Urban Village Stories

Coastal Group and Mi-space have been working hard to deliver on their Targeted Recruitment and Training commitments. Hear 3 stories from some of the participants in this short video.

Gibson's have a new apprentice plumber.

This is Gibson's new Apprentice! Sarah is starting her 2nd year in Plumbing and by the end of her training she will be qualified in heating and plumbing. Sarah is a shining example of how women can pursue careers within the Construction Industry.

PV ....... is on it's way !!!!!!!!!

Following the successful bid for the installation of PV panels, Gibsons are now looking to recruit Eletrical Trainee's. There are two opportunties available and we will be working with our partners to recruit partcipants for interview.

Watch this space for more news.........................

Coastal Housing - Urban Village - Looking Good

Coastal's prestigous regeneration

scheme is shooting up in the centre of Swansea.

We are about to finalise the first phrase of

apprenticeships working in partnership

with local colleges, Bricks & Mortar Team and

direct referrals.

Watch this space for their stories !!!

Integrate Comment in Inside Housing on Jobs and Training

Follow the link below to read more about how the Housing Sector in Wales is contributing towards creating employment and training opportunties for long term unemployed groups.



http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/need-to-know/case-studies/carving-a-new-future/6517095.article

Taff are proud of their tenant results !!!!!

BEST EVER SURVEY RESULTS FOR TAFF HOUSING ASSOCIATION



Taff Housing Association has just published its best ever results of its Tenant Satisfaction Survey, which shows that 91% of tenants are satisfied overall with the services provided by the Cardiff based landlord.

In total, 94% of tenants thought the Association was good at keeping them informed and 96% said staff were polite. In one of the most difficult areas to achieve high satisfaction ratings, the repairs service got a massive thumbs up at 90%.

Janet Bochel, Director of Customer Services, said: "These figures compare very well with national ratings, and clearly make us one of the best performing Associations not only in Wales, but in the UK.

"I'm particularly pleased with the improvements in repairs and keeping tenants informed, as these are areas we've worked hard on. I'm really proud of my team!"

A number of questions in the survey , such as repairs satisfaction, are used throughout the UK in order to allow comparison between Associations' performance.

Cadwyn's AGM & Fun day July 2011

Cadwyn hosted their annual AGM and Fun Day on Thursday. It was very well attended by valued partners and tenants alike. Whilst the formality of the AGM was necessary, there were plenty of stands and interactive sessions available. These included the Play bus for the active to reflexology for those who wanted something more relaxing - what more could you ask for ? Well there was an amazing buffett and a wealth of nominations for awards and raffle prizes.

Mitie are recruiting

Mitie held a recuitment day on Wednesday 27th July 2011 between 2 - 8 pm where anyone could "pop" along and register their details for employment opportunties.

Mitie had a range of support staff available for people to talk too , including HR, Mangers, Directors etc.

Did you know that in the UK 1 person in 600 is emplyed my Mitie - WOW !!!

Watch this space to see what happens next...................................

Taff Tenant Fun day 29th July 2011

Taff Housing Association organised a Tenant Fun day on Friday 29th July 2011.

The event was well attended bu tenants and residents and there were lots of fun activities to join in with.

We have captured some photos here .......................

Coastal Topping out Ceremony with Minister Huw Lewis

Minister Huw Lewis visited the £22 million Urban Village of shops and affordable housing midway between Swansea railway station and Castle Square on 21st July 2011.
Hear what he has to say about the scheme and the future demand of social housing and the challenges the sector faces.
The scheme itself is 75 apartments built on a three storey car park based on a series of courtyards that link shops, offices, and food and drink outlets. It will significantly alter the City Centre landscape and provide much needed regeneration in an area of the city that has suffered from the effects of under investment and decay for many years. In addition, the scheme will create over 10 employment and training opportunities for people wishing to secure employment and on site work experience.
The scheme is the centre piece of a regeneration plan for Swansea City centre being driven by Coastal and its valued partners City & County of Swansea and Welsh Assembly Government and is based on the concept of a ‘Creative Cluster' that is designed for people involved in a wide range of creative industries such as advertising and marketing, architecture, computer and video games, crafts and the media.

Article from Newydd - AWARD WON

Housing Association awarded for innovative chapel conversion development

Newydd Housing Association has won an award for their innovative and high-quality development that unusually included a chapel conversion.

Newydd won the Social Affordable Housing category at the Vale of Glamorgan Council Building Excellence Awards 2011, organised by the Vale of Glamorgan Council Building Control Group, with their Court Road development in Barry.

Newydd converted and extended the chapel at Court Road to offer eight substantial 2-bedroom flats over three storeys, with an undercroft to allow vehicle access to the communal parking area. The development also includes four 4-storey terraced properties adjacent to the chapel and was highly commended for its standard of work and energy efficiency levels.

During the design stage of this first chapel conversion for Newydd, the views of the local community were influential in ensuring that the features of the disused chapel were retained in the new homes at Court Road. The commended design emphasises the attractive features of the chapel and includes traditional masonry walls, beam flooring and a conventional cut roof.

Rob Thomas, Head of Planning and Transportation at the Vale of Glamorgan Council, said: “It’s extremely pleasing to see quality schemes being constructed at what is a difficult time for developers. The quality of submissions, including Newydd’s scheme for the conversion of the chapel at Court Road, demonstrates a commitment to quality construction which is excellent news for the Vale of Glamorgan and for future tenants of the scheme. Conversions often pose challenges to contractors but this scheme has been carried out to a high standard and in a sensitive manner.”

As the winner of the Social Affordable Housing category, Newydd will now go forward to the LABC South Wales Building Awards in April.

Paul Roberts, Chief Executive of Newydd said, “We are very proud to be accepting this award from the Vale of Glamorgan Council for Court Road, now recognised as an award-winning affordable housing development. The attractive chapel conversion and adjacent terraced properties are testament to the hard work of our employees, the contractor; Tremlett and Griffiths and the rest of the design team. We hope that the local community are proud of the finished article and that our tenants will enjoy living in Court Road for many years to come.”

NB

Shane Jones our apprentice was on site for the period of the build adding even more value to the community by sustaining his apprenticeship.

Partnering in Swansea

Beyond Bricks and Mortar

Here are the "mug shots" of our latest apprentices, Jason above and Byron right.



I meat them on site last week to see how they're settling in at the Urban Village development in Swansea. Coastal Housing are part of the huge redevelopment of Swansea's Town centre. The plans are amazing, you can see them in the Coastal magazine ..... www.coastalhousing.co.uk/pdfs/Winter2010.pdf


The two new apprentices are both Bricklayers and have been on site for three weeks now. It has been a bit cold for any actual bricklaying to happen for an odd few days but both apprentices have done their fair share of what has gone up.



Coastal Housing has linked in with the Beyond Bricks and Mortar Team in Swansea to provide these opportunities for the two lads who are both from within a mile or so of site. We have lent our experience in assisting with interviews and supporting the site manager and subcontractor during the recruitment process. We will continue to offer our support to the team and of course to Byron and Jason.

The Beyond Bricks and Mortar initiative is much like the Targeted Recruitment and Training Project in that it uses the Can Do Toolkit within contracts to procure recruitment and training opportunities for residents in Swansea. So Voila the two new apprentices above.

One Woman Band

This is Naomi.

Naomi is the latest participant in the TR&T project for Cadwyn. She is currently studying for her carpentry qualifications at Barry College and is backing this up with some hands on experience with Cadwyn Works (Cadwyns DLO).


When I caught up with Naomi a few days ago she was about to sit her CSCS Card test that afternoon, this is the card need to work on new build or refurnishment sites. She had also been plastering the day before for a friend and showed me some photos of a hallway she had tiled. Noami seems to be most of the DIY SOS team rolled into one. We can't replace Billy the electrician though as we don't want her getting zapped, give her half a chance though and I'm sure she wouldn't say no.


Naomi caught the bug when she attended the Womens Workshop in Cardiff to do some taster sessions on carpentrey, tiling and plastering and now she can't seem to stop.

She told me that the Womens Workshop are responsible for her instiable need to DIY , build or be working. She is enjoying her time at Cadwyn imensely and does not want to leave, EVER! She says there is a wonderful atmosphere at Cadwyn and she wants to stay and develop her skills even further.

Noami has made a great impression at Cadwyn Works and Craig her line manager is very happy with her progress so far. It's great to see a woman in a van instead of a man in a van. On a serious note, the fact that Cadwyn Works now has a female oppertive also mets a demand from Cadwyn tenants e.g. The Older residents who may prefer the presence of a woman and people who are not able to be alone with a male operative due to their beliefs.

FOOTAGE TO FOLLOW