Another year, another successful charity bike ride with thanks to sponsors A S Wellington Property Services!

Every year Shelter Cymru organise a charity bike ride from Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, raising key funds to support their vision that everyone is entitled to a decent home in Wales. Covering 370 miles in just 4 days, over £25,000 was raised for Shelter Cymru, with each cyclist raising in excess of £1,500!

A S Wellington generously donated a number of personalised cyclist jackets for participants to wear during the ride. First tenors Wyn Davies and Ben Smith from the Welsh choir Only Men Aloud, set off from the Millennium Stadium alongside 13 men and women aged 20 to 62, all sporting the bright red jacket. Managing Director of AS Wellington Property Services Anthony Thomas commented, “We are really pleased to be supporting the riders during this years bike ride. Its great to be involved in raising funds for such a worth cause that provides services to people in housing need across Wales.”

Clare-Integrate

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.

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 !!!

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

Skills Cymru - Over 20,000 in three days.....

That's a lot of talking and a lot of freebies!

It took a bit of coordinating to say the least but we got there. And what an amazing turn out.

Thanks to an fantastic response from staff in all departments of Taff, Cadwyn and United Welsh we had a diverse range of skills and experience represented at Skills Cymru 2010.

Skills Cymru was an event launched by the Welsh Assembly Government earlier this year to promote the skills base and opportunities available within Wales. Integrate and a few of its members agreed to take part in order to show that a career within a Housing Association is not limited to being a lettings officer or carrying out repairs.

Our stand was not as elaborate as some, well most to be honest however I’m sure spending thousands of pounds on a display stand is not the best use of our money. We spoke to hundreds of people over the three days. The team nabbed teenagers looking for a freebie to have a chat, we spoke to college students looking for ideas of what to do next. All of whom were astonished at what really is involved in housing.

There was a large attendance on Saturday of people who were looking to retrain or change direction following being made redundant or loss of business for the self employed.

The event as a whole has been celebrated as a real success and I believe the coming together of Integrate members, though this was a huge laearning curve was a credit to those involved.

THANK YOU ALL

Chartered Institute of Housing Awards Nov 2009

CIH Awards – Friday 27th 2009.

An eventful night for Consortia members.

It was a night of finery at the glamorous and prestigious CIH awards at Holland House Hotel, Cardiff.

For the first time Integrate Consortia sponsored an award for the “Most Community Focussed Contractor” which aims to recognise the work contractors do in the delivery of targeted recruitment and training and community benefits.

The award was won by G Purchase Construction for their contribution towards employment and training initiatives. Detailed below is a brief summary:

G. Purchase Construction Ltd is working closely with its partners and stakeholders in North Wales to target employment opportunities at people from within the communities it serves. The company has approached the challenge in a number of different ways:
• Adopting a multi-agency approach, engaging with Jobcentre Plus, Working Links (no longer operating), Communities First and others,
• Targetting our Clients Customers through mailshot letters followed up with Job Fairs to discuss job opportunities in more detail and enable Customers to meet our Team,
• Holding ‘Meet the Buyer’ events to encourage existing local companies and sole traders to work with us to deliver the programmes,
• Supporting our supply chain by entering into long-term agreements thereby giving them the opportunity to increase their workforce.
G. Purchase Construction Ltd is delighted to have received the Award for Most Community Focussed Contractor at the CIH Welsh Housing Awards 2009. The company believes that the recognition it has received for its commitment to local communities, training and employment will serve as a beacon for other organisations that seek to repeat the company’s success.

In addition the Consortia members who were also recognised for their contribution were :

Empowering and Involving Communities (sponsor PSS Consulting)
- Taff Housing Association: BME Housing Project

Housing Hero (sponsor Leadbitter Group)
- Valleys to Coast Housing: Jason King, Gareth Weston and Melvin Williams

Developing and Regenerating Communities (sponsor WAG aka Pat Lewis)
- United Welsh Housing Association: Bargoed Regeneration Project


I am sure you will agree that the award ceremony is a place where all outstanding achievements can be recognised for their valued contribution to our work within Housing. Well done everyone.