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The health and safety of our tenants and colleagues is our number one priority, so we are carefully following government guidelines to keep everyone safe when we carry out work in our properties.

We are doing everything we can to keep our customers and colleagues safe. We have developed guidelines for colleagues to ensure that we can carry out work safely.

When working in your home we will complete a COVID-19 risk assessment with you at your doorstep. Throughout this visit, we ask that you and members of your household abide by the social distancing guidelines and remain in another room, where possible. Please leave internal doors open to prevent unnecessary contact and open windows to maximise ventilation. If you, or a family member, experience symptoms of COVID-19, please contact us to re-arrange.

Please be assured that our colleagues are following strict social distancing advice and we ask that you support this and avoid approaching them while they continue to work in your homes and in communal areas.

The government has just announced new restrictions to Lancashire, including Preston following a significant rise in the number of cases.

The current restrictions for Preston (implemented 7 August) remain in place. This means that:

• You cannot have others in your homes and gardens
• You cannot visit other people's homes or gardens, even if they are in an unaffected area
• You are not permitted to mix with other households in indoor venues (including homes, bars, restaurants and cafes)

The new measures will come into effect Tuesday 22 September. These additional regulations mean the following must also be adhered to:

• Residents should not socialise with other people outside of their own household or support bubble in all outdoor public spaces including parks
• Limit bars and restaurants to table service only
• Leisure and entertainment venues, including restaurants, pubs, and cinemas, must close between 10pm and 5am

A number of areas of guidance have also been introduced which residents are strongly urged to comply with. These are:

• Only use public transport for essential purposes, such as travelling to school or work
• Not to attend amateur and semi-professional sporting events as spectators

For more information please visit the Preston City Council website.

In July, we launched a seven-week pilot of ‘The Purple Pantry’ - a food shopping membership scheme, which offers high quality food. Following the success of the trial and overwhelming feedback from customers, we have decided to extend the scheme until the New Year, so people can get food right up to and over the Christmas period.

During the seven-week pilot, 335 households signed up to become members of the Purple Pantry; as a result, the food outlet had a direct impact on 558 adults and 345 children.

What do Community Gateway customers say about The Purple Pantry?

• “It’s the best thing to have ever happened on Moor Nook!”
• “With 3 kids it is helping me to budget and make my money go further. I couldn’t believe how much choice there was.”

 

What is The Purple Pantry?

The Purple Pantry is open to all Community Gateway customers, regardless of where they live. In addition, residents living in the Moor Nook local community* who are not living in a CGA home are welcome to join. We work in partnership with FareShare Preston and James Hall & Co to offer tinned, fresh, chilled and frozen food and unlike foodbanks, customers can browse and select products of their own choice from a range of more than a hundred different items. Membership is not means-tested, and packages are tailored to customers. All items have a points value between 1-5, to provide some context, 25 points provides around £30 to £40 of food.

Here is what a 25 points package can include

 

How much is a membership?

There are different membership packages on offer based on the number of people living in your home.

Package available to Moor Nook local community members

*Moor Nook local community member defined by CGA

 

We will carry out a further review in January to see if we are able to run the Purple Pantry for longer.

The Purple Pantry is open from 1pm to 4pm Monday to Friday at Moor Nook Community Office, Langden Drive, Preston PR2 6HT.

On Thursday 10^th September, we held our annual general meeting (AGM) where members were able to air their views and hear from our Chief Executive Rob Wakefield, senior managers and Board members.

For the first time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and government restrictions, the prospect of a major annual event in its normal form looked impossible. However, we were determined not to let the pandemic prevent us from connecting with our customers in some way and so held our first virtual annual general meeting last Thursday evening to an audience of more than 1000 in total – our highest ever viewed AGM.

At its peak, more than 120 members and invited guests were online, taking part in the proceedings – a figure comparable to those who might normally attend our traditional day-time event in a city-centre venue. You can watch the virtual AGM unfold below.

 

CGA’s ‘Community Heroes’ were also announced on the night, following a call out to tenants and residents across Preston to nominate people who had made a difference in their communities.The five deserving winners were: Maddison Carey, Catherine Davies, Omar Khan, Stu Maddox and Paula Duffy.

Thank you to everyone who took part in our AGM and tuned in on the night to watch. 

With growing demands for ways that anti-social behaviour (ASB) incidents can be reported, we have launched a new app. The app allows you to report incidents of anti-social behaviour, CGA tenancy breaches or just to let us know if you are concerned about someone living in one of our properties.

The app is free and easy to download and will allow you to send photos, sound recordings or video files directly to the Tenancy Management team. You will also be able to see how the case is progressing and receive updates from our officers. We appreciate that not everyone will have use of a smartphone or tablet, so you can still report incidents of anti-social behaviour, tenancy breaches or any concerns by calling 0800 953 0213 or email  tenancymanagement@communitygateway.co.uk. 

 

How to downlaod the app

Our new app is available as a download on the iOS and Android app stores. Simply search ‘Remote Reporting’ and download. You will need to set up an account and scan the QR code below to get started. If you have any problems, please contact the Tenancy Management team on 0800 953 0213.