Building a place with a big heart

Twin Valley Homes is creating a living legacy for the people of Blackburn with Darwen, showing it is more than just a landlord

For years, bricks and mortar were all housing associations were concerned with, but those days have gone and now organisations such as Twin Valley Homes (TVH) see themselves as the “the heart of their communities”.

The social landlord has spent over £3 million in its communities, with thousands of people engaged in “meaningful activities” whether that is in helping other people back to work or other activities that help the community. And with its win of a national health award, it appears that Twin Valley Homes’ claims to be ‘more than a landlord’ are quite justified.

In 2007, the Blackburn-based housing association made a five-year commitment through its “Driving the Changes” strategy to provide £1 million per year to projects big and small – all aimed at making its communities fairer, healthier and better places to live. In the post-financial crisis world, such a commitment is almost unheard of, but Twin Valley Homes continues to make an indelible mark on its communities.

Community cohesion has become flavour of the month with politicians, but it’s long been on the agenda for housing associations and Twin Valley Homes has been working hard – alongside a number of its partners – to make sure all sections of society benefit from this financial commitment.

Jean Thompson, supporting communities manager, has been at the forefront of project development and service delivery. She said: “The ‘More Than a Landlord’ funding has been a massive boost for local people – whether they are our tenants or not. It’s not only the number of projects we’ve funded that has been impressive but it’s the range that’s been staggering.

“We’ve looked to engage with people across all social groups, to try and give them opportunities or access to services that they may not otherwise have had. We’ve been able to tackle health issues, worklessness, youth diversionary schemes and environmental issues that are making a real difference in the community. Such has been our success that other associations have regularly used us as an ‘ideas shop’ to progress their own services.”

The most notable success of all the projects so far came with the work Twin Valley Homes did with Blackburn with Darwen NHS Primary Care Trust in tackling health inequalities in the borough – one of the most deprived in the country.

Included amongst the health-related projects supported by Twin Valley Homes was a foot screening programme for people in sheltered housing schemes to help keep them fit and well. The organisation also provided support for a breakfast club at a local primary school to reduce truancy and increase attention levels, mobile gyms, and food co-operatives to make sure local people have access to exercise facilities and fresh fruit and vegetables at a reasonable cost, were further successful schemes that Twin Valley Homes has helped to provide for the community.

And there’s more, such as its anger management sessions, citizenship programmes, a drug and alcohol awareness programme and a ‘Healthier Thinking, Eating and Living’ course, with groups across the borough to reduce anti-social behaviour and youth crime levels.

In recognition of its significant achievements in the borough, the Twin Valley Homes and NHS PCT partnership won a prestigious Health Service Journal Award for their work in tackling health inequalities.

“This is a fantastic accolade for the work Twin Valley Homes and NHS Blackburn with Darwen have done,” said Glen Finch, Twin Valley Homes’ head of regeneration, who helped to lead on the project.

“Only by tackling the problem together can we make a real difference. As part of Twin Valley Homes’ ‘Driving the Changes’ strategy – aimed at tackling issues of health, unemployment and financial inclusion – we have had some notable successes so far but we still have a long way to go.”

Tackling poor health is only part of the tale. With the recession biting hard and unemployment on the rise, Twin Valley Homes is working hard to provide opportunities for people out of work and young people Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET).

And the housing association’s ‘Active Enterprise’ initiative has given vital training and work experience to people whose talents may otherwise have gone untapped.

Under the Active Enterprise banner, people have been able to get work experience with the New Boundaries project, which provides fencing to tenants who meet the necessary criteria.

Twin Valley Homes has also been able to give people experience in gardening and horticulture at the re-vamped Four Seasons Garden Centre in Darwen. The garden centre has been purchased and brought back in to use while providing vital work experience, it is also being run as a social enterprise to create more opportunities.

Whilst the organisation is in the process of founding a new enterprise aimed at engaging more with young people, the work already done to engage with hard to reach groups has scored some significant successes – none more so than with young people.

Over 3,000 children and young people have been involved in activities over the past couple of years. And, as its profile has risen, so have its staffing levels. The organisation said it has been able to employ a second youth engagement officer to deliver even more services thanks to funding from the Community Safety Partnership.

The citizenship programmes established in schools and mosques have been very popular. There are football tournaments involving children from all communities, a youth radio station – Yo! Radio – has been set up, and groups being taken on different activities such as caving and gorge walking. Twin Valley Homes has also take on 10 apprentices each year across the business and is in the process of providing over 38 Future Jobs Funds placements over the next 18 months.

Community safety is another important aspect of the housing association’s work. To help people stay safer in their homes, it has stepped up to the plate in a variety of ways, for instance, it has provided police bikes so they can have a more visible presence on its estates.

Partnership work with Lancashire Fire & Rescue has also encouraged residents to swap old chip pans for deep fat fryers and Twin Valley Homes has also provided metal fences around its flats to cut off “rat-runs.”

“The list of projects we’ve funded is endless but far from flagging – Twin Valley Homes is maintaining its programme of activities as it enters its 10th year of service,” Jean Thompson added. “A special project group will ensure the decennial celebrations go with a swing and the people of Blackburn with Darwen will be at the centre of those celebrations to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are much more than a landlord.”