Posts by Castlehill

A NETRALT member smiling at a tenant participation pop up event in Inverurie

15 October 2025

Inverurie welcomes Tenant Participation Pop-Up

Catherine Coutts Event, Housing Association, Local Authority, NETRALT, Posts - Blogs, Posts by Aberdeenshire Council, Posts by Castlehill 0

NETRALT hosted a tenant participation pop-up stall at Inverurie Service Point on Wednesday 15 October. Representatives from Aberdeenshire Council and Castlehill Housing Association teamed up to highlight the importance of tenant involvement and share opportunities for people to engage in ways that suit their lifestyles. The event offered a friendly space for tenants to learn more about ongoing initiatives and how their voices can shape housing services. Whether you’re new to tenant participation or already involved, there’s always room to contribute and make a difference.

Aberdeenshire Council will continue the conversation with a series of upcoming pop-up stalls across the region. Everyone is welcome – drop by, say hello and discover how you can get involved:

Upcoming Pop-Up Events

Wednesday 12 November – Inverurie Service Point (inside Library), 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Thursday 13 November – Fraserburgh Service Point, 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM
Tuesday 9 December – Peterhead Service Point, 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM
Wednesday 10 December – Inverurie Service Point (inside Library), 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM

For more information on tenant participation and future events, keep an eye on our website or speak to your tenant participation/customer engagement officer.

Visitors milling around stalls at the Music Hall at the Empower Aberdeen event.

8 October 2025

Empowering Tenants at Aberdeen’s Largest Community Support Event

Catherine Coutts Event, Housing Association, Local Authority, NETRALT, Posts by Aberdeen City Council, Posts by Castlehill, Posts by Langstane, Uncategorised 0

NETRALT members championed tenant participation at Empower Aberdeen, the city’s biggest-ever community support event, held at the iconic Music Hall. Organised by SCARF as part of Challenge Poverty Week, the event brought together over 60 charities and local organisations to offer free, face-to-face support on housing, energy bills, health, employment and more.

Throughout the day, a steady stream of visitors engaged with our team, sparking meaningful conversations around tenant rights, housing issues and community involvement. It was a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of NETRALT’s work and connect with a diverse range of residents across Aberdeen.

Our new promotional NETRALT teddy bears were a hit with attendees, adding a fun and friendly touch to an inspiring day of collaboration and support.

Learn more about SCARF, the energy efficiency social enterprise behind this impactful event.

15 September 2023

NETRALT and NTP working together

Catherine Coutts Event, Posts - Blogs, Posts by Aberdeen City Council, Posts by Aberdeenshire Council, Posts by Castlehill, Posts by Grampian, Posts by Langstane, Posts by Moray Council 0

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.

photo of NETRALT collecting award from Michelle McManus

19 July 2023

Tenant and social landlord group celebrates TPAS award wins

admin-colin Awards, Conference, Event, NETRALT, Posts - Blogs, Posts by Castlehill, Posts by Langstane, TPAS 0

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.

Podcast: Live at TPAS Scotland Annual Conference with Anne Marie Brown and David Bookbinder

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.”

Tenant and social landlord group celebrates TPAS award wins

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.

Podcast: Tenant participation with Colin Stewart, Louise McNeilage and Helen Barton

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.

3 October 2022

Podcast: Tenant participation with Colin Stewart, Louise McNeilage and Helen Barton

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Colin Stewart, Louise McNeilage and Helen Barton

Social housing tenants have a statutory right to have a say in the running of their homes, but what does that mean in practice?

TPAS Scotland has been providing support in this very field for over 40 years and has launched a new campaign to help housing organisations and tenants to build better relationships as we recover from the pandemic.

To discuss this campaign and all things tenant participation, Kieran Findlay and Jimmy Black are joined by Colin Stewart – a Castlehill Housing Association tenant and Scottish Housing Regulator board member, Louise McNeilage – a tenant and community engagement facilitator at Scottish Borders Housing Association, and Helen Barton – an associate at TPAS.

Podcast

Tenant participation with Colin Stewart, Louise McNeilage and Helen Barton

More information on Regional Networks is available at https://regionalnetworks.org

The link to the Back on Track programme as well as TPAS’s other services can be found here: https://tpasscotland.org.uk/tpas-scotland-covid-back-on-track-programme/

SBHA and SBTO were runners-up in the Best Practice in Digital Involvement category at the Tpas Scotland Good Practice Awards in June 2022.

Digital Involvement Runner-up Award for SBHA & SBTO | Scottish Borders Housing Association

More information can also be found on:

Tenant Participation How can I get involved? | Scottish Borders Housing Association (sbha.org.uk)
SBTO The SBTO | Scottish Borders Housing Association (sbha.org.uk)
Scrutiny Scrutiny | Scottish Borders Housing Association (sbha.org.uk)

Jimmy Black has written a blog to accompany the episode, here.

All episodes of the Scottish Housing News Podcast are available here as well as on the following platforms:

20 June 2019

NETRALT Mystery Shoppers win ‘Most Inspiring Scrutiny Group’

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NETRALT collecting award at TPAS conference photo

15 December 2018

NETRALT’s success at TPAS Awards

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NETRALT are thrilled to have been placed as runners up in the Best Practice in Involving Customers in Services category at the Tenant Participation Advisory Service Scotland Awards in Aviemore on 16 November.

5 December 2018

Colin Stewart scoops Tenant Participation Champion award

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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.

10 June 2017

Good Luck at the TIS Awards

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Finalists from across Scotland make this year’s TIS Awards a hotly anticipated contest in a bid to receive one of eight prestigious trophies. The award ceremony and gala dinner will take place on Saturday 10 June 2017 at the Westerwood Hotel and Resort, Glasgow and will be presented by Glasgow born actress, Libby McArthur.

NETRALT members Colin Stewart (Castlehill) and Paul McMenemy (Aberdeen City Council) are both finalists for the Frances Nelson MBE Excellence Award.

Aberdeen City Council have been shortlisted for an incredible three other categories – Tenant Participation Excellence Award, Scrutiny Excellence Award and Most Inspiring Scrutiny Group.

It is a huge achievement to be shortlisted and we wish all the finalists good luck on the night!