Work begins on £5m Albion Road housing development

Port of Leith’s excellent inspection

Port of Leith Housing Association receives glowing praise from Care Inspectorate

Port of Leith Housing Association’s (PoLHA) sheltered housing complexes have been classified as ‘excellent’ by the Care Inspectorate for the quality of care and support to their 131 residents.

Findings from the Care Inspection report issued this week revealed that the sheltered housing complexes in the Leith area of Edinburgh – Hermitage Court, St Nicholas Court and Jameson Place – were awarded a grade six (excellent) for ensuringthat residents’ health and wellbeing needs are well catered for. Helping people stay well in their tenancy is a priority for staff and the benefits of an active and healthy lifestyle were recognised through exercise classes, coffee mornings and charity fundraising events.

Following a ‘short notice’ inspection, follow on visits and attendance at tenants’ meetings over a four week period, a series of service records, including evidence of activities and social events, newsletters and supervision and development, were sampled to enable the inspector to review the work being done and deliver a grade.

In addition, 40 per cent of tenants were issued care standards questionnaires. Of the 29 completed questionnaires, 100 per cent were happy with the quality of support they received.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of PoLHA, said: “This is a tremendous achievement. We are delighted to have been awarded a grade six for the level of care and services our staff provide. We are committed to delivering the best possible care for our residents and the staff do a wonderful job in ensuring their needs are met are at all times.”

The Association was also awarded a grade five (very good) for the quality of staffing, management and leadership.

Maureen Tait, PoLHA’sSenior Sheltered Housing Co-ordinator, said: “We’re delighted to have been recognised for our efforts. We strive to make our tenants feel comfortable and ‘at home’ while they stay with us. Many residents still like to have their own independence, but also be part of a close-knit team, which is why they enjoy getting on board with our fundraising activities.”

Port of Leith’s bean busy supporting charity coffee morning

Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) has raised nearly £1300 for Macmillan Cancer Support. PoLHA’s sheltered housing developments at St Nicholas Court in Ferry Road and Hermitage Court in Academy Park in Leith hosted events for their residents and locals as part of the charity’s ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ initiative.

Around thirty people attended Hermitage Court’s light lunch and over forty people enjoyed the delights of home-made soup, home bake sale and raffle at St Nicholas Court. The complexes raised a very tasty £1087 between them, and a staff coffee morning at PoLHA’s Constitution Street office raised a further £209!

Maureen Tait, Senior Sheltered Housing Coordinator for PoLHA who manages St Nicholas Court, said: “We are delighted so many people came along to help makes the coffee mornings a success. Without their generosity we would not have been able to raise such a vast amount of money to this fantastic cause.”

LEIPing for joy! Community funding for Leith youth project

LEITH COMMUNITY PROJECT AWARDED FUNDING

A Leith community project has been awarded nearly £72,000. Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) secured funds for Leith Early Intervention Project (LEIP) from the Scottish Government’s People and Communities Fund.

The partnership project – between Pilmeny Development Project, YMCA Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders Police, PoLHA and local schools – will receive £71,258 over the next two years.

The funds will provide early intervention and capacity building to give support to at least 190 young people excluded from generic youth work provision, and who are at risk of offending or are already offending.

Anne Munro, Project Manager for Pilmeny Development Project, said: “We are delighted to have received this funding as it will go towards providing effective intervention for young people via a tailored programme of street work, weekly drop in youth work, a mentoring service and opportunities to use and develop skills and experience through volunteering.”

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive at PoLHA, said: “LEIP is a fantastic initiative and I am delighted we have been able to support them through access to the Scottish Government’s People and Communities Fund.”

Affordable housing development opens in Lindsay Road

The latest affordable homes – and the first mixed-tenure development – by Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) and its subsidiary Persevere Developments Ltd, has been officially opened.

Councillor Andrew Burns, Leader for the City of Edinburgh Council, welcomed 111 households to a block of new, high-quality properties in Lindsay Road, making a significant impact in the regeneration of the area.

The £13.6 million waterfront development, compromising 58 social rent and 53 mid-market rent (MMR) properties, contains a wide range of housing types from one bedroom through to four bedroom apartments.

Features include car parking for 29 spaces and a communal landscaped garden area. Solar thermal panels located on the roof will provide hot water for a number of properties with condensing gas boilers supplying heating and hot water.

Councillor Burns said: “This is a fantastic development, forming an integral part of North Edinburgh’s regeneration. It is vital that we tackle the city’s shortage of affordable homes and projects like this are an important step in the right direction.

“The success of this project is testament to the partnership working between the Council, housing associations, Forth Ports and the community – a model that will continue to use in order to provide much-needed homes but also to create jobs and boost the local economy.”

This is the second affordable housing project within the Western Harbour development on Edinburgh’s waterfront, the first being Goosander Place completed in May 2010.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive at PoLHA, said: “This is our second affordable housing development in Western Harbour and complements our existing mix through Leith and North Edinburgh.

“Much-needed, high-quality, affordable housing for local people to buy and rent is at the top of our agenda and we’re pleased to be able to offer both social and MMR properties. MMR is a new type of tenure to help households on modest incomes to rent high quality accommodation at an affordable level.”

PoLHA worked closely with the Scottish Government and City of Edinburgh Council which allocated £6.4 million of grant monies for the development. An additional £7.2 million was funded through private finance raised by the Association.

Council leader Andrew Burns is pictured with PoLHA Chief Executive Keith Anderson, PoLHA Chairperson Jack Hunter and Councillor Eric Milligan at Friday’s event

Sunshine on Leith (fingers crossed!) for Summer Fayre

Port of Leith Housing Association’s St Nicholas Court residents are hosting their annual Summer Fayre this Saturday (27 July) from 12pm and 2pm at their sheltered housing complex on Ferry Road.

The fayre is an integral part of the social calendar, which has been celebrated for over 15 years, and the money raised goes towards day trips and activities for the elderly residents toenjoy.

Some of the attractions include face painting for children, live music, barbeque, refreshments, book stall, tombola stall and raffle prizes – entry is just 50p.

Maureen TaitSenior Sheltered Housing Co-ordinator with PoLHA, said: “Our Summer Fayre is one of the main highlights in our social calendar for our residents as it’s such a wonderful, fun-filled day. Lots of planning goes into the event and the residents really get on board. It is a very important event to us as it helps to raise vital money for our social fund. It means that we can organise day trips, keep-fit classes and other treats for our residents.”

TPAS award for Port of Leith Housing

Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) is celebrating after becoming the first community-based housing associaiton in Edinburgh to achieve TPAS accreditation – marking it as one of the most innovative and tenant focused organisations in the country.

TPAS Accreditation is awarded by the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) to social landlords that go the extra mile to involve their customers in the shaping of services, and TPAS were particularly impressed by what they saw at Port of Leith. TPAS was also impressed at the range of PoLHA’s traditional engagement techniques, including the recent successful welfare reform information day, quarterly Port Call newsletter and registered tenant organisation consultation.

Lesley Baird, Chief Executive of TPAS Scotland, explained that PoLHA has fostered a real partnership with its customers. Lesley said: “We’ve been impressed by the way Port of Leith works together with its customers to set standards and scrutinise services. Their hard work has established a framework for involving tenants in self-assessment and measuring performance that others in the sector can learn from.”

PoLHA provides affordable rented housing throughout Leith and north of the city. It has created a range of opportunities for tenants and residents to get involved and influence the way services are provided. These range from community events to formal processes for tenants to influence decisions about housing services and investment, either as individuals or in formal groups.

Following a thorough consultation process, PoLHA has developed a Customer Charter to enhance assessment and scrutiny of services. The charter reflects the standards of the Scottish Social Housing Charter, whilst also factoring in important local priorities. It also sets service standards, outlines activities to achieve them and explains how performance will be measured. To ensure tenants are involved in the process, PoLHA also carries out mystery shopping in order to test services and facilitated a range of customer service reviews.

PoLHA Chief Executive Keith Anderson said: “Port of Leith Housing Association is committed to serving its tenants and we are delighted to receive this honour. To be the first community – based housing association in Edinburgh to be recognised for its achievements is testament to the hard work and efforts put in by our staff working in partnership with our tenants.”

Pictured (Left -Right): PoLHA Chairman Jack Hunter, TPAS Scotland Chief Executive Lesley Baird and Keith Anderson, PoLHA Chief Executive

Port of Leith signs up to Living Wage scheme

Port of Leith Housing Association has committed to setting its basic starting salary level at the national Living Wage standard of £7.45 per hour – 20% above the current minimum wage level set by the UK Government.

The Association has committed to the voluntary scheme run by the Living Wage Foundation in which living wage level is calculated by the Centre for Research in Social Policy according to the basic cost of living in the UK, with the hourly rate updated annually.

Research has shown that the Living Wage benefits both organisations and individuals. An independent study revealed that more than 80% of employers believe that the Living Wage had enhanced the quality of the work of their staff, while absenteeism had fallen by approximately 25%.

And half of employees felt that the Living Wage had made them more willing to implement changes in their working practices, enabled them to require fewer concessions to effect change and made them more likely to adopt changes more quickly.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of Port of Leith Housing Association, said: “Signing up to the Living Wage scheme is a win-win situation. We firmly believe in being a responsible employer and supporting our staff is a key priority. Signing up the scheme shows that we are committed to each every one of our employees.”