Event
NETRALT and NTP working together
North East Tenants, Residents and Landlords Together (NETRALT) and the newly established Northern Tenants Partnership (NTP), joined forces to host their first interactive virtual session centred around the theme of “Working in Partnership.” The event targeted tenants, residents, community groups and staff across Scotland, bringing together a diverse range of voices and experiences.
The virtual gathering showcased good practice and insights on tenant and community involvement through a series of engaging presentations, videos, and discussions. The spirit of partnership echoed throughout the event, with tenants and staff both contributing to its success. Colin Stewart, a Castlehill tenant and NETRALT member, acted as the event’s host and provided the technical know-how to provide a digital platform for the event to take place.
The event commenced with a keynote speech by George Walker, Chairperson of the Board of the Scottish Housing Regulator, setting the tone for the day. A selection of topics was covered during the session, including youth involvement, scrutiny, community growing initiatives, participatory budgeting and Regional Networks.
With NETRALT ‘s membership covering Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, and Moray, and NTP spanning the Highlands & Islands, Orkney, Shetland, and the Hebrides, the collaboration provided attendees with insights from a wide array of tenants, community groups, and landlords.
The event concluded with an interactive online quiz, with a tenant delegate from Aberdeen City Council winning the star prize of £100 in vouchers.
Catherine Coutts, Co-Chair of NETRALT and Castlehill’s Tenant Participation Officer, explained,
“We were thrilled to partner with Northern Tenants Partnership to share the amazing work taking place in our communities. This event provided a unique opportunity for tenants to inspire one another, furthering our aims of sharing good practice, creating a valuable support network, and promoting tenant engagement far and wide.”
Suzy Boardman, Principal Tenant & Customer Engagement Officer at Highland Council, said,
“Friday’s event really highlighted what can be achieved when we pool our resources and work collaboratively. It was inspiring to hear about the great work happening all across our region and come away with lots of ideas for future partnership projects.’
The success of this collaborative event highlights the commitment of tenant participation groups to foster meaningful partnerships, share knowledge and enhance the tenant experience across Scotland.
Tenant and social landlord group celebrates TPAS award wins
A North East tenant and social landlord group celebrated success last month at the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) National Good Practice Awards ceremony in Clydebank.
North East Tenants, Residents and Landlords Together (NETRALT) won Best Practice in Developing Communities award for its groundbreaking work involving young people from across Aberdeen, while NETRALT member and Castlehill Housing Association tenant Colin Stewart won the coveted Alan Ferguson Tenant Champion of the Year award.
NETRALT embarked upon an innovative city-wide project to engage and collaborate with young people via research aimed at exploring youth knowledge and aspirations.
The project involved staff from Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeen Foyer, Castlehill, Grampian and Langstane Housing Associations, as well as young people from Aberdeen City Youth Council (now Aberdeen City Youth Movement) and the Scottish Youth Parliament.
The report will be used in Aberdeen’s Local Housing Strategy, as well as being a link to a child-friendly city and will make an impact on services and the resources that young people are reliant on.
NETRALT’s co-chairs Katie Taylor and Catherine Coutts were delighted to accept this prestigious award on behalf of the group and were joined by one of the young people involved, Rebecca Cuthbert.
Catherine Coutts said: “We engaged with young people, not just as a demographic to fill a quota; this went way beyond youth involvement and co-production. Young people designed, distributed, compiled and launched the survey to ensure that captured views were authentic. The survey achieved its aims, with 595 responses forming the basis of a report authored entirely by young people themselves.”
Katie Taylor added: “Housing is such an important topic; it has a direct impact on young people and they should have a say in what happens. It is vital that they feel their voice is listened to and this project is step towards establishing a city youth housing network to ensure this happens.”
Aberdeen City Council Communities, Housing and Public Protection convener, Councillor Miranda Radley, said: “It’s fantastic news that North East Tenants, Residents and Landlords Together have received national recognition by winning the Best Practice in Developing Communities award at the Tenant Participation Advisory Service National Good Practice Awards. “My congratulations go out to everyone involved and I am pleased their hard work has been recognised nationally.”
Colin Stewart receiving the Alan Ferguson Tenant Champion of the Year award
Castlehill Registered Tenants Organisation (CaRTO) chair Colin Stewart has helped support the organisation to get involved with scheme inspections and to support communities via CaRTO’s funding scheme.
Colin is always a friendly face when he meets tenants and is able to help with his knowledge and lived experience of being a social housing tenant.
An active member of NETRALT and a well-kent face throughout not just the North East, but nationally, due to his role as chair of the North of Scotland Regional Network, he is also the only tenant member of the Housing to 2040 Strategic Board.
Colin has spoken in parliament to communicate tenant comments and evidence to the Local Government, Housing & Planning Committee to inform its consideration of the first report to Parliament on the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act.
Tenant participation officer Catherine, who nominated Colin for this award, explained: “Colin is a force of nature and a worthy winner of this award because of his unfailing enthusiasm and dedication to the social housing sector and the wider community, from grassroots level to national strategic board level. His voluntary work has resulted in positive changes and improvements to many people’s lives across Scotland.”
More winners from the event can be found here.
Colin Stewart scoops Tenant Participation Champion award
Castlehill Housing Association is delighted that our tenant Colin Stewart has won the acclaimed Tenant Champion of the Year Award at the Tenant Participation Advisory Service Scotland National Good Practice Awards 2018.
The awards were held in Aviemore and judges were bowled over by Colin’s level of involvement in tenant participation with Castlehill Registered Tenants Organisation (CaRTO). He is also a member of North East Tenants, Residents and Landlords Together (NETRALT), Regional Networks and carries out other voluntary work outside of social housing in the wider community, all of which make him a worthy winner.
Colin received his award from two stars of long-running Scottish sitcom Still Game; Mark Cox who plays skinflint Tam, and Jane McCarry a.k.a Craiglang’s resident busybody, Isa.
Our Tenant Participation Officer, Catherine Coutts, was shortlisted for the final for the Tenant Participation Champion – Staff category for her work with tenants and groups in the North East.
There was yet more success to come for Castlehill, with local partner group NETRALT being runners up in the Best Practice in Involving Customers in Services category for their ongoing mystery shopping project.
NETRALT Chair bakes up a storm at the TPAS conference
NETRALT Chair, Carol Hannaford, took part in a fun-filled presentation at the TPAS National Annual Conference 2018 in Aviemore on Sunday 18 November. Carol bravely took to the stage dressed in her best chef’s whites and delivered a talk with a difference, in keeping with this year’s theme: “Baking up a storm – do you have the right ingredients?”
Carol said, ‘I really enjoyed taking part in Bake Off and providing the right ingredients to make a fantastic cake for NETRALT’s 7th Birthday. It was great fun and showed Tenant Participation is booming in the North East.’
Very well done to Carol for being such a good sport!
NETRALT visit Blackwood’s innovative new properties
NETRALT tenants and staff enjoyed a trip to visit one of Blackwood Homes’ brand new accessible properties in Dundee.
These properties are fully integrated with Blackwood’s digitally enhanced care system, Clever Cogs, which tenants manage by a touch screen device. The system is tailored to each client’s needs and is designed to be easy to use.
Accessible features include blinds that adjust at the touch of a button, rise and fall kitchen units, movable bathroom basin, and a machine that washes, dries and irons your clothes. There are some great space saving ideas for wheelchair users, such as automated doors that slide into the wall and the oven door that slides back under itself.
These self-contained properties benefit from a video security intercom, giving tenants peace of mind about who they are opening their front door to.
The gardens are accessible too and feature raised flower beds and planters for green-fingered tenants.
It was a real eye-opener for everyone and really shows what can be done nowadays to support tenants to live as independently as possible in their own homes. A big thank you to Blackwood for showing us around and answering all our questions!
You can read more about Blackwood’s home designs here.
Paul McMenemy wins the Frances Nelson MBE Excellence Award
The TIS NATIONAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2017 took place on Saturday 10th June 2017 and was hosted by Libby McArthur.
Congratulations go to Paul McMenemy, Aberdeen City Council who won the Frances Nelson MBE Excellence Award.This award celebrates the commitment and hard work of an individual who has made a real difference in their community or wider area.
Well done Paul!
