Latest News

Our brand new, exciting independent living scheme in Ingol, Preston is nearing completion. The modern purpose-built accommodation features 40 x one-bedroom apartments and 20 x two-bedroom apartments. It also features a beautifully designed bistro seating up to 70 people, stylish hair salon, attentive on-site care team delivering services around the clock and various outdoor communal spaces surrounded by stunning gardens.

We are eager to announce that we have successfully allocated half of the apartments, bringing lots of excitement and joy to our future residents. The feedback received following the successful applicants receiving their formal offers has been fantastic and extremely uplifting during this uncertain and challenging time.

One of the successful applicants, Mrs Bateman is moving all the way from Bristol to reside back in Preston where she originally grew up and where her family remains. This offer of accommodation isn’t only impacting on Mrs Bateman’s health and well-being, but also her family who have wanted her to return to Preston for several years now. Her daughter Dawn got in touch expressing how grateful the family are, she said:

“My Mum has just called me crying her eyes out with sheer delight relief happiness joy and every other emotion possible. Her letter received this morning will change her life for the better and has come at the exact best time for her.  She has been self-isolating since March 13th and the last couple of days she has begun struggling a great deal with it all. Now she has a new lease of life and will be a new woman now!  

My daughter and I are so happy and excited that she can move to be near us and to be soon living in such a marvellous place it is a dream come true.  Thank you so much for your great communication throughout this application process and to have such a happy outcome will stay with me and my Mum forever.  We have honestly lived and breathed in hope since day one and just cannot believe how lucky we are.”

Services we have on offer at The Courtyards

• The Bistro is open to residents and the community to enjoy with family and friends. Enjoy a cup of tea and cake or even a Sunday lunch.
• 24-hour support and care available if desired to all residents
• Internet access and Wi-Fi throughout, keeping you in touch with family and friends
• Outdoor gym apparatus encouraging health and wellbeing
• On-site hairdresser allowing residents to sit back and relax without having to travel to a salon

How to Apply

We are doing our best to open the show apartment for viewings very soon. If you would like to speak with our Extra Care Manager about the development, please contact us on 0800 953 0213.

For more information and to apply online visit, communitygateway.co.uk/thecourtyards

As a landlord, we have a duty of care to our tenants. For this reason, although over the past few weeks we have been restricted from carrying out general repairs and maintenance, we have continued our gas safety checking programme. This is a legal obligation under Regulation (36)(2) of the Gas  Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.

During the initial period of strict lockdown, the advice provided to landlords was to suspend the annual gas service where a tenant informed us they were shielding due to being classed as ‘clinically extremely vulnerable or self isolating due to being clinically vulnerable. Since the lockdown restrictions have been slightly eased, this guidance has now been updated and all landlords are now required by law to conduct gas safety tests in every property they manage. The exception is where a tenant is shielding due to being clinically extremely vulnerable. In this case we must carry out a risk assessment to determine if it is safe to suspend the visit.

Their guidance now states: “ Landlords should not suspend all gas safety checks at this time as it will unnecessarily put tenants at increased risk, particularly as people are spending most, and in some cases all, of their time at home.”

You can read the guidance in full here.  

 

We have carried out a full risk assessment for gas servicing and put in place several measures to protect both our customers and our staff.

• Our planning and administration team will explain the social distancing measures when the service is booked;
• Our service engineers will knock on the door and step back to allow 2m before the resident answers and again reinforce the social distancing measures. Residents will be asked to remain 2m away from the engineer during the visit, ideally in another room.
• Our engineers are sanitising their hands before and after each visit. They are also wiping down their tools after each visit and wiping down all surfaces touched within the property.
• In line with guidance, we are not using face masks except in circumstances where 2m social distancing cannot be maintained.

If you receive an appointment, we would be grateful if you can ensure our staff have access to your property at the allotted time and that you help us in keeping a safe distance as they carry out their work.

Yesterday, the Government published a general statement about the expectations for the reintroduction of services to all social housing tenants across the UK.

We would like to reassure all Community Gateway tenants that we are working hard behind the scenes to explore how we can start to reintroduce our services safely and effectively, adhering to all national guidelines.

Over the coming weeks, we will be outlining in more detail how we propose to do this and any new safety procedures we will be implementing to deliver our services to you and the standards you can expect.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us on 0800 953 0213.

For a copy of the letter please click here.

The Community Engagement Team at CGA are taking on the 2.6 challenge!

They will be completing individual fundraising challenges to raise money for Community Groups across Preston. All the money raised will be distributed to the groups who are financially struggling due to Coronavirus. 

The 2.6 challenge challenges the team to complete an activity based around the numbers 2.6 or 26 that suits their skills. This could be something as simple as pledging to run or ride 2.6 miles, holding the plank for 2.6 minutes or gardening for 26 minutes. They will be starting their challenges on the 18^th May and aim to complete them by the end of June 2020.

We will be sharing their journey with you on our social media pages.

What are their challenges?

• Kelly – learn the British Sign Language alphabet
• Kelsie – learn to say hello in 26 languages
• Kirstie – 26 doodles of Preston in 26 minutes
• Luke – cycle 260km
• Sian – 26 different types of exercise
• Sharon – bounce on a trampoline for 26 minutes
• Tasha – 26 minute fitness class
• Ve – walk up and down the stairs 26 times
• Tom - try sample food from 26 different countries

If you would like to support them, please donate to the JustGiving page.

During this turbulent time, we are working even harder to support the residents of our Fox Street Homeless Hostel. Due to Coronavirus and Government guidance, we have taken the decision to close the hostel temporarily and have found new homes for the 20 residents.

Supporting the homeless is a key part of our five-year plan and the management of Fox Street aligned well to that. The Coronavirus pandemic and Government guidance around social distancing has meant that long-term plans have had to alter slightly for now, with a decision made to temporarily close the hostel for the welfare of residents.

In what was a whirlwind few weeks, CGA staff pulled together to get sufficient houses ready and kitted out, so that we could start moving people in. For homeless men unused to living and managing their own homes, this is a significant and often challenging step and we do not underestimate the support that will be required to make it successful, particularly in the current circumstances.

Fiona Fisher, Head of Housing Services said:

“The CGA team have achieved amazing results over the last few weeks. They have pulled out all the stops to secure properties for 20 people. Fox Street has always been close to the community’s heart and we are extremely grateful for their ongoing support. A big thank you must go to the British Heart Foundation, who opened its doors so we could buy all the furniture needed to fit out the properties.

“We are very mindful that this is a stressful time for everyone, especially for those without a safe place to stay. Our dedicated Fox Street team will continue as always to provide ongoing support and assistance to the Fox Street residents in their new homes and we will continue to keep the community updated.”

Brett has lived at the Fox Street hostel for just over a year and has been working with the team to broaden his living skills, moving to live independently is a challenge but one that Brett is more than up for, he said:

“This is my chance and I’m going to make a really good job of it, I’ve got a place of my own and it’s going to be grand, I can’t believe it to be honest, everyone has been so helpful sorting me out I’m over the moon.”

With the difficult circumstances proving challenging for many, not just the homeless, we have looked to provide more and more in the way of support. Our Coronavirus Support Hub offers help at the end of the phone or online during the current crisis, so if you are a CGA customer and feel you might benefit from the Support Hub, please contact the team on 0800 953 0213 or visit www.communitygateway.co.uk/coronavirus.