Tag: Port of Leith Housing Association

PoLCATs pounce at Older People event!

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Port of Leith Housing Association’s PoLCATs (Port of Leith Community Action Team) volunteered at last week’s Older People event at Meadowbank Sports Centre.

The event was attended by more than 400 people, and around 100 took part in a Big Fit Walk, organised by Edinburgh Leisure’s Aging Well group. Three different walks were on offer, bronze, silver and gold, each differing in length and difficulty. All started at Meadowbank, with the silver and gold walks progressing into Queen’s Park.

To ensure the walkers were kept on route the PoLCATs acted as marshalls. They also prepared lunch packs, handed out medals to those completing the walks and carried out questionnaires. The busy team then served up teas and scones to those attending an afternoon tea dance event.

Claire Ironside, Director of Customer Services at PoLHA, said: “We’re committed to helping local neighbourhoods and, having already carried out a number of PoLCATs initiatives, we were delighted to assist with the Older People event.”

 

Port of Leith residents raise £1580 for Macmillan

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Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) has raised £1580 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

PoLHA’s sheltered housing developments St Nicholas Court, Hermitage Court and Jameson Place hosted events for their residents and locals as part of the charity’s ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ initiative last Friday.

Suzie Connery, who manages the Hermitage Court complex, 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.”

Pictured (left to right): Christine McCauldin, Irene Graham, Mary Fox and Ella Maitland

Port of Leith HA welcomes new board members

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Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA), which celebrated its 40th anniversary this month, has appointed two new Board Members and a Vice Chair.

 Arun Gopinath is a Managing Consultant with Zackra Consulting Services and also serves as the Manager of Central Scotland Regional Equality Council. Prior to this he has been involved with Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council, Scottish Alliance of Regional Equality Councils and RCMS Group, an international architectural and engineering consulting company.

Leith resident Vicky Hope runs her own marketing consultancy. She is a law graduate, but moved into marketing where she has gained a wide experience in communications, project management and branding.

Ruth McNeil, a Board Member since 2008, takes up the post of Vice Chair. A former manager in a unit caring for the elderly, she is also a PoLHA tenant.

Current Chair, Margaret O’Connor, has been re-elected.  She joined the board at PoLHA in 2010 and was elected as Vice Chair in 2011 before being elected Chair last year.

Keith Anderson, PoLHA Chief Executive said: “We are committed to providing high quality, energy efficient homes for people in Leith and North Edinburgh. Our staff and Board Members play a key role in delivering our aims and objects and I’m delighted to welcome Arun and Vicky to PoLHA, and having Margaret and Ruth as Chair and Vice Chair respectively.”

Forty years old but no slowing down: happy birthday, PoLHA!

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Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) marked its 40th anniversary with a celebration at Hibs’ Easter Road stadium last week. The event was attended by 150 guests including staff, tenants, partners and contractors. 

Established in 1975, the Association has invested over £200m creating over 2,700 good quality affordable homes in the Leith and North Edinburgh areas, and the Association has also assisted over 500 young people into further training and work since the launch of it’s TOiL project in 2005.

To mark this impressive milestone, a “This Is Your Life” style production entertained the guests. This featured old stills of Leith and PoLHA along with a short film highlighting the impact the Association makes on the lives of residents and the community.

On a night to remember there was also an audio featuring Douglas McKay, the very first Chair of the Association, and current Chair Margaret O’ Connor and her predecessor Jack Hunter also took part in live interviews.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive, said: “As one of Edinburgh’s oldest local housing associations to have reached this milestone is a great achievement.

“Our beliefs are still very much what they were 40 years in that we are committed to building even more high quality affordable homes for people in Leith and North Edinburgh.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us over the years. Working together we are better able to deliver our ambition which is to make places great for people to live in and to change lives for the better in future.”

Meet Ferry Road’s Dottery Diggers!

‘Bill and Ben’ tackle the tatties!

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A group of green-fingered sheltered housing residents have taken to growing their own fruit and vegetables. Seven residents at Port of Leith Housing Association’s St Nicholas Court, on Ferry Road, have become the ‘Dottery Diggers’!

The purpose of the initiative was to get residents active outdoors, gain new skills and grow their own fresh produce which can be used for meals.

The Diggers fundraise to buy their tools, seeds and pots and have already grown tomatoes, strawberries and onions. Two of the residents – John Ross and Bill Smith – have been in charge of growing potatoes.

Maureen Tait, PoLHA’s Sheltered Housing Services Manager, said: “Our residents embrace new initiatives and I’m delighted the fruits of their labour are going down a treat.

“We’ve not had a brilliant summer weather-wise, but through rain or shine, the budding gardeners have been out tending to their produce. The most difficult vegetables to grow have been potatoes, but John and Bill have worked hard and even earned themselves the nickname of Bill and Ben!”

TOiL expands east with funding boost

TOiL aims to match last year’s record of success

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Port of Leith Housing Association’s (PoLHA) training programme for young people Training Opportunities in Lothian (TOiL) has secured over £200,000 funding which will allow it to expand its services into East Lothian.

The TOiL Programme provides 18 week, paid work experience placements to young, unemployed people alongside in-house training and career guidance. Training placements are with local firms in a variety of sectors and occupations.

The increased funding will enable up to 85 young people to participate in the TOiL Programme in 2015/16. It will also support PoLHA tenants with employability issues through the continued funding of an employabilty officer post. An additional employability officer will also be recruited to take on the role of working with adults who face employment barriers due to disability or ill health.

John Murray manages the TOiL programme. He said: “We are delighted to have received this significant sum of money to continue to support young people into sustainable employment.

“In 2014/15 TOiL supported 76% of trainees into employment, modern apprenticeships or further education against a national average of 44% which is our most successful year to date. It is TOiL’s ambition to deliver a similar level of success with a greater number of individuals this year.”

Skills Development Scotland’s Employability Fund, the City of Edinburgh Council’s Improving Employability Fund and The People and Communities Fund have provided the funding.

Port of Leith sets new homes target: 500 by 2020

26,000 familes on social housing waiting list

More than 200 bids for each new vacancy

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Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) is investing £55 million to build nearly 500 new homes in north Edinburgh area by 2020.

PoLHA Chief Executive Keith Anderson said that beyond that date, the future of the development is unclear despite a rapidly increasing demand for homes.

The Association is Leith’s largest social landlord and currently manages over 2,700 properties.

Keith Anderson said: ““Edinburgh continues to have the highest average house prices compared to other cities in Scotland and, combined with stagnating household incomes, is restricting the number of people from becoming home owners, increasing the demand for social housing and for mid market rented housing, as well as open market rented housing.”

In its new five year strategic plan, the Association sets out the challenge facing the city of Edinburgh in terms of the need to increase the supply of housing. The housing list has more than 26,000 registered applicants and demand for social housing remains very high with over 200 bids being received for each new vacancy arising over the past year.

It is estimated that over 1,600 new affordable homes are needed each year for each of the next 10 years to resolve this problem.

Keith Anderson added: “Edinburgh has an acute need and demand for affordable housing now and over the next generation.

“Having explored, over the past three years, new ways to finance development with less reliance on public subsidy, we have come to the conclusion that there are no straightforward alternatives to the traditional mixed funding regime of public subsidy and private finance which will enable rents to remain affordable for people on below average incomes.

“The production of new mid market rented housing in the city has increased over the past two years requiring lower levels of public subsidy. However, it remains unclear whether the current level and volume of subsidy available will enable the delivery of the number of new additional social homes needing to be built.”

As well as investment in new properties, the Association plans to invest a further £8 million in ensuring all its homes meet the required quality standards and including the new Energy Efficiency Standard by the required date of 2020.

Cash to tackle inequalities in Edinburgh

Dunedin Canmore and Port of Leith Housing Associations among projects t0 receive People and Communities Fund awards

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Projects which promote healthy eating, IT skills and household budgeting will receive more than £690,000 funding to tackle poverty and inequalities in Edinburgh, it was announced this morning.

Fourteen projects from across the city  have secured a share of the Scottish Government’s People and Communities Fund (PCF) to change disadvantaged communities by providing advice, training or voluntary opportunities.

These include Port of Leith Housing Association’s Canny Budgeting which will receive £35,000 to offer advice to residents on tackling fuel poverty, more than £10,000 for Dunedin Canmore Housing Ltd’s Digital Skills for All for IT workshops and £23,000 for Broomhouse Health Strategy’s healthy eating classes.

The 20 More project, will receive £37,000 through PCF to empower local people and help households save £20 a week, through training opportunities which will allow them to gain skills and qualifications in community development, and benefits and energy advice, at the project’s community shop.

Speaking on a visit to the 20 More Community Shop and Serenity Café which is also operated by Comas, Community Empowerment Minister Marco Biagi said: “Every community in Scotland has different challenges and aspirations and there is no one-size fits all approach to tackling poverty.

“That’s why our People and Communities Fund is giving communities in Edinburgh the power and confidence to shape their own futures.

“With household budgets under pressure, it’s great to see a project like 20 More looking for ways to save 600 of the area’s most vulnerable families at least £20 a week and helping to ease some of the stress of paying their bills.”

Ruth Campbell, Chief Executive of Comas said: “We are so pleased that the Scottish Government is focusing on empowering communities, as sustainable change must be community-led and start from the grassroots. This grant enables us to put local people in the driving seat and builds their capacity for community-led action.

“Training local people in benefits advice and energy saving will directly impact on wellbeing in this community. It will also help some residents gain employment in these growing sectors, so the grant will have a strong ripple effect.”

See below for the full list of projects to receive PCF awards: 

 http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Built-Environment/regeneration/community/pcf/awards

PoLHA raises £500 for Comic Relief

Lucky for some – residents raise some dough on Friday the 13th!

PoLHA Comic Relief

Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) has raised £500 for Comic Relief. The residents from its Jameson Place sheltered housing development donned red noses and t-shirts and had a home baking sale last Friday (13 March).

Maureen Tait, PoLHA’s Sheltered Housing Services Manager, said: “We are delighted so many people came along and bought delicious home-made goodies. The residents really enjoy supporting charity initiatives and getting in their kitchens to come up with a range of treats to sell. We’re delighted to have raised £500 for Comic Relief.”

PoLHA appoints new Director of Finance

Heather KiteleyPort of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) has appointed a new Director of Finance. Heather Kiteley has 20 years of finance experience across not for profit, charitable and commercial organisations.

Having joined from another housing association, Heather (pictured above) will lead the finance team to ensure the Association’s finance functions and services are effectively managed and delivered. She will also provide support to PoLHA’s governing bodies and senior management, ensuring they are provided with relevant and accurate information to support the decision making process in accordance with good practice and the Association’s rules and policies.

Heather said: “I am delighted to have joined PoLHA. I look forward to working with the staff, senior management team and Board to develop and monitor the delivery of strategic and operating plans.”

Heather is a Chartered Management Accountant and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and has an MBA with a specialism in strategic planning. She is also a committee member of the CIMA Edinburgh branch and the CIMA Scotland area.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of PoLHA, said: “I am pleased to welcome Heather to PoLHA. Her knowledge, skills and experience will be of great benefit to the Association.”