Resident Newsletter Summer 2020 Hello and welcome to your newsletter. Here you’ll find the latest news and information on our services and how we’re continuing to support our residents and communities.
Update on our services We are continuing to deliver the essential services to keep our residents and communities safe and well. With the lockdown easing, we’re now starting to safely reintroduce some of our services gradually. As well as continuing our essential building safety work, we are committed to investing in our existing estates and homes. Pausing our non-emergency maintenance has created a backlog of work to catch up on now that government restrictions are lifting. We are reviewing our investment programme to see what needs doing and how best to prioritise it.
We are reopening our play areas and ball courts for children to use in the summer holidays. Across our estates, although cleaning services continued during lockdown we reduced our estate walkabouts. In August we will gradually bring these back. Our concierge services will also be reopening in the next few weeks, when we are sure it is safe to do so. It will take a little while to get service levels back to where they were before the virus hit, so please be patient with us and our staff and contractors working in your area. We’ll keep you updated with information as soon as possible.
Need support? If you need support, or are concerned about a neighbour, our resident wellbeing team is here to help. Please get in touch by visiting www.peabody.org.uk or call us on 0300 123 3456.
Worried about paying your rent? We have dedicated teams to support people through tough times. We can help you access any financial support you are entitled to and come up with a plan to manage your rent payments. Please get in touch with us as soon as you think you may have difficulties. If you cannot pay your rent but don’t talk to us, we might not be able to help and your tenancy could be at risk in the future. If you are worried about paying your rent please contact us straightaway by calling 0300 123 3456.
Fast, affordable broadband
News from our Customer Hub To improve your experience, we’re making changes when you call our Customer Hub. If you rent your home from us, when you ring you’ll be asked to enter your date of birth using the keypad on your phone, followed by your post
code. This will help our team to know who you are straightaway, and will save time for you and our team member. If for any reason your details cannot be verified in this way, you’ll still be transferred to our customer team. 1
We are working hard to make sure all our residents have access to fast, affordable broadband across all of our estates and properties. To do this, we need to choose providers who will deliver fibre upgrades for everyone. This will take us some time. Over the coming months we will be meeting with providers and checking that they can deliver the best value deals for all our residents, as well as ensuring resident and building safety while the upgrades are being done. Thank you for your patience while we work on this, we will keep you updated on our progress.
Staying safe this summer Safety tips to keep you and your neighbours safe: • Please don’t prop up open communal fire doors - they should be closed at all times to help prevent the spread of fire and smoke in an emergency, and to allow residents and visitors to escape the building safely. • Never barbecue indoors or on your balcony. Embers could carry and set light to your or your neighbours’ balconies and possessions. • If you have access to an area where barbecuing is allowed, always make sure barbecues are completely cool before leaving them unattended. • It’s better not to smoke on your balcony, but if you do, always make sure your cigarette is properly put out and never throw it over the side. It could set fire to possessions on nearby balconies. • Please do not leave any items in communal hallways and stairwells as this can stop people escaping the building safely in a fire, and delay help from getting to you. Leaving items in the communal areas can also help a fire to spread faster. • Try not to store items on your balcony which would burn easily, such as rubbish, furniture, timber, decorating materials, children’s plastic toys and other clutter, as they could catch light.
Get involved
Would you like to work with us and help to make a difference? You can get involved with a group local to you or help to review services and policies for all Peabody residents. There are also online groups which look at issues from the environment to communications. Our Resident Strategy and Policy Group includes residents from all backgrounds. They give up their time to review our resident-facing strategies, policies and business
Support people delivering our services
Thank you to everyone who has supported our teams and contractors as they continue to deliver essential services. We’ve given our teams clear guidance on how to work safely and maintain a safe distance from other people. Some may be in protective clothing so that they can work safely. Unfortunately, some of our employees and contractors have experienced threatening
planning and aim to improve services. As they themselves say: “We want to make sure that we’re the genuine voice of residents and are aware of all matters which could stop Peabody providing the best resident service possible.” The Group is still meeting regularly online. There’s lots to do and lots of ways to help if you’d like to get involved - you don’t need any experience, just a willingness to share your views and experiences of being a Peabody resident. To find more, email get.involved@peabody.org.uk behaviour and abusive comments while working on our estates and properties. We take all reports of abuse very seriously and a number of incidents have been reported to the police. Please be kind and don’t directly challenge teams, they are doing their best to continue working in difficult circumstances. We will take action against any residents being abusive or threatening to our employees, contractors or other residents and their visitors. Watch the video here. 2
Want to improve your digital skills?
We’re working with BT and the Good Things Foundation to deliver a free digital learning project. Joining is easy and it takes only a few minutes to register online. Once you’re registered, you can do as many courses as you like on the website. There are lots to choose from including online safety, finding a job, improving your health and much more. Interested? Please email your name and phone number to employment.training@peabody. org.uk with the subject title ‘Skills for Tomorrow’ or call 07718 118 596 to talk to our training co-ordinator.
Domestic abuse and Covid-19 The Coronavirus pandemic means that most people are staying at home for long periods. If you’re worried about living with someone who is harming you, please call us on 0300 123 3456. We offer advice, guidance and specialist support including referrals to other agencies who can arrange emergency accommodation. If you are in immediate danger, please call 999 and ask for the police. If you can’t respond to the prompts, make yourself heard by coughing, tapping the handset or once prompted by the system, press 55 and don’t hang up. You can also call the Refuge 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247 (freephone)
Green spaces in London
Free access to Headspace wellbeing app. For some people the global pandemic has had a huge impact on sleep, stress levels and general mental health, as well as added financial strain on those facing job uncertainty or unemployment. Mindfulness helps people cope with stress, and activities such as meditation can help with managing anxiety. The meditation app Headspace is offering free subscriptions to all unemployed people and furloughed workers in the UK for a year. To find out more visit www.headspace.com
Building a kinder, closer and more connected society We’ve joined a new partnership called /together with other household names such as the BBC, NHS, ITV and the British Paralympic Association to help build a kinder, closer and more connected society. /together is a bit different to other campaigns. Rather than providing answers upfront, it starts with questions. Over the next few months, /together will begin a UK-wide conversation about what
divides us, what unites us and what will bring us closer together. This will include carrying out the biggest public survey since the census. /together wants to hear from as many people as possible. It only takes five minutes to share your opinion, and you could involve your family and friends too. To fill in the survey and find out more, please visit www.together.org.uk
Have you been using London’s green spaces and parks during the lockdown? The University of Westminster has launched a study to find out how people have used London’s green spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results will help shape policies around physical distancing and managing these spaces in London. For more information, and to take part in the survey: https://bit.ly/3328gb5
News from Charlton Triangle Homes On 23 March, Charlton Triangle Homes, part of the Peabody Group, closed the doors to their offices as part of the response to Covid-19. But this hasn’t stopped them from maintaining essential services and supporting their residents. The Charlton office is at the heart of their 1,200 homes. When it first closed, residents and employees had to get used to new digital ways of working, and missed the in-person contact. As lockdown eased, staff at Charlton brought their offices to residents in a novel and safe way - using three gazebos in different locations to hold safe, open air sessions. Twenty residents came to the 3
first session on Wednesday 1 July, they discussed a range repairs and housing issues with the team, including fly tipping in Shirley House Drive. Residents felt reassured with several commenting that they were ‘glad we were back’. The open air venue allowed the team to meet residents and colleagues in a safe environment, in line with government guidelines. Encouraged by the response and happy to be among the community, the Charlton team are organising a programme of open air sessions to provide weekly drop-ins at all three sites for more residents and colleagues to connect throughout the summer.
Pride of Peabody Our employees, community volunteers and supporters have been working hard to help vulnerable people and people in need in our communities. Here are just some of the uplifting good news stories of people going above and beyond to support others at this time.
Supporting others
A friend in need…of a walk!
Our remote befriending programme was set up in March 2020 to support residents who may have been lonely while selfisolating due to the coronavirus pandemic. More than 340 residents have been referred since the programme started, and more than 100 matches have been made. We have also referred 150 residents who needed extra help to our tenant and family support team. None of this would be possible without our wonderful team of befrienders who signed up to support others through this crisis. If you would like to become a remote befriender, please get in touch by calling 0300 123 3456.
Thamesmead residents have been getting a helping hand from their local community in Greenwich. The Community Hub run by Greenwich Council has been supporting local residents with collecting shopping and prescriptions for those who are shielding. Volunteers have also been walking dogs for residents not able to get out and about. Esther Díaz, who has been volunteering with the Community Hub since it launched in March, says: “Magzi is one of the dogs I’ve been walking and I’ve loved speaking with her owner Norma each day. She has more knowledge of the local area and has been telling me all about her childhood growing up in London. I’m from Barcelona originally, so have little knowledge of the area and have found these conversations so interesting!”
Terry shows his community spirit
Terry has lived at the Parkside estate in Lewisham for over 20 years. He has always been an active member of the community, taking part in events at the community centre, fun days and other activities that bring people together. When he heard about our food parcels being distributed from the Parkside Community Centre, he jumped at the chance to be involved. As Terry is in his 70s and is shielding, he couldn’t volunteer. So he did the next best thing by making a donation which was used to buy pasta and rice to be shared with families and households in need. When asked why it was important for him to be involved, Terry said: “I want to be sure all the little ones get fed”.
Motivated minds
We’ve been working with charity Motivated Minds to set up a food bank at our King Edward Centre in Laindon, Essex. We’d like to say a huge thank you to the One Green Bottle Bikers who have been volunteering at the food bank by helping to deliver food and other essentials to vulnerable residents. 4
Life in Lockdown
Here are some of the stories of how our staff, residents and partners have responded to the crisis with generosity, kindness and community spirit.
Food for all at Fish Island When lockdown began, Hannah, who lives at Fish Island in Hackney Wick, started thinking about how she and other residents could support their local community. She got in touch with Bow Foodbank to arrange a donation afternoon, with a contactless donation point at one of the buildings. A few weeks later, residents asked for a second donation day, which took place in June and was a great success. Hannah has been overwhelmed by the generosity of people who have been making donations: “I’d like to thank all the residents at Fish Island for their generosity and their community spirit. During this time, the residents of Fish Island have been getting to know their neighbours, supporting each other and
have enjoyed building a new community as well as contributing towards their local community.” In the Fish Island Facebook group, one member
Lockdown art gallery
Leanne, who lives in Thamesmead along with her daughters Lily and Lola, age 4 and 11, have been creating artwork to brighten up the communal entrance to their block. This has encouraged other residents to get involved by adding their work to the ‘gallery’ too. “We thought it would be nice for people entering and leaving to see the pictures my two daughters made. We’ve really enjoyed seeing the new art work being added and my girls have been over the moon.”
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commented “Communities take years (if not generations) to form and yet there’s something a little bit special happening here”.
Happy Birthday Gladys! Gladys, who lives at Darwin Court, our healthy living centre in South East London, recently celebrated her 102nd birthday. She was born in May 1918, and worked as an insurance clerk for many years. Staff and other residents couldn’t let her 102nd birthday pass by unmarked and were keen to do something to mark the occasion. They tracked down a gluten-free cake which they delivered to her – while maintaining social distancing of course!
Let’s Get Ready to Crumble!
Our Old Oak Community Centre in East Acton is working with Old Oak Primary School to provide emergency food parcels to families in need. The Bubble & Squeak project delivers more than 30 surplus food parcels each week. They have also been providing 55 packed lunches twice a week for children on the Old Oak estate. Bochra is one of the residents receiving a food parcel each week: “I’ve received food parcels from the first week, every time I see Fleur who delivers the food it is like a present. I get to try vegetables that I haven’t used before and have been going online to try new recipes. My son loves them too!” Need a speedy sweet tooth fix? Bochra’s thrifty fruit crumble recipe not only uses store cupboard ingredients and a make-ahead crumble topping mix, but you can also swap in and out any optional extras you have at hand.
Celebrating VE Day
Victory in Europe (VE) Day on 8 May marked 75 years since the end of World War II in Europe. Like many others, our staff and residents found ways to safely mark this special occasion. Residents of Prescott House, a care scheme in Sussex, joined staff for afternoon tea in the garden where they enjoyed plenty of cakes. They also had a sing-a-long to some of their favourite war-time tunes. Lisa Peters, Scheme Manager, said: “Although we were observing social distancing, it was lovely to see everyone putting aside their current worries, even if it was for just a couple of hours.” CUT OUT AND KEEP!
Fruit crumble recipe Ingredients 2 apples peeled and sliced 1 tin of peach slices sprinkle of cinnamon Handful of oats For the freeze ahead crumble topping mix 150g plain flour 100g butter 85g demerara sugar Optional extras Vanilla extract Chia seeds or linseeds 1. Add ingredients to a saucepan to simmer on low for 10 minutes, including the syrup from the tinned peaches (no need to add extra water or sugar) 2. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon and any of the optional extras to your fruit until all cooked through 3. First rub the flour and butter in until you get a breadcrumbs mixture. Add the other ingredients. Use half for the 6
recipe and store half in the freezer ready for you to make a speedy crumble dessert in the future! 4. Put your fruit in an ovenproof dish and add your crumble mixture, sprinkle with oats on top. 5. Bake in a preheated oven for 35-40 minutes at 190 C.