Latest News

Mr and Mrs Drzewiecki are full of smiles after moving into their new home yesterday (3^rd July).

David and Margorzata, who have three young children, lived in a 2-bed home elsewhere in Preston, but wanted something more spacious with a drive and a garden to accommodate their growing family. They also had their heart set on the Brookfield area.

The couple were registered with the Select Move property finder and were helped on their journey by Laura Pavlikova, one of our Allocations Officers, who showed them a couple of houses, before suggesting they bid on one of our new semi-detached homes on the former Brookfield Church site.

They did and were thrilled when they were allocated a home which matched all their requirements – and even more so when they saw the light and airy rooms, which were a lot bigger than expected. The 13 two and three-bed properties on the site were built by Seddon Construction to a very high specification, with all properties boasting large gardens with patios, a driveway and pleasant landscaping.

David said: “The children are growing up now and we needed more bedroom space and a garden for them to play. We are really happy with this house and with the service we have received from Community Gateway, who we definitely feel are the best housing association in the area. We’d like to thank Laura, in particular, for all her help.”

Community Gateway has tenant involvement at its heart. We are currently looking for tenants who are interested in helping us to shape and improve services for tenants and the community by becoming a Tenant Scrutiny Group Member.

It will be an exciting and interesting role with lots of opportunities to learn all about how Community Gateway works and make recommendations to help us improve what we do. You will be looking at a range of issues including how homes and neighbourhoods owned by Community Gateway are managed, and how we work with our communities.

There is no one thing that will make someone right for the Tenant Scrutiny Group, everyone will have personal qualities they can bring, so if you want to find out more, please click here.

The role is voluntary, but reasonable expenses will be paid. The deadline to apply is 21st July 2019.

 

We’re all looking forward to Summer, but unfortunately the warm weather has its downsides. We’ve had lots of calls recently about ants, insects and pests. We don’t cover these in our Tenancy Agreements, but here’s some top tips to help you try to get rid of any nasties yourself, if they come into your home.

Like many pests, ants come inside once they find a good food source, so don’t leave any food lying around and keep the kitchen spick and span. Once they’re in, they spread the word to others that here is somewhere good to stay, so that’s what you want to prevent..

1. Get rid of their scent trail by cleaning with water and vinegar. Make sure there’s no crumbs on the kitchen floor, vacuum your carpets and empty and wash your bins. You might want to put some baking soda in your bins to put them off.
2. You can also use some home solutions to repel ants. Ants don’t like citrus smells, so you could make a solution of lemon juice, orange peel or cucumber rind with warm water and wipe or mop your floors and surfaces down with it.
3. Spices and herbs are also known to repel ants. Garlic, mint, basil, cayenne or chilli pepper, cloves or black pepper are especially good..
4. You can buy a powder like mixture called diatomaceous earth to seal up cracks and small holes, or apply it to edges where there has been ant activity. You can also spray it wet on walls.
5. Caulk (similar to sealant) can also be used to seal up entry points like cracks round doors and windows.

We are also approaching Flying Ant Season. The best way to avoid falling victim to these pests are to:

• Seal cracks and crevices around your property, keeping windows and doors shut or put up a fly screen to stop them getting in.

If you need another copy of our Tenancy Agreement to check what minor works we can carry out for you, just give us a call on 0800 953 0213.

 

Congratulations to tenants Bob and Sheila Geldeard, who celebrated their 65^th Wedding Anniversary on 7^th June. The happy couple first met in 1949, before Mr Geldeard left to join the Army. Two years later they bumped into each other again at the Carlton Cinema in 1951 and began courting, getting engaged over Christmas that year. They married on 7^th June 1954 at Ribbleton Avenue Methodist Church before setting up home in Preston.  Mr Geldeard worked as a joiner and Mrs Geldeard was a baker. The couple, who have two boys Graham and Craig, have lived at The Filberts in Fulwood for 13 years and celebrated with a special family meal.

Community Gateway is thrilled to have helped yet another tenant, Sarah Ayles, back into employment through their More Positive Together programme.

Sarah, who lives with her seven-year old daughter, told Community Gateway why she decided to turn to the initiative, More Positive Together, after being out of work for almost 10 years.

“I went to University and got a degree but after falling pregnant and becoming a single parent, I couldn’t afford to work.”

Sarah told us how whilst being out of work, her confidence began to deteriorate, as she felt she had a lot of barriers to overcome to get back into work, such as childcare support, transport, a gap in her CV and social isolation. Before she knew it, she didn’t know a way out.

“Deep down, I always wanted to be a veterinary nurse but never had the confidence to go for it, let alone know where to start. Then one day, I heard about the Community Gateway programme that helps people back into employment. I contacted them and have never looked back.” 

After several one to one meetings with her CG mentor, Ve Bennett, the two of them explored how Sarah could overcome her barriers and put steps in place to boost her confidence and social skills.

Sarah began attending the CG ‘Feel Good Friday’, CG Job Club, and enrolled onto a 10 week Confidence training course, which also allowed her to pass her 1^st Aid Course whilst on the project.  

Sarah gushed about the confidence course and began searching for another opportunity with Ve – this time, to take another step towards her dream career of becoming a veterinary nurse. Fast forward and Sarah has just begun an Apprenticeship at a pet healthcare practice and is looking forward to the future.

Sarah added:

“Thank you to Community Gateway and the team on the More Positive Together programme; you’ve truly changed my life.”