Have your say

Find out how we’re listening to the views of customers and what we’re doing to act on them.

Listening to you

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We’re often asked how we’re listening to the views of customers and acting on them.

So, each month, we’re speaking to our teams and asking: “how have you listened to customers and acted on their feedback?”

Then each month, we’ll publish our top 5 actions that have resulted directly from feedback, either from an individual or group of customers.

Check out the latest actions below and, in time, we’ll build up an archive so you can see everything we’ve done to react to customer feedback over time.

Latest update – January 2025

Customer consultation – For some months, we’ve been working with a group of 28 customers to look at what customer engagement will look like as Riverside and One Housing Group become one single organisation. Those customers have now made some recommendations and have written a letter to all customers across the group to ask for their views. That consultation will be running this month. Please have your say!

Ask for Ruth – We understand the devastating impact that domestic abuse could have on our customers, their families and the wider community and we also recognise how difficult it can be to know where to turn to for help. During our Community Safety scrutiny exercise our customers with lived experience of Domestic Abuse told us that often, coming forward and seeking help is a difficult thing to do. We listened to that feedback and as a result we’ve launched our Ask for Ruth campaign. Customers who are experiencing domestic abuse who feel unsafe, vulnerable or threatened can discreetly seek help by speaking with any member of the Riverside team by asking them for ‘Ruth’. This code-phrase will indicate to us that you require help with your situation. The team member will then contact our dedicated Domestic Abuse Specialists on your behalf. This service is now live on our website, alongside a range of support available to you. By completing a short webform, you can reach out to our specially trained team safely and in confidence. We will contact you using the method best for you, at a time when you are able to speak freely. We can then talk through your options and help get the right support in place for you and your family. Visit www.riverside.org.uk/ask-for-ruth/

Cost of living support in Kent – In response to many of our customers asking for support with the cost of living, the Housing Officers for Thanet, Kent, put in a bid for funding from the local council. We received more than £20,000 to support customers with a range of items including white goods, carpets, furniture and supermarket vouchers.  This allowed us to help some people who really needed it and would not have otherwise been able to get support. For more information about your local community visit www.riverside.org.uk/your-community.

Health and wellbeing offer – In response to customer feedback team members at the Oval Centre in Salterbeck have been developing a health and wellbeing offer for the local community. This has included the development of a food pantry, breakfast clubs, soup and social events, holiday and food programmes for children, support and advice on debt, fuel poverty and more, and mental health drop in sessions. Further discussions with customers found that many members of the local community also felt socially isolated, particularly older people. To address this the team applied to Cumberland Council for funding to offer a wellbeing hub at the centre. They were successful in securing £4,000 to provide hot lunches and activity sessions twice a week. The sessions have been going well and are getting positive feedback. The sessions run every Monday and Wednesday from 12 to 2pm and you can contact the Oval Centre to book a place.

Women-only exercise sessions in our Bangladeshi community – Several women of Bangladeshi heritage living in Tower Hamlets, London, got in touch and said there was very little in the way of private and affordable exercise facilities for Muslim women in the area. To support them, we organised exclusive access to a community space for keep fit classes to take place. Having linked up with the group, we’re also going to be working with them to support the delivery of classes to develop their English. The group are really pleased with the outcome. Enjoy ladies!

Here is an archive of our recent actions:

January 2024

Making it easier than ever to “Have your say” – Customers told us it was difficult to navigate to and around the “Have your say” section of our website. So, we’ve totally refreshed the site, giving you three easy categories to choose from – Online, Local or National – showcasing all the ways you can become more involved and have your say on our services. Customers helped to design the new site too, you can visit it here.

Improving our complaints responses to you – We had feedback from our new customer complaint panel members that wording of our complaint response letters was not always as good as it could be. So, we’ve commissioned training for all our new complaints team on effective letter writing. For more information on complaints, click here.

Improving ASB services – Last year, our Riverside Customer Voice Scrutiny Panel carried out an investigation into our Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) services which was designed to help us improve. As a result, this month we’ve started a programme of additional training for all our frontline housing teams on dealing with ASB complaints. To read more about our ASB services, click here.

More community events in Halton – In our consultation with customers on the neighbourhood plan for Murdishaw in Halton, customers said they wanted to see more community events in the area. So, together with Onward Homes who also own a lot of homes in the area, we supported a local Community Investment Company (CIC) with £30K of funding from our Community Fund to open the Tea Tree Café which has become a hub for a range of events. You read more about this initiative here.

Acting on your feedback in the rent and service charges consultation – As part of our rent and service charge consultation in November, several customers said that they wanted earlier notice of changes to rent and service charges. Others said they found the Annual Variation Notice (the letter you get providing your bill) confusing. As a result, we are now sending a leaflet to all customers to explain our Annual Variation Notice that arrives in mid-February and pre-warn customers of the changes they can expect and explain more about our letter, you can view a copy of the letter here. To read more about payments rent and services charges click here.

February 2024

New dedicated website section for homeowners – Home ownership customers told us that our website was difficult to navigate and didn’t work for them. So, we’ve built a new dedicated website section for homeowners at www.riverside.org.uk/homeowners, completely reviewing the content and creating a new contact page specifically for home ownership customers. This has been very well used so far.

New video updates on neighbourhood plans – Every year we carry out an annual review of our neighbourhood plans. The plans we put together in partnership with customers help drive improvements in your area. This year, to deliver a more effective and creative way of explaining our progress on the plans to you, our team have been creating a series of videos to let you know exactly what we’ve been doing in your area and what we’re working on now. The first of those videos went out to customers in Margate and Murdishaw in February and we’ll be producing video updates for customers in Colshaw Farm, Morton and Raffles in March and April.

Anti-social behaviour customer scrutiny proves a success – In 2023, the Riverside Customer Voice Executive published the findings of a customer-led Scrutiny Panel investigation into how we handle cases of anti-social behaviour (ASB), hate crime and domestic abuse. The customers recommended we put in place a new case management system and additional training for front line workers. The case management system was implemented in May 2023 and training sessions are now underway. This led to an increase of 2.5% in customer satisfaction with the handling of ASB cases in January 2024. To report ASB, hate crime or domestic abuse, visit www.riverside.org.uk/asb

Oval Centre activities expansion to reduce waste and save customers money – When putting together the neighbourhood plan for Salterbeck, customers told us they wanted more activities at The Oval Centre, their local community centre. So, we’ve supported several projects and events, the latest of which was suggested by a customer. This was a paint pot sharing and upcycling project which is led by a local volunteer and collects partially used paint pots and unwanted furniture. These are then made available to the community for use in their homes. We contributed funding to support the project through our Riverside Sustainability Fund and provided the space in the building for free.

Increasing consultation to ensure all voices are heard – In a survey carried out with our iCommunity, customers said they wanted to have a say on policy and strategy for an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) perspective. So, we have established a nationwide EDI panel. They will now meet regularly as a group or individually with members of the Riverside team to review policies and provide feedback. When reviewing our ASB Policy they highlighted the need for us to record every incident of hate crime so we could asses any patterns and trends and act accordingly and we’ve now put this in place. To join our EDI customer panel go to Get involved.

March 2024

Community clean-up days – When we consulted customers on our neighbourhood plans for Picton in Liverpool and Huyton in Knowsley, many people said they were concerned about litter, fly-tipping and pests. So, thanks to some funding from our Riverside Foundation Community Fund, we arranged two community action days at Cinema Drive in Wavertree and Logwood Road in Huyton. A range of people from different Riverside teams and other organisations came to help, collecting rubbish and bringing seven skips with them to collect the mess. Both areas are looking much better as you can see! 

photo of community cleaning up litter

Better building safety information – Customers living in shared blocks like high-rise flats told us they wanted better, clearer information on how to stay safe. So, we’ve introduced posters or, in some cases, digital boards, in our buildings to enhance visibility of this type of information. This all came about through our Residents Building Safety Group which ensures customers have their say on fire safety and other building safety issues. These new measures also ensure we’re complying with the enhanced building safety laws that came into force in the past year. For information about Building Safety click here.

Ensuring our customers feel safe in their homes and communities – A customer in one of our care and support properties in Merseyside told us they were experiencing anti-social behaviour from their neighbour who was a non-Riverside customer. They told us the neighbour was taking drugs and there was violent criminal behaviour taking place outside the property which left them scared. We worked with Merseyside Police and Wirral Council anti-social behaviour team and Wirral Council have now obtained a closure order on the neighbours’ property, forcing them to move out. To report ASB, click here.

A better service for Home Ownership customers – In response to feedback from Home Ownership customers, we have been working to increase the knowledge of home ownership within our Customer Service Centre.  We have updated training materials for new starters and are running regular dedicated home ownership training sessions with both new starters and existing colleagues. This is helping to ensure that enquiry handlers are ready to answer homeowner queries more effectively and has resulted in an increase in customer satisfaction. Homeowners can click here to contact us.

Updating you on our integration process – As part of our customer consultation on the integration of Riverside and One Housing Group, we have involved customers every step of the way. We setup a Task and Finish Group to ensure customers were represented in key decisions and one of the things they asked for was that we send an annual update to all customers on progress. We’ve also just written to all engaged customers to ask them to have their say on a new Customer Involvement Framework for the integrated organisation.

April 2024

Local newsletters in response to your feedback

One recurring theme in all of our customer feedback is that you, our customers, want to know what we’re doing in your area. So, as well as publishing a Neighbourhood Plan, we’re also starting to produce new, local newsletters. Created by your housing team for you, they will set out how they’re tackling key local issues, promote the dates of advice surgeries and estate walkabouts and local events. Look out for your local newsletter soon. You can find out more about what we’re doing in your area by clicking here.

Tackling racism in communities

A family of Muslim customers in the North East experienced a sustained campaign of racial abuse from a neighbour. Some instances of this were caught on CCTV and, when things came to a head, an assault took place. Following a year-long investigation, the neighbour was convicted of assault and racially aggravated harassment. We applied for and were granted a mandatory possession order for the property. The victim said they were very pleased with the outcome and was looking forward to a time in the future where his son can feel safe to play in his garden. To report ASB, please click here.

Environmental day in Leicester

Customer and staff on the Beaumanor estate in Leicester said the area would benefit from more greenery and a general tidy up. So, we held an Environmental Day, with Riverside team members and contractors – Tivoli, Clean Green Services, VMS and Unit Clean – all getting involved along with the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust. They planted trees, hedges, shrubs and bulbs along with the wildflower meadow beds and customers were really happy with the outcome.

group of people outside for environmental day in Leicester.Supporting foster carers

Our Riverside Customer Voice Executive and our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion customer panel recently reviewed our Lettings Policy. One thing they fed back was that our policy did not make it clear that we would support foster carers by giving them a property with an extra bedroom for the child or children in their care. We’ve tweaked our policy to reflect their feedback and will work with councils to make sure we’re supporting foster carers to create great environments for looked after children. To view our policies, click here.

New video update on neighbourhood plan

As we told you in February, we introduced a new and more creative way to update you on the progress of our Neighbourhood Plans. We sent a video update to customers in Salterbeck this month to explain how their plan is progressing and there are four more videos due to go out to other areas in May. You can find out more about what we’re doing in your area by clicking here.

May 2024

Wi-Fi boost in Care & Support schemes
Customers in our Care & Support schemes have raised concerns that Wi-Fi services were poor. In response, we’ve now installed upgraded Wi-Fi in more than 170 of our schemes to support customers to gain easier access to digital services.

Acting on reports of a slippery walkway
A range of Riverside recently met with customersslippery walkway for a regular building safety catch-up meeting at Ladies Walk in Workington. Whilst there, customers reported concerns about the walkway which had become slippery and mossy. Acting on what they’d heard, the team raised this issue in a meeting with senior managers and persuaded them to fund a jet wash to make the walkway safe again. This has now been complete, and customers can feel safe in their homes. For more information on building safety, visit www.riverside.org.uk/safety-support 

Protecting customers from a nuisance neighbour
Residents on a street in the North West were reporting a variety of serious crimes and problems were taking place at one particular property. We worked with those customers and the police to gather the evidence needed to pursue legal action and secure a closure order on the problem prope

rty. We made extensive efforts to work with the occupant of the problem property but to no avail. The closure order will now mean the occupant will have to leave and will also be subject to further police action in relation to the criminality. Meanwhile, the victims will soon be able to feel safe again in their home. For more information on Anti-Social Behaviour, please visit www.riverside.org.uk/asb

Bin

A new green approach for a Sefton community
In October 2022, we carried out customer surveying to create a new neighbourhood plan for the Peel Road area of Sefton. During those conversations, we were told there were problems with rats, rubbish, and fly-tipping in a specific area of the neighbourhood near Poets Park. We secured £10,000 from the Riverside Community Fund and worked with Regenerus, a social enterprise, to carry out a consultation with customers and created new green-roofed bin shelters which are now being rolled out across seven further streets.

Doing more to communicate your rights
Tenants’ rights are hugely important and we have a clear legal duty to let you know what your rights are and what our obligations are. Following conversations with RCVE, we have created two new sections on our website to set out, in more detail, exactly what those rights and obligations are and how you can find information about them. Visit Your Rights – Riverside and Our Obligations – Riverside

 

June 2024

Listening to customers in supported accommodation

We run a supported accommodation for people with complex needs in Hull, called The Crossings. To get customers more involved in decisions that affect them, we’ve been carrying out questionnaires asking them what they wanted to have their say on. They told us they wanted to influence recruitment, help plan activities and understand more about scheme safety checks, as well as asking for a monthly local newsletter and scheme meetings. For more information about our Care & Support services, visit www.riverside.org.uk/careandsupport

Tackling stairwell strife

Customers at a block in Liverpool were repeatedly frustrated by drinking in the stairwell. The customer (and his friends) that were causing the problem were making lots of noise late at night and scaring other customers. So, we intervened, writing to the problem customer, and asking him to stop; promising to take legal action if the problem didn’t end. The customer then contacted us and decided to leave the property. Since then, as well as supporting the rest of the customers to get back to normal, we’re also supporting the customer who caused the issue to access support services. To report anti-social behaviour, visit www.riverside.org.uk/asb

Kingsheath in Bloom

As part of the neighbourhood plan for Dovecot in Liverpool, we asked customers how they’d like to see their area improved. They told us they were concerned about environmental issues like litter and untidy front gardens. So, thanks to grant funding, we held two community action days, doing a huge amount of community clean up work, painting, gardening and more to make the area much better. We’ll now be holding a community gardening competition next month with customers acting as judges! To read more about neighbourhood plans, visit www.riverside.org.uk/yourcommunity

customers helping to clear litter

A bigger voice for homeowners

To ensure that homeowners and leaseholder get their voices heard on the services that affect them, we’ve set up a new homeowner customer panel. The group will consist of around eight panel members who will take part in meetings, workshops, and scrutiny projects throughout the year. Having a specific group for homeowners and leaseholders will allow them to provide greater input than ever before on the issues that really make a difference to them. For more information on how to have your say visit www.riverside.org.uk/getinvolved

Supporting you with benefit changes

Hundreds of our customers have contacted us about the changes that the Government are making to Universal Credit. As a result, we’ve strengthened the support we’re providing to help customers manage the changeover. We’ve even started a new communications campaign this week to ensure no customers is left unsupported, emailing and writing to affected people. For more information on Universal Credit visit www.riverside.org.uk/uc

July 2024

Community clean-up day – When we consulted customers on our neighbourhood plan for Toxteth in Liverpool, many people said they were concerned about fly-tipping and litter. So, thanks to some funding from our Riverside Foundation Community Fund, we arranged a community action day at Hillaby Close. Representatives from Riverside attended the event to provide help to customers on things like jobs, training and money advice. We also had Merseyside police come long and the day ended with five skips all full to the brim. www.riverside.org.uk/yourcommunity

Acting on hate crime – In a curious case, we were contacted by a customer who complained about a neighbours’ children making too much noise. However, when we investigated the case, it became clear that the person making the complaint to us had been racially abusive to the neighbours, leaving them feeling victimised, scared and targeted. We gathered evidence of this and were able to secure an order for possession of the property. A two year suspended jail sentence was also issued. The abuser has since vacated the tenancy and the victims are now happy in their homes again. www.riverside.org.uk/asb

Helping Hand Fund – At the start of cost-of-living crisis, many customers told us they were really struggling financially. As a result, we introduced our Helping Hand Fund – designed to give people a Helping Hand when they are in the most difficult situations. This year, we made £570K available. But what positive outcomes has it led to?

  • 4000 customers supported
  • 1200 food vouchers
  • 1000 energy vouchers
  • 600 cash vouchers
  • 300 customers helped with household appliances
  • 80 customers supported to get new furniture
  • 70 customers supported with flooring and carpets

If you’re struggling with money, debt or anything else, visit www.riverside.org.uk/letstalk for support.

Smart metering to solve service charge queries – Service charges are always a tricky topic and customers sometimes express concern to us about the accuracy of the communal energy bills they receive. However, we’ve now solved that through our smart metering programme. By installing meters across hundreds of buildings, we’ll receive more accurate bills rather than estimates, which will help us to set more accurate service charge estimates and provide accurate bills at the end of the year. We’re also now doing the same for customers on heat networks and that will get underway shortly. Link to service charge page

Listening to you about local communications – In every survey we do about communication, we get feedback from customers telling us they want more information about the issues that matter to them in their local area. So, we’ve developed a new programme of local communications from Local Offers and Local Offer setting out and updating you on our plans for your neighbourhoods, to our new, specially tailored Local Newsletters produced for you by your Local Housing teams. This month we’ve sent Local Newsletters to Leicester, Stoke-on-Trent, Petteril Bank, Langley amongst others. Check out what we’re doing in your area at www.riverside.org.uk/yourcommunity.

 

August 2024

Tackling noise nuisance and crime – A HGV driver was being tormented by music from his downstairs neighbours. They were playing loud dance music throughout the day and night and the driver was struggling to sleep. He was worried it could cause him to fall asleep at the wheel, crash and hurt himself and others. Acting on his feedback and video evidence, we worked with local police to secure a closure order on the property leading to the nuisance neighbour leaving. To report ASB, visit riverside.org.uk/asb.

Sports – on your doorstep! – When we spoke to customers as part of forming our neighbourhood plan for Moss Green in Stoke-on-Trent, there were a lack of activities for children and young people and, instead, they were often causing trouble. So, through the Riverside Foundation, we teamed up with Street Games, Stoke City Football Club and Dizzy Heights Boxing Club to provide a range of sporting sessions which will now continue throughout the year and beyond. For more information on your neighbourhood plan, visit riverside.org.uk/your-community

Magical makeover for London community centre – Residents working in the Samuda estate on the Isle of Dogs in London reported that the local community centre was in need of some tender loving care. So, we organised a volunteering day with a team from Accenture coming along, giving the centre a lick of paint and helping to improve the surrounding garden.

clean up

Keeping Raffles clean and tidy – As part of our neighbourhood plan for Raffles near Carlisle, customers expressed concerns about litter and fly-tipping. In response, we partnered with Cumberland Council to run a community clean-up event on July 23 with more than 15 organisations coming along to support the day and provide advice. For more information on your neighbourhood plan, visit riverside.org.uk/your-community

Communications in focus – Our Riverside Customer Voice Executive regularly carry out scrutiny exercises to study and give recommendations on how to improve key services. Most recently, they asked to study our communications on Condensation, Damp and Mould. They interviewed a range of team members and made recommendations which will improve our letters, videos, website and more in the near future. For more information, visit riverside.org.uk/customer-scrutiny-leads-to-communications-improvements/

 

September 2024

Community Action Days

Customers regularly tell us that they are fed up with littering and fly-tipping in their neighbourhoods. Many of our Local Plans reflect that feedback and we’ve committed to taking action to support them to tackle those problems. In the last month we’ve carried out Community Action Days in Poulton Vale on the Wirral, Everton Brow in Liverpool and in Margate, Kent. All of those events were supported with funding from the Riverside Community Fund. To read your local plan, visit www.riverside.org.uk/your-community/

customers tidying up

Improving how we communicate rent and service charges

In our Rent and Service Charges consultation last year, customers told us that our communications on the topic could be more transparent and easier to read. So, we worked with customers to redesign all of our communications on this subject. Households that pay variable service charges will receive their statement in September in a new easy-to-read design. We believe this is a significant improvement. Let us know what you think in our Rent and Service Consultation this year, which will take place in November.

Making our app more accessible

Customers from our specialist customer disability panel have challenged us to make our website and app more accessible. So, we’ve been working to upgrade it to meet best practice guidelines.  Improvements included new colour contrasts, replacing missing captions, keyboard-friendly navigation and more. For more information on My Riverside, visit www.riverside.org.uk/you-your-home/myriversideguide/

Making supported scheme more child friendly

Customers at one of our supported living schemes in Swindon told members of staff that they did not feel the scheme was welcoming for children. So, we asked them how they thought we could change things for the better. They told us they would like more areas for their children to play in and access to a park area they could socialise with the other families. Together, staff and customers painted outside seating areas, transformed an old shed into a Wendy House for children and decorated the area with artwork and pictures.

Summer holiday help for Salterbeck

Through our Neighbourhood Plan for Salterbeck, customers told us that there was a lack of activities for young people. So, our new Community Development Worker for the area, applied for funding from the local council to support the delivery of a summer holiday club. This was a great success with more than 20 children and young people benefiting from the scheme, enjoying arts and crafts, outdoor activities and more. You can read the Local Offer for Salterbeck here.

October 2024

Community Safety – Pincroft, North Liverpool

Customers in Pincroft, in North Liverpool, told us they felt scared by crime and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) in their neighbourhood. However, we received very few reports of ASB, and it was clear that customers were scared to report incidents. So, we looked at different approaches to supporting them, carrying out a confidential survey, and customers had told us they would like security lights to be fitted to their properties. We have now fitted these, thanks to support from the Community Fund. Customers have reported this has made them feel safer and more confident in reporting ASB to us. One customer said: “There were a group of young people hanging around my wall before the light was installed. Now they don’t!” For more information on ASB, visit www.riverside.org.uk/asb

backfieldbackfieldBackfield at Salterbeck

As part of local plan for Salterbeck in Cumbria, customers told us they wanted us to improve the green spaces in the area. We were successful in securing funding from Cumberland Council and our Riverside Sustainability and Community Funds to carry out a £25K renovation of the backfield area, creating a new Woodland Walk and tidying the area and improving the look and feel of the environment. To read our local plan for Salterbeck, visit www.riverside.org.uk/your-community

Change of grounds maintenance contractor – Midlands

Customers in the midlands told us they were unhappy with the contractor that was responsible for maintaining grassed areas. So, we have now terminated that contract and have brought the service in-house. Customers have been really positive about the change, and we’ve seen a 5% increase in satisfaction.

Annual report

Prior to putting together our annual report, we had in-depth conversations with our groups of involved customers about what they wanted to see in it, and how they wanted us to communicate with them. They told us to to create a short report, which was easy to read and understand and it ensure that it was sent out to all customers, rather than just published online. We’ve now done that and you can read the full report here.

New Head of Complaints

We know from your feedback in our surveys that, for a long time now, customers have been dissatisfied with the way we handle complaints. Our customer satisfaction score has hovered at around the 30% mark for some time, meaning only three in every 10 customers who makes a complaint, come away satisfied. We recognise that has to improve. We’ve taken a huge range of measures to try to improve scores and we’ve now acted to bring in a new Head of Complaints role to push this work forward. For more information about how we’re improving our complaints process, you can read our Annual Complaints Report here.

November 2024

Greater gardens

Earlier this month, we carried some face-to-face customer consultation in Dovecot, Liverpool. People told us they were frustrated at untidy gardens. As a result, our local Housing Officers have carried out some garden audits and will be approaching customers whose gardens are untidy to ask them to improve them and offer their support. We’re hoping to be able to draw on some external support to help customers who are struggling to physically carry out or afford gardening work.

Involving customers in improvement

In London in particular, customers are experiencing severe problems with regular lift outages. We recognise that this is not acceptable and is causing major issues both for customers and in terms of facilitating repairs and we’re in the process of appointing new contractors to help solve the problems. But customer input in that process is vital. So, we’ve reached out to our involved customers in London to ask them for their views on what they want from our new contractors in terms of job turnaround times, standards and more. This will help ensure our contractors delivering on customer expectations more effectively. Want to have a louder customer voice? Visit www.riverside.org.uk/getinvolved

Tackling ASB

We received a complaint from customer living in a block of flats in London about an individual causing a noise nuisance and a smell of drugs. We worked with the local council to gather evidence and visited the property, first issuing a warning to the problem tenant. They failed to engage with us initially but, after we went to court and obtained out an order against the customer, their behaviour changed, and the problems stopped.  The complainant said: “Thank you for your hard work. This has been going on for years, finally action is taken.” For more information about anti-social behaviour visit www.riverside.org.uk/asb

Community Action Day

Customers in Birkenhead on the Wirral told us that they wanted us to run a Community Action Day to tackle fly-tipping and littering. Local Housing Officer, Mandie Levi, stepped up organising the event and sourcing funding from the Riverside Foundation to fund skips. On the day team members from across Riverside, local councillors and local charities, attended and helped fill up five skips to the brim, making the area look much better.

Happy Halloween

halloweenCustomers in Salterbeck told us they wanted more activities and services for all ages to be offered at The Oval Centre, their local community centre. We held a Halloween themed community day, with pumpkin carving, food, bingo, a bouncy castle, arts and crafts and much more. Lots of local providers got involved, coming to help out and share information about their services. A total of 170 people attended and customers gave great feedback, including children who said they had a great time and older people who learnt more about Oval Centre activities. New activities are now being designed based on that feedback. For more information on what’s going on in your area, visit www.riverside.org.uk/your-community

December 2024

Christmas community event

Customers in Bootle and Sefton told their Housing Officers that they felt isolated. So, our housing team setup a regular housing surgery. At those surgeries customers also said, they would like to see environmental works to improve the landscaping. Linking in with local churches, a college and drawing on a small grant from the Riverside Foundation Community Fund, they organised a special customer event. It proved a huge success with high numbers of customers attending including customers over 90 years of age. For more information on what’s going on in your area, visit www.riverside.org.uk/your-community.

Contractor feedback sessions

Customers often tell us they want to have more of a say around how contracts with our contractors work, particularly when they’re paying for them through service charges. So, when we’ve been procuring new contracts, including on planned maintenance (like new kitchens and bathrooms) and lifts, we’ve been holding events to consult our involved customers on the contract specifications. This has meant they can have more say on what the service contractors deliver should look like. For details on how to become an involved customers and have your say visit www.riverside.org.uk/getinvolved.

Painting a picture

We’ve always consulted with leasehold customers when we upgrade the décor at the building, like when we’re doing painting works. However, following feedback from customers, we’re making it easier than ever before for them to have their say. This has included running events at buildings as well as sending out emails with colour charts and surveys to allow customers to paint a picture of what they want quickly and easily. For more information about Home Ownership at Riverside, visit www.riverside.org.uk/homeowners.  

Sprucing up surgeries

Customers in Colshaw Farm near Wilmslow in Cheshire often tell us they would like to see their Housing Officers more often. So, we arranged a series of weekly surgeries. However, they were poorly attended. So, we linked in with a local family hub, holding a session in their café so customers could come and talk to a range of our teams. This worked really well and we’re already lining up another visit.

Skips success

Customers on our Langley Estate in Middleton have given really positive feedback about the impact that skip days are having in their community. It’s led to a significant reduction in mess and fly-tipping and so the local team have arranged further skip days including six in the first three months of the year. For local newsletters from your area, visit www.riverside.org.uk/your-community/