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Housing Newsletter - March 2023

Welcome to the March Better Homes, Better Lives newsletter

In this edition, you can find out how to get support forming community social groups in your area and how you can improve your communal garden space as well as our free monthly hamper prize draw and our monthly energy saving advice.

Remember, information about Wiltshire Council's cost-of-living support, including energy cost advice, housing advice and financial support, can be found at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/cost-of-living and these pages will be updated regularly.

Win a food hamper worth over £30 donated by Tesco in our monthly prize draw!

We're giving away a free food hamper, sponsored by Tesco, to our newsletter readers. To enter, simply follow the link below and email us with your name and address before the closing date of Friday 10 March and you will be entered into the draw. Your entry email must include your name and address for your entry to be valid and go into the draw. Please do not simply send a blank email.

Belinda, our February hamper winner, told us "Well, what a surprise! I am over the moon, thank you!"

Better Homes

Communal gardens - growing your own as a community

Making the most of the available garden spaces at your property, from communal gardens, traditional gardens, balconies or window boxes, can be good for your mental health.

A Small Improvement Bid (SIB) can provide a garden upgrade for residents who have a shared communal garden at their block of flats or sheltered housing scheme. These shared communal spaces can be turned into community fruit and vegetable gardens for everyone to enjoy and benefit from.

A successful bid could provide wildflower areas created alongside the other plants to support bees and other essential pollinating insects. It could also provide raised planters and frames for growing tomatoes, lettuce, runner beans and other crops including fruit trees, not to mention patios and benches for residents to sit on and enjoy the produce of their labour.

A SIB is free to apply for, follow the link below to find out more on our website or call the Resident Engagement Team for a chat about how to apply.

Better Neighbourhoods

Knit and Natter at Westwood House

Westwood House were supported by Resident Engagement to start up a Knit and Natter group. The group has been running now for over six months and grown in numbers. The ladies that attend enjoy a cuppa and chat whilst knitting. Carole said, "Coming to the group helps with loneliness, isolation and wellbeing". For more information on how we can support you with starting social groups in your area, please contact the Resident Engagement Team at Tenantparticipation@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window).  

Wiltshire Creatives Family Fiesta a big success

The Resident Engagement team had a great time supporting Wiltshire Creative's Family Fiesta Event at St Michaels Community Centre on Bemerton Heath. The team served free refreshments in the main hall and provided updates and support around housing to customers and their families.

With a whole host of free activities including face painting, a circus workshop and even a coded fortune teller, the community centre was soon buzzing with visitors from across Salisbury. Salisbury City Council provided brand new clothes donations from Tesco with Salisbury Library delivering story time, not to mention fun creations with the Scrap Store. Rev Kevin and community centre volunteers cooked up a delicious hot lunch including fresh pizzas and pasta bakes. The day saw a visit from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service who ensured a sit in the fire engine for eager visitors.

Tenant Lucy said "My children love the activities and we all enjoy these events."

Partnership working really does work and we hope to be able to provide more of these free events across the county.

Better Lives

Do you receive Universal Credit to help you pay your housing costs?

If the answer is yes, please read this important information and take action.

You will shortly be contacted by Wiltshire Council Housing in regard to the rent increases from 03 April 2023, as outlined in your tenancy agreement. The increase amount will be confirmed to you in writing by us.

Under Universal Credit it is YOUR responsibility to report any change in your rent or circumstances via your online account/journal - this cannot be done in advance so must be actioned after the changes take effect - so from Monday 3 April 2023.

The Department for Work and Pensions will not accept notification from Wiltshire Council of any change to your rent, you must do this.

You need to report changes to your rent so you keep getting your payments at the correct amount each month. Your claim may be stopped if you don't report a change of circumstances.

If you have any questions please call the Housing Income Team on: 0300 456 0117 (option 1).

Housing Board update 

You may have seen a couple of notices in earlier newsletters saying that we were recruiting a new tenant Housing Board member. This process has now been completed and we are pleased to let you know that Jenny Bolwell, a resident on Bemerton Heath, has been appointed.
Jenny told us " I am very passionate and support resident engagement and being actively involved with residents. By being on the Housing Board I hope to bring people actively together to solve the root cause of issues as this affects my friends and neighbours."

Our energy saving top tips this month - Switch off to save!

  • Make sure you have your heating and hot water are correctly set up. If you need help and advice about how your heating system works, please contact the Neighbourhood Team. For more information about your tariff including how economy 7 and 10 plans work, contact your supplier.
  • Turn your lights off when you're not using them or when you leave a room. This will save you around £14 a year on your annual energy bills. Replacing all the lights in your home with LED bulbs could help you save even more and is better for the environment.
  • You can save around £40 a year just by remembering to turn your appliances off standby mode.
  • Some items can still use energy when plugged in even if the appliance has been turned off. These devices can use almost £150 a year of electricity on average even though they are turned off so always turn off and unplug where you can.  Don't leave items on charge longer than you need to.
  • Remember to leave the bathroom and kitchen extractor fans switched ON! You might be tempted to turn off your bathroom and kitchen extractor fan to save electricity. However these fans are designed to run very efficiently all the time and cost almost nothing each year to run. If you turn them off fully then the bathroom will not be able to ventilate and you could end up with a damp and mould problem. Please continue to use your extractor fans as normal!

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