Members

Abri Group

Abri Group provides nearly 21,000 affordable homes in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Surrey, Sussex, and Wiltshire.

We strive to create conditions where our residents, people we support, communities and staff can flourish.

Abri Group ’s Employment, Support and Training team aims to give residents the best chance of success to secure training and jobs.

The team offers all kinds of practical job hunting help and tailored training programmes to help to boost confidence, self esteem and presentation skills – little things that can make a big difference in today’s job market.

Website: www.radian.co.uk/

News articles

The sweet smell of success
Published on 20 October, 2015

Case studies

Webinars

Meet the Team of the Year!
Occurred on 29 September, 2017

E-bulletins

ACIS Group

To put it simply, we’re a social housing provider. But we do so much more.

We provide more than 6,500 quality, affordable homes to people across Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, including providing over a thousand students with accommodation in the thriving university cities of Nottingham and Sheffield.

We believe that everyone deserves to have the security of a decent home. We pride ourselves on offering a wide range of housing options, including homes for rent, home ownership and sheltered accommodation – all spread across cities, towns and idyllic rural villages. We even develop new houses to be bought outright.

But we go beyond the bricks and mortar. We do more than just deliver the services you’d expect from a landlord. We focus on the people who live in our homes and the communities in which they live. We create opportunities for people to have better lives through the provision of better homes and better services. You can find out more about our services on the ‘At Home’ pages.

As a not-for-profit organisation and registered charity, we use our income to develop and deliver excellent services for our customers. We don’t just maintain homes to a high standard, but we invest in them to improve them too.

Website: www.acisgroup.co.uk/

E-bulletins

Communities that Work Latest News – 17 December 2018
Sent on 17 December, 2018

Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP)

AELP represents the interests of a range of organisations delivering vocational learning and employment and employability support. The majority of their 800+ members are independent providers (from both the private and the third sectors) holding contracts with the Skills Funding Agency, the Department for Education (Education Funding Agency) and the Department of Work and Pensions. Communities that Work and the AELP share an MOU agreement to work together and increase partnerships between housing, skills & apprenticeships.

Website: www.aelp.org.uk/

News articles

Webinars

The Apprenticeship Levy – what it means for Communities that Work members now
Occurred on 28 April, 2017

E-bulletins

Aster Group

Aster Group owns and maintains over 28,000 homes and provide housing, care and support services to 75,000 customers in Devon and Cornwall, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, West Berkshire and Wiltshire.

Under the Aster Foundation, it carries out social purpose activity which is focused on improving life chances for their customers and supporting the communities that they work in.

During 2015/16, Aster invested £98,000 and secured £45,000 of partner and external match funding which has been used to fund a number of community based projects, which includes providing full and part time employment, general employment training, access to the internet, and digital and financial inclusion training.

Website: www.aster.co.uk/

Case studies

Jo’s change of tide and fortune

Beyond Housing

Beyond Housing was formed in October 2018 following the merger of Coast & Country Housing and Yorkshire Coast Homes. With regional offices in Redcar and Scarborough, we are a registered housing provider responsible for the letting, management and maintenance of over 15,000 homes across the north east and North Yorkshire.

We are committed to going beyond the bricks and mortar to help our communities and region thrive. By providing quality homes people want to live in, alongside valuable additional services delivered by passionate people who want to help, we contribute to the prosperity, wider regeneration and sustainability of our communities, creating neighbourhoods that will flourish well into the future.

Beyond Housing is a Community Benefit Society registered under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and regulated by both the Homes and Communities Agency and the Financial Conduct Authority.

Website: beyondhousing.co.uk/about-us#our-story-our-culture

News articles

Big Lottery Fund

The BLF distributes over £500 a year to communities across the UK. Communities that Work sits on the Building Better Opportunities Fund Evaluation panel, which is run by www.ecorys.com, to learn from each BBO project, many of which are run by Communities that Work members and housing association partnerships. Communities that Work will retain a seat on the this panel for the life of all BBO projects.

Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/

Bolton at Home

We are a registered charity providing social housing. In March 2011, following a vote of support from tenants, we took over the ownership of the houses formerly owned by Bolton Council. We now own and manage more than 18,000 homes in the borough.

Website: www.boltonathome.org.uk/

Centre for Social Justice

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) is an independent think tank that studies the root causes of Britain’s social problems and addresses them by recommending practical, workable policy interventions. The CSJ’s vision is to give people in the UK who are experiencing the worst disadvantage and injustice every possible opportunity to reach their full potential.
Communities that Work sit on the CSJ’s Housing Commission, which was established to address issues around housing and poverty. The Commission investigates a wide range of housing issues shaping the experiences of society’s most disadvantaged.

Website: www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/

Clarion Housing Group

With more than 125000 homes, Clarion is the largest housing provider in the country and a major house builder.

As well as providing homes, Clarion aims to transform existing communities through sustained regeneration, help people to access employment and training opportunities and give young people a better start in life.

Through their Community Foundation, Clarion invests £10 million a year in the communities where it works. They prioritise helping residents into work and training and helping young people to fulfil their potential.

Over the next ten years, they aim to:
• Support over 2,000 people into work each year.
• Help an additional 2,000 into work annually through the European funded ‘Love London Working’ project.
• Provide 250 high-quality apprenticeships a year.

Website: www.clarionhg.com/

News articles

Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE)

The UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE) is a consortium of 14 institutions led by the University of Glasgow.

The centre is a multidisciplinary partnership between academia, housing policy and practice. CaCHE researchers work to produce evidence and new research that will contribute to tackling the UK’s housing problems at a national, devolved, regional, and local level.

CaCHE is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, Arts and Humanities Research Council and Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Website: housingevidence.ac.uk/

Community Gateway

Community Gateway Association (also known as CGA or Gateway for short) is a not-for-profit community business, set up to meet the housing needs of people in Preston and the surrounding areas.

Through the ‘Preston Vocational Centre’ they offer support to individuals who may be facing challenges that affect their education, training or employment opportunities.
They offer a range of learning and development opportunities to young people and adults to help them progress to apprenticeships, employment or further education, including vocational training.

By providing training and mentoring outside of the classroom, they aim to can help individuals to grow in self-confidence, self-worth and self-belief, encouraging them to realise their full potential.

Website: www.communitygateway.co.uk/

EMH Group

emh group is one of the largest providers of affordable homes and care & support services in the East Midlands.

We have more than 20,000 properties in more than 40 local authority areas across the region, and we provide care and support to hundreds more customers.

Our group includes:

emh homes: providing affordable homes for rent and ownership across the region
emh care & support: providing care and support services to a wide range of customers, from people with disabilities to victims of domestic abuse
Midlands Rural Housing: a specialist rural housing services and expertise
Hello homes: a specialist home sales agency

Website: www.emhgroup.org.uk/

ERSA

The Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) is the representative body for the employment support sector which supports jobseekers to gain, sustain and progress in work. ERSA members span the private, public and voluntary sectors ranging from multinationals through to small specialist charities operating in their local communities.

“Communities that Work are at the forefront of thinking on housing, employment and skills. It’s a dynamic consortium of organisations not only going the extra mile for their own residents, but also working collectively to improve the system overall to improve the opportunities open to individuals in social housing and their wider communities. The partnership with Communities that Work has been extremely productive and we are proud to work with them.”

Website: www.ersa.org.uk

First Choice Homes Oldham

First Choice Homes owns and manages 12,000 homes in the borough of Oldham.

As well as maintaining and improving homes, First Choice Homes Oldham takes a wider approach to support customers to improve their health and wellbeing, employment prospects and quality of life.
They promote local training and employment initiatives through a comprehensive customer training programme, volunteering and apprenticeship opportunities.

Website: www.fcho.co.uk/main.cfm

News articles

E-bulletins

Latest news
Sent on 14 August, 2017

ForHousing

We’re a progressive landlord that owns and manage more than 24,000 homes and delivers housing management services for other landlords.

We invest in homes and spaces to fuel people’s potential and improve lives.

What starts as a house on a street becomes a home full of new possibilities. A place for people to build new lives and become part of a community.

Lives don’t improve by chance. They improve by change. That’s why everything we do is for the good of tenants. And why we work together, collaboratively, with care to have a lasting impact on communities.

All the work we do is driven by The Wellbeing Strategy. Take a look at how we’re making a positive impact to deliver positive change and improve wellbeing.

Website: www.forhousing.co.uk/

News articles

Futures Housing Group

Futures Housing Group provides around 9,000 affordable homes in the Midlands.

As well as working with customers and developing new homes, Futures aim to have a positive economic and social impact by providing people with the skills they need to do the jobs they want.

Through Access Training, the further education provider they co-own with Nottingham Community Housing Association, they support customers, staff and the wider community to get into training and employment.

We also provide graduate work opportunities in partnership with CharityWorks and employ apprentices in their own business.

Website: futureshg.co.uk/

News articles

E-bulletins

Latest news
Sent on 27 June, 2016

Gentoo

We’re a housing association that provides more than 60,000 people in Sunderland with a place they can call home. We’re a values driven organisation, with a clear vision, a social purpose and a commitment to investing in people, place and property. We believe everyone has the right to live in a good quality home they can afford and invest millions of pounds every year in keeping our existing homes safe, secure, and compliant.

We’re also playing our part in addressing the UK housing crisis locally, by building hundreds of new, modern and contemporary homes for rent in Sunderland – homes that meet the needs of local people. Not only do we provide vital housing – we support our tenants, residents and communities by investing in services that help people live their best possible life.

This includes helping people into work, victims of domestic abuse and anti-social behaviour, young people to live independently, as well as a wellbeing service that supports our elderly tenants and residents. We’re a Sunderland centric organisation and realise we can’t do everything on our own. We value partnerships and work alongside key city partners, such as Sunderland AFC, Sunderland City Council, University of Sunderland and Sunderland College, to ensure a vibrant, dynamic and healthy Sunderland.

Website: www.gentoogroup.com

Golding Homes

Golding Homes delivers affordable homes and services for over 20,000 people in and around the Maidstone, Medway, Ashford, Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge & Malling areas.

Golding Homes provides support for its residents to maximise their potential employment opportunities and improve their financial situation. They provide assistance for residents to access employment and training, increase their job prospects and maximise their income through work and benefits.

Golding Homes has helped more than 60,000 people into work since 2010.

Website: www.goldinghomes.org.uk/

Grand Union Housing Group

We’ve been providing affordable housing since 1994, following an initial stock transfer of 2,896 homes from Mid Beds District Council on 3 October that year.

Known then as Mid Beds Housing Association, we completed our first development scheme in Marston Moretaine the following year and moved into our Ampthill office in 1996.

In 1999 we changed our name to Aragon Housing Association and 12 months later MacIntyre Housing Association joined us as a charitable subsidiary providing homes for adults with learning disabilities.

We completed a second stock transfer of 3,100 homes from Mid Beds District Council in 2001.

Fast forward to 2006 when we were chosen by South Northants Council as its partner to form a new housing association, to be called South Northants Homes (SNH) to receive the transfer of 2,900 properties from its housing stock.

Following this transfer two years later on 17 March 2008, Grand Union Housing Group was formed, consisting of Aragon, MacIntyre and SNH.

By 2012 we had moved into new offices in Towcester and Cranfield, converted Aragon to charitable status, appointed our first apprentices, and opened our pioneering dementia care scheme, Flowers House, in Bletchley.

MacIntyre was officially absorbed into Aragon in 2016, and in November the following year, Rockingham Forest Housing (RFH) joined the Group.

On 1 October 2018 we officially unified, bringing Aragon, RFH and SNH together as Grand Union.

So we have now been in business for almost 25 years and provide 12,000 homes for more than 27,000 people across Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Hertfordshire. We’re a £73 million turnover social business with more than 300 staff.

Our mission is more homes, stronger communities, better lives. We build affordable homes, provide personal support and care, and help people to learn, work and be healthy.

We’re a financially stable and innovative not-for-profit organisation that believes in partnership and collaboration. We plan to build 1,500 more new homes by 2020.

Website: guhg.co.uk/

Great Places

Great Places manages 18,000 homes across 35 Local Authority areas across the north west and Yorkshire.

Their Great Opportunities team is dedicated to supporting residents into work and training.

It has a dedicated programme to meet the needs of Black and Ethnic Minority (BME) and new migrant communities and specific support for people wanting to pursue a career in the construction industry.

Website: www.greatplaces.org.uk/Pages/default.aspx

News articles

Guinness Partnership

With 65,000 homes across England, Guinness Partnership works in communities from Manchester to Cornwall, London to Liverpool.

Website: www.guinnesspartnership.com/

News articles

Case studies

HACT

HACT is committed to promoting ideas and innovation across the housing sector.
Communities that Work sit on the Advisory Group of HACT’s ‘Centre for Excellence in Community Investment’. Over 3 years, the Centre will provide a platform for promoting the importance of community investment both within and outside of the social housing sector; provide a mechanism for community investment professionals to share and develop their practice and ensure that community investment underpins housing providers as they evolve their services and relationships with their customers and communities.

Website: www.hact.org.uk/

Hexagon Housing Association

Most of our homes are self-contained, for single people or families, but we also have housing for people with extra support needs. A number of our homes are specially built or adapted for people with a disability.

About 150 of our homes are managed on our behalf by housing co-operatives – where the residents manage the homes and tenancies themselves – and by other housing groups.

We continue to improve our existing stock of properties by spending about a third of our rental income each year to meet the government’s Decent Homes Standard.

As well as rented properties, we also have about 270 shared ownership and leasehold properties. Shared ownership can be an affordable first step into home ownership at a time when property values are becoming unaffordable in the London area.

We are committed to increasing our stock of properties within the South East and are developing new schemes for letting and shared ownership every year. We have been proactive in securing additional government funding and have submitted bids for future developments that meet housing delivery targets.

Website: www.hexagon.org.uk/

Hyde Group

Hyde is a social business with around 50,000 homes in London and the South East.

Website: www.hyde-housing.co.uk/

News articles

E-bulletins

Latest news
Sent on 27 March, 2017

IEP

The IEP is the membership body for employability professionals. The IEP is dedicated to supporting the people who support others gain work, progress in work and retain work.

Their purpose is empowering individuals to perform to a professional standard. championing employability as a recognised profession, securing employer recognition and creating a network of opportunity.

“The Institute of Employability Professionals (IEP) is keen to engage and support all professionals working as Employability Practitioners within many different kinds of organisations. The work that Housing Associations, in particular, do is often holistic and has a great social purpose and we are committed to a partnership where we can bring our resources and support to an environment where Communities that Work Members support some of the most disadvantaged people in our society and where best practice and the sharing of inclusive partnerships is key to individual and community social change.”

Website: www.myiep.uk/

Industrial Dwellings Society 1885 Ltd (IDS)

IDS was established as the Four Per Cent Dwellings Company in 1885 by a group of Jewish philanthropists who hoped to relieve the overcrowding in homes in the East End of London.

In 1952, it became the Industrial Dwellings Society (1885) Ltd. You can read more about our history here.

Today, IDS manages around 1,500 properties in Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Camden, Haringey, Redbridge, Barnet and Hertsmere.

The housing stock includes flats, houses, sheltered housing, accommodation for people with special needs, as well as a number of shared ownership properties.

We currently employ over fifty staff, including residentially-based teams.

We have an on-going development portfolio, and enjoy enviable performance statistics in housing management and tenant satisfaction.

Our tenants are reflective of the general ethnic mix but we maintain strong links with Jewish communities and, in this respect, are regarded as a specialist housing provider.

Website: www.ids.org.uk/

Institute for Public Policy Research

IPPR is a registered charity and the UK’s pre-eminent progressive think tank. IPPR engages with the public, with opinion formers, and policymakers and politicians of all parties and none. In 2018, Communities that Work and IPPR worked with the Communities that Work membership and key stakeholders to produce new thinking and policy recommendations on ‘Building Communities that Work’.

Website: www.ippr.org/research/publications/building-communities-that-work

Karbon homes

Karbon provides homes and services which form the foundations for people and places to fulfil their potential. We believe that having a strong foundation enables people to develop the life they want.

As a housing association, we own or manage almost 30,000 properties across the North East of England and Yorkshire and develop more homes every year.

We provide social rented, affordable, specialised, shared ownership and market rented homes, and also develop shared ownership and market sale homes to meet our customers’ aspirations.

As a profit-for-a-purpose business, we invest any surplus we generate into improving our properties and communities, building new homes and delivering services which provide sustainable outcomes for our customers and communities.

We seek to provide a great customer experience, which is informed by insight, including engagement with current and future customers.

Website: www.karbonhomes.co.uk/

Learning and Work Institute (LWI)

LWI are an independent policy and research organisation dedicated to lifelong learning, full employment and inclusion. We bring together over 90 years of combined history and heritage from the ‘National Institute of Adult Continuing Education’ (NIACE) and the ‘Centre for Economic & Social Inclusion.

Website: www.learningandwork.org.uk/

Longhurst Group

One of the largest housing groups in the Midlands and East of England, Longhurst Group provides over 23,000 homes and delivers a wide range of care and support services.

Operating in 50 local authority areas, we have over 1,100 colleagues, 10 office bases and over 80 care and support locations.

Our customers are at the centre of everything we do and we intend to work even harder to identify what is most important to them and provide the support they need.

With a clear set of values that unite our Group, we put our customers first and work in collaboration with partners that share our ambition and vision to improve lives.

The Group already makes a positive difference to thousands of people’s lives, but we want to do even more.

That’s why we created our 2025 Improving Lives strategy; a long-term business plan that will guide the work we do over the next six years and beyond.

In May 2012, as part of the capital market issue and loan restructuring process, the Group established a special purpose funding arm to the business called Libra Treasury plc. This helps to help facilitate new borrowing arrangements.

We honour our promises and, in doing so, deliver homes and services with real social value.

Together, we tackle the challenging issues faced by our communities, focusing on delivering value-for-money to invest in homes and services that make a difference to the lives of the customers we serve.

Website:

Magenta Living

Based in Wirral, Magenta Living manages just under 18,000 homes.

As well as being the largest Registered Provider of Social Housing in Wirral, Magenta Living aims to improve the quality of life of local people, supporting, empowering and working in partnership with them to achieve more.
Working with partners, Magenta offer a wide ranging programme of courses to residents. During 2014/15, 398 residents completed 21 courses ranging from Educational English to cooking on a budget.
And under the name, ‘Jobs Jigsaw’ they run various activities that aim to increase employment, develop employability skills and develop enterprises in their communities.

Website: www.magentaliving.org.uk/

News articles

Case studies

Metropolitan Thames Valley

Metropolitan Thames Valley provides housing at different levels of affordability for people living in London, the South East, East Midlands and East of England.

We also offer a range of care and support services. Our specialist areas include older people, mental health and transitional services which provide intensive support to marginalised or vulnerable people.

We deliver training programmes, events and activities for our residents, designed to boost employment opportunities and foster stronger communities.

A member of the National Housing Federation and the g15 – which represents London’s largest housing associations – we are building more homes to address the national shortage of affordable housing.

In October 2018 likeminded housing associations Metropolitan and Thames Valley Housing formally completed a partnership to form Metropolitan Thames Valley. We came together because we want to improve the services we provide and do more in our communities. We’ll do this by listening to our customers and working alongside them.

Through the nature of our work, we believe we can develop ways of doing things differently that help tackle big social issues about where and how people live.

We believe everyone should have a home and the chance to live well.

Website: www.mtvh.co.uk

Monmouthshire Housing

Monmouthshire Housing Association (MHA) Ltd was established on 21st January 2008 to receive the housing stock of Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) through a large scale voluntary transfer. The Association is a new Industrial and Provident Society (IPS), managed by a voluntary board and an executive management team.

MHA’s main purpose is to provide and manage affordable homes in Monmouthshire for people who need them and to ensure all those homes meet the Welsh Housing Quality Standard and then are maintained at that standard. The Association manages and maintains around 3,600 homes and 270 leasehold properties, as well as large numbers of garages and other land around and within our estates.

Website: www.monmouthshirehousing.co.uk/

E-bulletins

Communities that Work Latest News – 23 April 2018
Sent on 23 April, 2018

National Housing Federation

The National Housing Federation is the voice of housing associations in England. Our vision is a country where everyone can live in a good quality home they can afford. Our members provide two and a half million homes for more than five million people. And each year they invest in a diverse range of neighbourhood projects that help create strong, vibrant communities. Communities that Work is working with the NHF on housing sector responses to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, a proposed successor fund to European Social Funds.

Website: www.housing.org.uk/about-us/

Newground, part of the Together Housing group

Newground CIC is an exciting social enterprise delivering professional services in a competitive marketplace.

But there’s one key difference between Newground and our private sector competitors. Instead of our profits going to shareholders, they are donated to the charity Newground Together and distributed in the form of grants to environmental and community projects, so by choosing Newground our customers are helping to drive positive social and environmental change.

Newground CIC is the wholly owned subsidiary of the charity Newground Together, a member of the Together Housing Group, a leading provider of quality affordable and modern homes for rent across the North of England.

Newground is accredited to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 ensuring we deliver quality services in a safe and sustainable way

Website: newground.co.uk/

E-bulletins

Communities that Work & Covid-19 update 27 April
Sent on 27 April, 2020

Notting Hill Genesis

We were Notting Hill Housing from 1963 to 2018, and have now merged with Genesis Housing Association to become Notting Hill Genesis. We’re a member of the G15 group of major housing providers in London and the south-east. Find out more on the Notting Hill Genesis website.

Website: www.nhhg.org.uk/about-us/

News articles

Nottingham City Homes

Nottingham City Homes provides just over 27,000 homes in the city of Nottingham.

Through the Tenant Academy, Nottingham City Homes offer a range of Employability courses including functional skills, work ready courses and how to start up a business.

Website: www.nottinghamcityhomes.org.uk/

News articles

East Midlands Housing and Employment Network launching
Published on 24 April, 2017

E-bulletins

Nottingham Community Housing Association

We are Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA); one of the largest locally-based housing groups in the East Midlands. We manage over 9,200 homes and house more than 20,000 tenants across the East Midlands in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland.

We employ over 1,000 members of staff, and have a commitment to training and apprenticeships. We offer fantastic staff benefits.

Our annual turnover is £69.2 million, and our properties are worth over £500 million. In 2013, we celebrated our 40th anniversary. At 44 years old, we are still going strong!

Website: www.ncha.org.uk/home

News articles

Welcome to our latest Communities that Work members
Published on 12 February, 2018

E-bulletins

Communities that Work Latest News – 12 February 2018
Sent on 12 February, 2018

One Housing Group

One Housing provides high quality homes and care. They manage over 15,000 homes across 27 London boroughs and surrounding counties and care for over 11,500 people to help them live independently.

One Housing works to make a positive difference to their residents’ lives by promoting aspiration, independence and well-being through a range of training and support services.

They help residents who are looking to improve their prospects of finding a job through dedicated employment advisors who keep people up to date with latest job opportunities, conduct custom job searches, and find work experience opportunities in conjunction with their partners.

They also carry out short courses and training.

Website: www.onehousinggroup.co.uk/

News articles

One Manchester

One Manchester owns and manages more than 12,000 homes in central, south and east Manchester.

As a housing association, they see their role as extending beyond simply providing homes and that they play an important role in ‘place-making’.

As part of that, One Manchester are committed to helping people to manage their money, find work and start up in business.

They offer customers a free service to help them get into work through skills development, experience and confidence boosting, offering advice and a wide range of training, work placements, self-employment and volunteering opportunities.

Website: www.onemanchester.co.uk

Optivo

Optivo is a new housing association formed in May 2017. It brings together the best of AmicusHorizon and Viridian Housing and is built on a shared commitment to building homes and communities that people love.

Website: www.optivo.org.uk/

Orbit Group

Orbit manages 39,000 homes and has around 100,000 customers. They work in the Midlands, the East and South East regions, and parts of London.

Orbit’s commitment to ‘building communities’ by making a difference where they work will see them invest some £3m in 2017 into providing advice, training and jobs to those most in need of a helping hand to achieve their aspirations.

Orbit’s Work Inspiration Programme supports their 2020 Vision, to provide 10,000 training and employment opportunities by 2020, through delivering positive, meaningful and quality experiences for people who are joining the working environment for the first time.

Website: www.orbit.org.uk/

News articles

Orbit Group start the year with Communities that Work
Published on 8 February, 2016

Orwell Housing

Orwell Housing Association was formed in 1963 in Ipswich, employing no staff and managing a handful of properties. Today, Orwell provides a range of services including housing, support and care services. We employ around 700 staff including relief and volunteers and manage approximately 4,000 homes for 7500+ residents.

Orwell occupies a refurbished Victorian building at 325 London Road, Ipswich, as our Registered Head Office and we also have a branch office in Lowestoft to cater for our tenants in the Waveney & Great Yarmouth areas.

Website: www.orwell-housing.co.uk/

PA Housing

We are a registered provider of social housing offering more than 23,000 homes across the Midlands, London and the South East with a range of housing solutions from affordable rent and independent living to shared ownership and outright sale for those in need.

Website: pahousing.co.uk/

Peabody Group

We’ve got over 150 years of experience and expertise. We strive to do things in a way that adds the most value for our residents and communities.

Following the merger with Family Mosaic in June 2017, the Peabody Group now owns and manages more than 55,000 homes across London and the South East, housing over 111,000 residents. We also have 8,000 care and support customers. We also run an extensive number of community programmes which are open to all Londoners.

Website: www.peabody.org.uk

News articles

50 members strong: Peabody joins the membership body for employment and housing
Published on 14 May, 2019

Plus Dane

We have more than 13,500 homes in ownership across Merseyside and Cheshire and employ over 500 people, with an asset value in excess of £570m.

We are proud members of the 5% Club with over 5% of our workforce made up of apprentices, graduate trainees or work placements.

We were successful in securing £10m from the Big Lottery Fund for a new project called Liverpool Waves of Hope, which will deliver support for people with multiple and complex needs in Liverpool. We were also named the Government’s Help to Buy Agent for the North West, building on our strong track record as a specialist in affordable home ownership which was recently extended to 2017.

Website: www.plusdane.co.uk/

News articles

Welcome to our latest Communities that Work members
Published on 12 February, 2018

E-bulletins

Communities that Work Latest News – 12 February 2018
Sent on 12 February, 2018

Shepherds Bush Housing Group

Shepherds Bush Housing Group has around 5000 homes throughout west London. As well as providing homes, they are committed to investing in people and places.

Their Best Chance programme offers support into employment, education or training for their residents and the wider community. They also provide volunteering opportunities and apprenticeships to help people enhance their skills and experience.

In 2015/17, SBHG provided 20 apprentices with two years experience, supported 91 volunteers and helped 65 people to find and prepare for work.

Website: www.sbhg.co.uk/

News articles

Six Town Housing

Six Town Housing is an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO), which was set up in 2005 to manage the housing stock owned by Bury Council. We provide a wide range of services to around 8000 homes in Bury and aspire to deliver great services that improve the quality of your home and neighbourhood.

Website: www.sixtownhousing.org/

E-bulletins

Communities that Work Latest News – 17 June 2019
Sent on 17 June, 2019

Soha Housing

Soha Housing is a successful, award-winning, community-based housing association working in and around Oxfordshire. We are a mutualised organisation meaning that members can get involved, influence decisions and shape the future of Soha Housing.

We’re passionate about what we do and work together with our residents to make sure we provide the very best customer service. We believe in excellent, local housing management and building strong and sustainable communities.

We have over 6,700 homes in and around South Oxfordshire and offer a variety of housing types for people at different stages of their lives – rented homes, shared ownership for first-time buyers and sheltered or extra care housing for older people.

We’re financially robust and our performance against the tough targets we set ourselves, remains high. We have the top ratings for Governance and Financial Viability from the Regulator of Social Housing.

We plan to continue to keep growing our business in a responsible and sustainable way. We have an ambition to deliver targetted community investment to make a lasting impact in our neighbourhoods.

Website: www.soha.co.uk/

Southern Housing Group

One of southern England’s largest housing associations, Southern Housing Group provides homes for more than 67,000 people.

Southern’s Community Investment Team works with local communities and partner organisations to develop communities and create opportunities for residents, including supporting residents into employment or training.

Their dedicated programme – Southern Works – helps both unemployed and employed people with:
• CVs, application forms and job searching
• Interview skills, confidence building and improving motivation
• Finding work placements and voluntary experience
• Training and education opportunities
• Accessing job vacancies and apprenticeships
• Support to apply for funding for employment and training related activities

Website: www.shgroup.org.uk/

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Communities that Work Latest News – 21 October 2019
Sent on 21 October, 2019

Sovereign

Sovereign provides over 55,000 affordable homes across the south and south west of England and the Isle of Wight.

As part of their work to provide Great Homes and Great Communities, every year Sovereign aims to support 500 residents towards employment and training with 150 of those securing jobs and one third taking up training or voluntary work. Sovereign also runs a successful apprenticeship scheme, giving more than 30 people each year the chance to kick-start their career.

Website: www.sovereign.org.uk/

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Stockport Homes

Stockport Homes was formed in 2005, to manage housing stock across Stockport on behalf of Stockport Council. As a limited company, we operate as an ALMO which is an ‘Arm’s length management organisation’, so whilst the company is owned by the Council, we operate independently on day-to-day matters and delivering services to our customers.

We are looking forward to the future, having signed a brand new management agreement with the Council in 2015, we will be continuing to manage homes and transform lives until 2042.

During 2016 we extended our services, through a new trading company ‘Three Sixty’ and a development company ‘Viaduct’ – the new companies mark an exciting period of growth for us along with bringing in new staff members and services under the ‘Stockport Homes Group’ umbrella.

Website: www.stockporthomes.org

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Communities that Work Latest News – 11 February 2019
Sent on 11 February, 2019

The Octavia Foundation

The Octavia Foundation was set up by Octavia who look after 4,4000 homes in central London. The foundation connects people affected by unemployment, ill health, social isolation or low incomes in central and west London with opportunities for positive personal change.

Each year, they support hundreds of local people with training and employment advice through workshops, drop-in sessions, one-to-one support, volunteering opportunities, work placements and apprenticeships.

An example is their Learn2Earn project: a 12 week employability and volunteer programme devised to help residents of Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, and Hammersmith and Fulham who are finding it difficult to access employment and volunteering opportunities.

Website: www.octaviafoundation.org.uk/

News articles

The Wrekin Housing Group

The Wrekin Housing Group is a socially minded organisation that prides itself on making a difference to people’s lives, we do this by:

Providing over 13,000 homes for affordable rent and low cost home ownership across Shropshire, Staffordshire and Telford & Wrekin.
Delivering innovative care solutions ranging from domiciliary care for the elderly to supported housing and care for adults with learning difficulties, as well as dementia nursing care.
Channelling social investment in to communities, generating opportunities for people to gain employability skills, and offering advice on social enterprise.

Now one of the largest social housing providers in the West Midlands we were established in 1999 following a large scale voluntary transfer of housing stock from Telford and Wrekin Council. The evolution of our care provision can be traced back to the early 1990s following a reorganisation of services in Staffordshire.

Our housing stock and other services cover rural and town locations and includes everything from apartments in well-established residential areas and family homes in both rural and town locations to supported housing and extra care accommodation across the two counties.

Our customers are served by a network of area offices, retail premises and other locations in Telford, across Shropshire and in Stafford. Housing customers also benefit from a full repairs and maintenance service offered by our award winning maintenance teams and our in-house gas team.

We work in partnership with our customers, involving them in decisions about our operations, management and services. This enables us to continuously improve performance and make sure that we provide customers with high quality services.

At Wrekin we provide our staff with extensive development opportunities ensuring all employees ongoing training and career development. We have been accredited under the Investors in People scheme since 2004.

Website: www.wrekin.com/

Thirteen

Thirteen is a group of housing associations which together own and manage more than 32,000 homes in an area spanning North Tyneside to York.

Their partner organisations carry out a range of work to support employment and training in their communities.

For example, Tees Valley Housing’s New Directions service works with young people and businesses across Teesside to successfully match young people with jobs, traineeships, apprenticeships, training and work placements.
The services aims to help young people and businesses:
• find quality information, advice and guidance about jobs, training and education
• find mentoring and support to plan a way into work or training
• develop the skills that businesses need
• overcome barriers to getting a job or training.

Website: www.thirteengroup.co.uk/

Torus Foundation

Torus Foundation is the charitable arm of Torus, the largest social homes provider in the North West with over 40,000 homes.

Torus is unlocking potential by reinvesting profits into Torus Foundation, enabling the charity to empower tenants and the wider communities across Liverpool, St Helens and Warrington.

Torus foundation works with key partners to deliver a comprehensive range of projects covering employment and training, health and wellbeing, financial and digital inclusion and youth engagement.

In 2018/19 Torus Foundation:
• Support 634 people into work
• Enabled 1919 training courses to be completed
• Organised 246 work placements and volunteer places
• Delivered digital sessions to 521 people, enhancing employability and their online confidence

Website: torusfoundation.org.uk/

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Latest news
Sent on 5 September, 2016

University of Salford, SHUSU

SHUSU is a multidisciplinary research group at the University of Salford.
It seeks to understand complex social issues and work towards social justice, and they are actively engaged in research that highlights the processes, outcomes and impacts of marginalisation on individuals and communities. Communities that Work and SHUSU are now working together on research into the impact of employment services in housing.

Website: www.salford.ac.uk/research/care/research-groups/shusu

Vestia Community Trust (Part of The Community Housing Group)

Vestia Community Trust is a subsidiary of The Community Housing Group. It was established in 2010 to bring together the Group’s community activity with a clear focus on improving the lives of individuals, families and communities.

A key part of the Vestia Community Trust’s work is supporting people into education and employment. Their Job Coaches provide training, writing, job-search and interview skills, life skills and career counselling, work experience placements, the marketing of skills to local employers and post-employment support when they start work.

Vestia have launched a website – Fusion (www.fusionworcs.co.uk). Partners who have come together to bid for and deliver BBO – led by county social housing partners and supported by VCS.

This press release gives a quick / concise overview of it all. There is a video of BBO participants (from year one) on the homepage slider, scroll across to watch (only 6 mins long) – www.fusionworcs.co.uk

Website: www.vestia.org.uk/

News articles

US inspired Jobs-Plus builds opportunity for UK social housing tenants
Published on 26 July, 2016

Case studies

Vivid Homes

VIVID is one of the largest housing associations in Hampshire, managing around 30,000 homes across the county.

Our business plan is very strong, setting out how we will play a part in solving the housing crisis through development of new homes whilst maintaining a high level of service to our customers. Through innovation and efficiency, we’ll use our financial capacity to grow the business, adopting a more commercial focus to drive performance.

To meet our aims, we’ll work with a range of funders to ensure we have the right mix of funding which is cost-effectively structured to provide the necessary investment funds and maintain liquidity. This includes an appropriate mix of bond and bank finance.

Website: www.vividhomes.co.uk/

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Communities that Work Latest News – 23 April 2018
Sent on 23 April, 2018

Walsall Housing Group

Walsall Housing Group owns and manages around 20,000 properties across Walsall providing affordable, good quality homes and community-based services to the local community.

WHG works in partnership with MyWorkSearch to provide a free service to its customers who are looking for a job, offering
• a step by step process to build your CV
• job opportunities from thousands of job boards and career sites, updated daily
• over 130 free interactive e-learning modules, videos, exercises and documents
• live interactive web training

Website: www.whg.uk.com/

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Click Starting Your Way To Financial Literacy In The Digital Age
Occurred on 25 November, 2016

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Communities that Work Latest News – 23 April 2018
Sent on 23 April, 2018

Wandle Housing Association

Founded in 1967 as the Merton Family Housing Trust, Wandle has since grown into an organisation with over 7,000 homes across nine south London boroughs.

As well as providing homes for rent, shared ownership, outright sale, and supported housing they invest in communities to provide opportunities for residents who want to achieve goals and reach their potential.

Website: www.wandle.com/

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Latest news
Sent on 5 September, 2016

Weaver Vale Housing Trust

Weaver Vale Housing Trust is a Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) housing association, formed in July 2002, operating in Cheshire. We are an independent organisation with a clear vision for our future which places our customers at the heart of all we do.

The Trust owns over 6100 homes, a large portfolio of garages, 36 shops, 11 community play areas and a variety of green open spaces. The Trust has invested significantly in its assets, services and the communities in which it works to support their sustainability, as well as improve outcomes and life chances for our customers.

Our portfolio of homes is both diverse in type and location, spread across a relatively large geographical area of Cheshire. Ranging from new build shared ownership homes in towns to more mature homes in larger estates and independent living schemes, as well as homes in more rural areas. This diversity brings with it a varied customer base, with a broad range of expectations and aspirations.

We are a Sunday Times Top 100 company to work for, having retained this listing for an 10th consecutive year. In 2019 we reached number 22 in the listing and also achieved the accolade of a 2 star ‘Best Company’ to work for.

Website: www.wvht.co.uk

West Kent

They want to contribute to Kent being a prosperous, strong and sustainable society; a place of opportunity for all; where people can plan for their futures.

West Kent supports residents to improve their skills and employment prospects.

Their Training and Employment Officer helps residents with CVs and application forms, to find volunteering roles and work placements. They also organise training courses and workshops and manage partnerships with other organisations and charities who are there to help.

Website: www.westkent.org/

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Swanley’s summer P.U.B.S.

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Introduction to Communities that Work
Occurred on 31 August, 2016

Wythenshawe Community Housing Group

Wythenshawe Community Housing Group was formed on 1st April 2013 following a new group structure of Willow Park Housing Trust and Parkway Green Housing Trust.

This group structure has created a combined stock of almost 14,000 properties, providing homes to more than 20,000 people across Wythenshawe, Manchester and a projected annual turnover of £61 million per year.

The new organisation has built on the existing strengths of both companies and will enable the preservation of high quality community services and continued investment in the local area.

Website: www.wchg.org.uk/

Yorkshire Housing

Yorkshire Housing provide more than 18,000 affordable homes across Yorkshire, and employ over 800 people from across the region. The Yorkshire Housing Group was created in 2008 and today the landlord provides homes and services to thousands of families across the region.

Employment and training is at the heart of Yorkshire Housing’s ambition for everyone to have the opportunity to live in a quality home they can afford, and to ensure customers maintain their independence and have the help needed to succeed.

Yorkshire Housing has a strong track record in supporting over 350 customers over the last two years and aims to achieve £10m worth of Social Value through community investment activities.

Yorkshire Housing’s community investment manager, James Haigh, explains: “Yorkshire Housing’s strategic focus is to enable people to be independent and succeed in whatever they do. Over the next three years, we’re planning to help 1,000 customers into training and employment.

“A key part of this work is to help customers and sustain their tenancies, and with Communities that Work and the network of other housing organisations we can create new opportunities for our customers and communities.”

Website: www.yorkshirehousing.co.uk/

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Latest news
Sent on 27 March, 2017

Your Housing

With more than 28,000 homes across the North West, Yorkshire and the Midlands, the business has a large and diverse portfolio.

These range from general properties for social and affordable rent, through to retirement living developments and innovative private rental offers such as Hive. Widely regarded for its expertise in regeneration, Your Housing Group prides itself on providing homes which help people to live independently and on enabling people to get on and off the property ladder at different stages of their lives. With a pioneering, creative workforce, we are working efficiently and effectively to build as many quality homes as possible to play our part in solving the national housing crisis.

Website: www.yourhousinggroup.co.uk/

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