on older people; and Glynis Cook from Whitefriars gave a presentation about ‘Boot Camp’, a scheme which helps to prepare young people for the world of work and which involved some of the young people decorating a communal lounge at one of the sheltered housing schemes.
Rebecca Mollart, erosh’s Director of Policy also fed back about the successful erosh Innovation & Good Practice Awards held on March 13 inLondon; reminded the group about the forthcoming AGM with guest speakers from Independent Age and the Housing Ombudsman; and highlighted erosh’s priorities over the next few months.
One of the advantages of the regional network meetings is the opportunity to discuss common issues and share good practice. This meeting was no exception. Topics discussed included liaison with local fire services and fire safety, providing housing related support as ‘intensive housing management’ funded by Housing Benefit, the future role of extra care, and future provision of housing and services generally for older people including older homeowners.
The next meeting will be held in end June/beginning July. Chris Jones, from Waterloo Housing Association, has kindly agreed to provide a regular ‘home’ for the Midlands Regional Network meetings so all future meetings will be held at one of Waterloo’s schemes.
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