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We are pleased to annouce that we have achieved the prestigious RoSPA Gold Medal Award, which recognises our health and safety performance and practices.

We have now achieved 8 consecutive Golds in the internationally-renowned RoSPA Health and Safety Awards, the longest-running industry awards scheme in the UK.

Thomas Jones, our Health and Safety Advisor, said, “Receiving this prestigious award for the 8^th consecutive year is testament to the dedication of everyone here at CGA, to achieving and maintaining high standards of health and safety performance. Evidence from teams across the organisation was submitted in our application, so this award is an achievement for all of our colleagues.”

Julia Small, RoSPA’s head of qualifications, awards and events, said,

“The RoSPA Awards are the most highly-respected in the health and safety arena, with almost 2,000 entrants every year, and allow organisations to prove excellence in the workplace, demonstrating a commitment to the wellbeing of not only employees but all those who interact with it.”

This Gold Medal Award follows shortly after our 5 star grading in the British Safety Council Audit. At CGA, we're passion about people and their safety too! 

CGA was recently visited by MP Tracey Crouch, the Minister for Sport and Civil Society. 

Tracey received a presentation that gave an overview of a variety of topics including community involvement and empowerment, how we work in partnership with other organisations and an introduction to Preston Vocational Centre.

Our exciting plans for the new independent living scheme we are building in Ingol and how it forms a crucial part of our supported housing strategy, were also highlighted during the presentation. 

This positive interaction with Members of Parliament helps us promote what we are doing out in the community and keep the great work and crucial role of housing associations, at the forefront of Parliament’s mind.

This week, we presented a cheque for £8967.40 to St Catherine’s Hospice, a local charity that supports people with life shortening illnesses. Our staff have spent the last 12 months running, swimming, baking, hiking, cycling and have even jumped out of a plane in aid of St Catherine’s Hospice. Councillor Brian Rollo, The Mayor of Preston and supporter of St Catherine’s Hospice, also attended to help present the cheque.

Each year we vote on a charity to become our corporate charity of the year and carry out a variety of activities to raise funds for them. This year’s grand total of nearly £9000, donated to St Catherine’s Hospice, has broken our fundraising record by over £3000. We have voted to support the North West Air Ambulance during 2018/19. More details on St Catherine’s Hospice can be found at www.stcatherines.co.uk.

It’s been over 50 years since the film Cathy Come Home was released. Cathy Come Home focuses on the issue of homelessness and the needs of homeless people. We’re supporting Shelter in their research to find out whether anything has changed since then and what people think about social housing. If you have a spare minute, join their Big Conversation and share your views following the link below. 

bit.ly/2GECXZb

#BigConversation 

We are pleased to announce we are building Preston’s first Independent Living Scheme. The scheme will consist of 60 fully wheelchair accessible one and two bedroomed apartments, all with private external space. The scheme will also contain a bistro, hairdressers, treatment/consultation rooms and activity rooms.

The facilities, along the communal gardens will be open to the general public to encourage engagement with the wider community and will provide a fantastic resource for neighbouring residents.

The scheme has been designed using the HAPPI (Housing our Ageing Population Panel for Innovation) principles, which brings together design criteria such as good light, ventilation, space and storage, with additional elements aimed to deliver an attractive alternative to the family home for older people.

Each property will have the ability to adapt over time to meet changing needs. This scheme demonstrates our core value of tenant involvement, as the design of the scheme has had high levels of input from our residents, in particular the Sheltered Housing Action Group made up of CGA tenants working alongside staff.

Louise Mattinson, our Executive Director of Customers and Communities said,
“So much thought has gone into this scheme to produce the highest quality homes for its new residents. At every step of the way we’ve had resident involvement and both the research and ideas they have contributed to the design have been invaluable.”

The scheme will help satisfy the increasing need for high quality homes for those with care needs, providing an alternative to care homes and helping residents to live independently for longer. The new scheme, the first of its kind in Preston and one of very few in Lancashire, will be built on Dovedale Avenue in Ingol and aims to provide 24 hour care and assistance and will house people with a mix of care and support needs.

Chair of our Board and tenant Irene Bailey said,
“It was a unanimous decision from the Board to go ahead with this fantastic scheme. We’re confident it will create a positive impact on the local community as well as those with care needs.”

The cost of this exemplar scheme stands at £10.7m with £4.2m of funding granted from Homes England. Lancashire County Council has also demonstrated their support for the scheme and has pledged £540,000 towards the cost of the building. Work is scheduled to begin on site in March 2018 with a view of completion in 2020, contributing to our growth target of owning/managing 7000 properties by 2022.