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Transforming Homes, Lives & Communities

Ensuring that we continue to provide our services has not been without it’s challenges, and I am incredibly proud of how our colleagues and communities have come together to support one another at this difficult time.
I do hope that you enjoy this year’s Customer Annual Report, with your support we can continue to ‘Transform Homes, Lives & Communities'.

As we find ourselves in these turbulent times, it is more important than ever that we keep our customers informed. We are excited to provide you with our annual report digitally this year, in the form of a website that has been created by our tenants, for our tenants.
So, sit back, relax and enjoy our annual report with a cup of tea. We thank you for your support, feedback and for the positive impacts that you have upon the communities that you live in.
Transforming Homes
Part of our mission is to transform homes in our region by delivering desirable properties that are energy-efficient, safe and secure, meeting people’s needs and exceeding their expectations. We know how important your home is to you and you can expect your home to be good quality, well maintained, safe and well managed.
During 2019/20, we are proud to have provided 139 brand new homes for rent and shared ownership and our investment programme has delivered 73 new kitchens and 160 new bathrooms. We also repaired 133 new roofs and completed 11,451 repairs and are delighted to report that 93% of our customers were satisfied with our overall service.
Keeping customers safe is our absolute priority and during the year, our Health & Safety Team were awarded with a President’s Awards for 10 consecutive Golds in the internationally renowned RoSPA Health and Safety Awards. This is a fantastic accomplishment and recognises our practices and achievements in helping our customers, colleagues and contractors stay safe.
Take a look at how we transformed homes in 2019/20 below.

Transforming Lives
We are driven to make a difference to people’s lives and reduce homelessness in our region and our customers are truly at the heart of everything that we do here. We are thrilled to be working closely with the National Housing Federation as early adopters of their Together with Tenants campaign. This campaign will ensure that customer voices are heard and utilised to help to shape the future services that you need.
We transform lives by providing our customers with opportunities to reach their full potential and make them feel part of their communities. We are more than just a landlord and our dedicated Tenancy Sustainment Team help our customers to sustain their tenancy with us. They offer help and guidance with employment, budgeting advice, occupational therapy and mental health support. They also work closely with local agencies such as MIND and Citizens Advice to ensure that our customers get the best services available.
In February 2020, we were hit with the devastating effects of Storm Dennis, which resulted in 20 of our properties being flooded and in September 2019, our Housing First project began.
Take a look at how we transformed lives in 2019/20 below.
A dedicated in-house team was assembled to assist all flood victims while repair work was on-going and to support moves back into their homes. The whole community came together to support our customers, our volunteers distributed donated furniture and a local carpet shop also donated rugs, which was a huge help to those who were unable to replace their belongings. We are pleased to confirm that all our flood victims have now been re-homed as of 31st August 2020.

In the beginning, three individuals were identified by Housing Options at East Staffordshire Borough Council and Burton YMCA. The first step for our support worker was to search the streets to try and locate these three individuals, by no means an easy task. Through local services such as soup kitchens, charities and talking to people within the homeless community, they were able to find where they were sleeping.
Once they were located, the next step for our support worker was to gain their trust. This was achieved through regular conversations. With no access to a mobile phone, our support worker had to actively search for these individuals on the streets of Burton each time they wanted to speak with them. Over time this persistence paid off and she was able to develop a trusting relationship with each of the three people. It was the early morning walks that led to our support worker finding two more individuals to join the Housing First Project, bringing the total to five.
Once our support worker had built upon the relationships, the next step was to help them to prepare for a tenancy with Trent & Dove. This included assisting the individuals to obtain necessary forms of identification, starting up a bank account and applying for Universal Credit. With the necessary information and accounts in place, our support worker was able to work closely with Trent & Dove’s lettings team to find properties that suited their individual needs. Once suitable homes were found the project didn’t stop there, it was just getting started with what is potentially the hardest phase. Once the individuals were moved into their new homes our support worker then began the task of maintaining regular contact. This is to ensure that they receive the support they need in order to sustain their tenancy and reintegrate into the community.
Employment | Helping our customers get back into work
There are lots of reasons why someone may be out of work and we know that finding employment can be tough. Our work programmes help people to find work and gain the skills many employers are looking for. During 2019/20 we helped 15 people into sustained employment, a figure we are really proud of. Whether you’re someone who has been out of work for a long time or recently left education, our employment and “DAVE” programme can help you to improve your CV, assist you with application forms, provide upskill through training courses and qualifications, provide interview skills and much more. Take a look at how our employment services have helped to transform lives over the past year, below.
Transforming Communities
We encourage our communities to thrive in neighbourhoods that are safe, clean, enjoyable places where our customers are proud to live and work. Our dedicated project coordinators and volunteers have helped to transform our communities over the past year by keeping neighbourhoods clean and tidy and our resident involvement groups have provided much needed funding to help their communities.
Men in Sheds have helped to tackle loneliness over the past year and have produced some fantastic woodwork that is proudly displayed in their community, read more about their project below.
The Federation of Residents Associations have the opportunity to influence decision making in their communities and hold informal meetings at different times during the day or evening. Each group has a budget which supports them to deliver a range of activities and take on small scale neighbourhood improvements. There are residents’ associations in Mayfield and Rocester, Tutbury, Waterside and Edgehill, Winshill, Horninglow and Burton. Take a look at what they spent their funding on to help their communities during 2019/20, below.
Volunteering
Our volunteers are extremely valuable to us and no job is too small. During 2019/20 our volunteers have committed to 8,371 hours, with 16 volunteers regularly working with our Community Project Teams. They have improved our communities by providing a provision of garden services such as; landscaping support for community gardens and projects, clearing of gardens at empty properties and for tenants who are not able to look after their own gardens and small-scale grounds maintenance works. Take a look at the chart below to see what projects our volunteering team completed in 2019/20.

Type of work for volunteers
- 1% Day to day support
- 9% Estate management - communal
- 7% Estate management - waste removal
- 12% Furniture project - Collect
- 14% Furniture project - Deliver
- 18% Garden clearance
- 12% General day-to-day
- 3% Hedge trimming
- 2% Moving existing tenants to new properties
- 22% Emptying of properties and gardens
The ethos of Men in Sheds is to bring people together and reduce isolation and loneliness through woodworking. It is so much more than just creating things, it is about supporting peoples’ mental health, giving people an opportunity to “escape” for a few hours, meet new people, share skills and gain confidence and increase self-esteem.
The funding from Trent & Dove has helped Men in Sheds to continue their fantastic work. They make all sorts of lovely things that they sell at craft fairs and they do commissions for local projects. They have made benches for local community gardens and sheltered housing schemes, bird boxes, bird feeders, garden plants and much more!

The young people involved had a great mix of skills and five of them went on to participating in work experience opportunities within Trent & Dove, joining our Tenancy Services and Lettings teams, Supported Housing, Communications and Community Engagement teams. We were pleased to have them working alongside us and hope that the experience has given them an idea of potential career pathways.

Federation funding bids successfully awarded in 2019/20 total over £26,000!
The Mayfield and Rocester Neighbourhood Association (MARNA) is working on a number of environmental improvement projects in Mayfield. The first stage of this is an outdoor gym which will promote sport and healthy living in Mayfield linking football training and playing with community outdoor fitness training.
The community has carefully selected 6 pieces of equipment through a consultation program for the benefit of the whole community with a specific focus on young people, from the age of 14 as well as disabled and older parishioners. Benefits include muscle strength, cardio fitness, flexibility, balance and co-ordination; as well as a huge sense of achievement and an enormous amount of fun.
Burton Albion Community Trust (BACT) received Trent & Dove funding for a local volunteer Team to attend an educational visit to Ghana. The trip aims to raise funds for BACT, whilst supporting African Adventures’ partner projects in Ghana and providing local people with a life-changing experience. Monies raised will enable BACT to continue support work within the local community, working with people in disadvantaged areas and communities within East Staffordshire.
Winshill Together is a local Residents Association, they have used funding to provide many activities for the local community such as: school holiday activities, play days, themed community events, craft sessions, a summer trip to the coast, a community fun day, Christmas parties and community carol concert as well as weekly lunches, dinners and snack attack sessions for children and teenagers.
Funding has been provided also to Winshill Neighbourhood Resource Centre, which is a community interest company providing a diary of activities and support for the local community.
Funding has been provided to “Coffeecom” a community café providing low cost healthy meals and a safe space to meet and chat.
The Newstart Project has received funding to offers families in the area an opportunity to purchase good quality clothing, household items, games and toys from a shop unit on Hawfield Lane. All groups have planned a schedule of events for the full year to address need in the community and ensure that gaps of isolation and food poverty are met.
Belvedere Park Junior Football Club aims to provide a safe environment and opportunity for children to develop. There is a focus on providing healthy outdoor activities and life lessons of respect, teamwork, development, enjoyment, focus and fulfilment. The club has at its core an aim to take children from early years to give them something to ‘hold on to’ developing in to a team structure from u7s through to Youth level with an opportunity to gain a career in sport with the links to Burton Albion, Derby County, BSDC & St Georges Park.
It provides the opportunity to obtain Coaching badges & provide a pathway to employment. The club revealed a partnership with Nike as one of 250 Partner Clubs throughout the UK. There have been opportunities such as attending Nike only Coaching sessions run by the likes of England Manager Gareth Southgate.
The Children’s Safety Education Foundation provide the following schools with educational resources; – 1) Winshill Village Primary School, 2) Richard Wakefield Primary School, 3) Anglesey Primary School, 4) Eaton Park Junior School, 5) Paulet High School.
Trent & Dove funding has helped to provide approximately 1200 (9-16-year olds) with a bespoke education programmes delivered by Teachers across each of the five schools as part of their PSHE (Personal, Social, Health, Education) programme to inspire young people to lead healthy lifestyles and to make the most of their potential and become good responsible citizens across 3 programmes:
Will Power Programme
– Promotes responsible citizenship values
– Increases self-esteem and confidence to help maximise personal potential
– Be healthy, i.e. enjoy good physical and mental health lifestyle
– Develop the understanding skills, abilities, attitudes necessary for emotional well-being
Respect Programme
– Identifies what constitutes anti-social behaviour and understand the effect it has on others.
– Explores unconsidered impact of anti-social behaviour on the wider community.
– Identifies the dangers and consequences associated with illegal and dangerous substances.
– Enhances the opportunity for young people to thrive in a safe and caring environment through guiding them to be the confidential, articulate, skilled citizens.
Money Wise Programme
– How to manage money
– Become a critical consumer
– Manage risks and emotions associated with money
– Students will be able to acquire the skills, knowledge and mind-sets that will help them thrive in the future that no-one can predict.
– Through utilising the programme young people will learn how to understand the need for a budget and impact debt can have on their lives.
– The need to budget for themselves and looking at bank accounts and the need for safe banking.
Funding provided to a Trent & Dove Independent Living Scheme to provide residents with a programme of events and facilities to reduce social isolation, integrate residents with the wider community and provide an active and stimulating environment at Dove Court.
The Eaton Foundation is a registered UK charity serving East Staffordshire, owning the first male mental health and wellbeing centre in the country. The charity supports adult men over the age of 18 with complex needs. They support men in a whole-person approach with their offending, dependency, homelessness, poverty, mental health needs and long term unemployment. When men access their service, they instantly get access to their unique holistic support package which includes help with their debts and finances, help with their qualifications and skills, help with their emotional wellbeing and mental health, help with their housing needs and practical requirements.
Funding from Trent & Dove has provided a dedicated point of contact at the Eaton Foundation specifically for Trent and Dove Clients.
Horninglow Learning Centre and Community Hub provides IT training and technical support directly to the local community of Horninglow. The Trent & Dove funding has helped to make residents more digitally engaged, confident, raising self esteem, and increasing the chance of better opportunities to move forward into employment.
Short St Café is entirely run by tenants who volunteer their own time to operate the café and run community events. Food hygiene certificates have been attained by all of the volunteers and an inspection of the café achieved a Food Hygiene Rating score of 5 in compliance with food safety legislation. Trent & Dove funding has helped the café to offer an environment where tenants have a safe space to meet, and also provides an opportunity to open up lines of communication with Trent & Dove officers. Members of the Welfare Reform Team have offered open surgeries providing advice on Universal Credit and being accessible to tenants for tenancy related enquiries.
Lunches and afternoon tea have been provided at low cost to elderly residents which for many are the only opportunity for them to leave their home and to spend some time with other residents in the area.
A variety of community events are delivered throughout the year which are aimed at all members of the community including seasonal and themed activities, summer fun days, craft sessions and Christmas parties. Fortnightly craft sessions after school provide an opportunity for children to spend focused time together at the end of the school day while receiving a hot meal for a nominal cost.
The Young Persons Fund is awarded to young people who have emerged through challenging times to participate in programmes and projects that have enhanced their personal learning and experience while providing benefit to a local community. The award supports a young person to continue to achieve and experience life skills and opportunities as a result of their drive and determination.
Financial Performance
Where our money came from
- 67% Lettings £26.5m
- 12% Borrowings £5m
- 10% Property Sales £4.0m
- 6% Grants £2.5m
- 2% Support Activities £0.8m
- 3% Service Charges £1.0m
How we spent our money
- 47% Building new homes £20.8m
- 15% Repairs & Maintenance £6.7m
- 13% Management & Overheads £5.8m
- 10% Loan interest £4.5m
- 9% Improving properties £3.7m
- 6% Services & support £2.5m