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bjbj Annual Report 2011 Focus Groups Waterloo Housing Group comprising: de Montfort Housing
Manager, Waterloo Housing Group: The climate in housing is really changing and residents
have always had a say in about how their housing services are delivered and how their housing
association is run and the decisions it makes, but more and more it s about involving residents
in that process. It s very much a partnership between them and how we provide things for
them. This is all part and parcel of that so that they can feel involved in what we
do and informed about the sorts of decisions that we make, and therefore take an active
part in that. They need to really understand the thought processes and decisions and ultimately
what it means to them. Resident 1: Waterloo Residents Association their slogan is Together
we can make a difference and by working with Waterloo we feel we ve made a great many improvements
on how Waterloo is run as far as resident involvement is concerned. They re listening
to us now. Where as before they weren t really listening but they are now. Resident 2: Sharing
the knowledge to other people is very important to me because then everybody gets to know
and everybody gets a say and being diverse and thinking of everybody in the community
gets us back to how we used to be many years ago a proper little community and we have
a better life! Alison Bessey: Today is all about asking residents what they think about
their tenants report and what they would like to see included in it and how it s presented
to them because ultimately it s their report and we want it to be something useful to them
and one that we can report in a way that s interesting and informative. ve heard quite
a lot today about trying to make things appealing and accessible to the majority of people,
so that s right down to things like the images that we use, make sure it s something that
they can relate to a scheme, an activity, the people in their communities through to
the point size of the print so that most people can read it, the language that we re using.
So they ve all got an input into those sorts of things which yes we ve thought about but
it really brings it all to life and makes us realise just how important these things
are. Resident 3: Everybody s voice counts the more opinions you ve got the better input
you ve got, the better the outcome. And the better outcome is for the tenants. Resident
4: Waterloo wants resident involvement, I now want resident involvement, and only time
will tell as to how much of a difference we can make. Resident 5: s important to know
what s going on, obviously what money gets spent on curiosity. Alison Bessey: Just in
this morning we ve really just found out that people, once you start probing a bit more
and asking questions, they are relating it to their own experience of the housing services
they receive from us and how it directly impacts on the service they get from us and the rent
that they pay. Resident 6: I think it s a good idea of getting the general information
from the people with in the tenants groups to give you an idea of how they would like
to see the format, the final report. If they can break the formats down of these annual
reports, to make them easy and legible for people to read, then I think it s a good idea.
Resident 1: Hopefully the annual report won t have so much bumph in it, all the facts
and figures that we don t want to know, we as tenants are interested in what they re
doing with the money that we pay for our benefit to make sure the homes are kept up to standard,
the repairs are good, and that we get what we want. Resident 7: Well today has been because
I m one of the residents of New Linx, it s to do with having a voice and being able to
contribute that way to our homes and the way they re looked after. Resident 2: s important
that as many tenants as possible get a say in how they live and how their money is spent
to keep them comfortable and to make the community better. h9