Ways To Get Involved
Are you passionate about your community and want to help us deliver our services?
We want you to help us provide better services and make a real difference to our communities. We understand that people are busy, that is why we have developed a range of involvement opportunities for you to choose from. This means you can engage with us and contribute as and when you choose.
There are many benefits to getting involved, including:
- Helping make your community a great place to live
- Creating better local facilities for you and your family
- Getting support in tackling issues in your community
- Making a real difference to how we deliver our services
- Improving confidence
- Training opportunities that will support your personal and professional growth
- Meeting and working with new people
As leaders in tenant involvement and community empowerment, we believe it is really important to support tenants and members to be involved with us, to help with this we will cover:
- Transport costs to get to and from meetings
- Childcare where needed
- Refreshments and food
Community Empowerment Strategy
Our Community Empowerment Strategy sets out how we will engage with our tenants and residents and has a clear aim to supporting individuals, communities and partners. The strategy is split under the four themes, with clear objectives set out under each one.
The Strategy has a real focus on Community Development with our officers based out and about in our local areas, providing accessible engagement opportunities at a time and place which suits you. We want to work with local partners, community organisations and our tenants to create safe, resilient, vibrant neighbourhoods where people want to live, delivering community development activities to meet the need of each area.
Bitesize activities
We have various involvement opportunities designed around how much time you have to spare. Our ‘bite-sized’ activities can take as little as ten minutes to complete and are a great way for you to quickly and easily get involved.
Activities include attending community events, consultation sessions and focus groups. You can also take part in surveys, become a member and more.
Bitesize activities - How to get involved
- Take Part in Surveys - Surveys are crucial for us in understanding your needs and views. It makes it easier for us to improve services and keep you up to date with changes. To show our appreciation for your time, you will be awarded with time credits or competition entries for each survey that you complete, but you can only complete a survey once. View our current surveys here.
- Consultations - Have your say about subjects that matter to you.
- Focus Groups - Take part in workshops dealing with specific topics and have your voice heard.
- Become a Member - Become a stakeholder and help us make key decisions regarding the organisations future.
In the thick of it
For those with a little more time on their hands, our numerous ‘In the thick of it’ engagement opportunities are ideal.
Activities generally take 1-2 hours on average and you can commit as much time as you have available. Activities include becoming a community champion or volunteer, participating in a neighbourhood study, joining a task and finish group or becoming a mystery shopper.
In the thick of it - How to get involved
- Neighbourhood studies - Have your say in these community-led studies and help shape and improve your local area.
- Mystery Shopping - Test our services and give feedback to help us make improvements. Options include making phone calls and visiting us.
- Community champions - Build stronger communities and improve your local area by helping to organise events.
- Task and Finish group - Focused on specific topics, these time-limited groups allow you to review areas of special interest to you.
Strategic activities
Our strategic engagement activities are designed for those wanting to really roll their sleeves up and get involved at the very highest level. Such activities take 1-2 hours on average per month. Opportunities involve joining our Gateway Central tenant committee, becoming a member of our Scrutiny Group, representing us at a national level or applying to be a Tenant Board Member.
Strategic activities - How to get involved
- Join our Tenant Scrutiny Group - Learn how the organisation operates and make recommendations regarding improving operations and efficiency.
- Join Gateway Central - Gateway Central is the strategic tenant committee responsible for overseeing tenant engagement, customer-facing business performance and various other areas of the business.
- Become a Tenant Board Member - Lead the organisations strategic direction by becoming a Non-Executive Director.
- National events - Have your opinion heard and share learning at national consultations and conferences, as well as keep up to date with national housing issues.
Gateway2Engagement Model
We have many opportunities for you to get involved. These are set out in our Gateway2Engagement model:
