aksa news - spring 2015

Why not give your businessideas a go?Pages 8 & 9

119

Hats Off!

20

Putting a stop toanti-social behaviour

Also inside...

Volunteering with Aksa Pages 10-11

newsYour magazine from Aksa Homes

newsYour magazine from Aksa Homes

16-17

Teen Scene

12

Big Energy Saving Bus Tour

Issue 3Spring 2015

16319A Aksa News Issue 3 2015 V4__ 25/03/2015 12:44

Aksa News: Issue 3, 2015

Welcome to your firstmagazine of 2015!

www.aksahomes.co.uk

A very warm welcome to the newAksaTenant Panelmembers and we want to wish them all the very bestin their new roles.Read the full story on page 13which also provides information on how you can getinvolved if you would like to join theTenants Panel.

We have recently launched a new payment app thatallows you to pay your rent using your mobile phone.To find out more, turn to page 4.

The Neighbourhood Network team is working hardon different projects in their communities,encouraging tenants to work together to improvetheir estates and build community spirit.

This is great work and we would like to hear aboutany other activities going on in your neighbourhoods.

In February we held the grand opening of the LaunchPad - a new centre to help you build skills, get ‘job

ready’ and set up your own business. Already this isproving very popular and a great service even thoughit’s only been running for a few weeks. You can takepart in IT classes, English classes, jewellery making andsewing classes are starting soon, so watch this space.

We hope you enjoy this issue of the newsletter.Let us know what you would like to see and hear inthe next one by getting in touch with theAksaHomes team on 0161 620 2992.

★2

Look for this icon:If you have a smartphone youcan also find more informationon our website by scanningthis barcode with a QR codereader app.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the firstfew months of the year so far.We’ve been really busy alreadyand have some great things toshare with you.

We have been working with OldhamColiseumTheatre and we have setup a special offer for you to buydiscounted tickets - just £7.50 each!

This special price is for all thetheatre’s productions,excluding any pantos.

Why not take advantage of thisfantastic offer and treat yourself andyour family to a trip to the theatre?When booking your tickets at thetheatre’s box office, you will just needto show proof that you are anAksatenant, e.g by showing anAksaHomes letter with your name andaddress on it.

We are also hoping to work withthe Royal ExchangeTheatre inManchester, so watch out for newsand any special offers on ourTwitterand Facebook pages.

For more information contactShabana on 0161 620 2992.

Reduced theatretickets forAksa tenants

Our Neighbourhood Networks champions andTenants Panel working together


Contents

facebook.com/aksahomes @AksaHomes Aksa News: Issue 3, 2015

5

★3

11

This year, Aksa Homes’ corporate charity is RainbowTrust Children’s Charity.

TheTrust supports families who have a child with a lifethreatening or terminal illness - helping more than 25%of the 6,000 affected families in England.

The charity supports the whole family 24 hours a day,7 days a week,365 days a year, regardless of diagnosiswith a bespoke service for each family.

Aksa is pleased to be helping this great cause withdifferent fundraising events throughout the year. We’ll letyou know how much we raise at the end of the year.

RainbowTrust

19

16-17

TeenScene

Money Matters 4

Neighbourhood Network 5

Your Neighbourhood Plans 6-7

Launch Pad 8-9

Got a great business idea?Why not ‘Give it a Go’? 10

Volunteering with Aksa Homes 10

International Women's Day 11

Big Energy Saving bus tour 12

Tenant Panel update 13

The 2014 customer survey resultsare in! 14-15

Teen Scene 16-17

IT & Biscuits 18

New Garden gets the go ahead 18

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle 19

Hats off! 19

Putting a Stop to anti-socialbehaviour 20

Fun and games! 21

Sugar swap ideas - Change 4 Life 22

Events and classes 23

Your Aksa Project Officers 24


Aksa News: Issue 3, 2015★4

Money MattersDo you have anymoney worries?

If you didn’t get chanceto meet the team duringour bus tour or youneed more help with anymoney matters, visit usfor a confidential andimpartial chat with ourqualified debt advisors.

We can help you withdebts, benefits and taxcredit entitlements.We can help you findsolutions to your debtproblems,providebudgeting advice and helpyou maximise your income.

The team can also giveadvice on welfare benefitsby helping you to claimwhat you're entitled toand help you appeal yourcase if a decision doesn'tseem right. We can alsoprovide support onswitching energy suppliersto save you money.

I have access to the internet

I can use the internet

I have a bank account or Credit Union account

I can budget monthly

I have looked at all my household costs

✓ ✗Tick list

UNIVERSAL CREDIT:Are you ready?

If you have answeredno to any of thesequestions, call the

Aksa team on0161 620 2992.

Our Money Careteam can help.

Pay yourrent on yourmobilephone

Money Matters

We have now launched a paymentapp so you can pay your rent andother money you owe us, directly fromyour mobile phone.

Find out more here:www.aksahomes.co.uk/pay-your-rent or click onthis QR code to download the app:

Apple Android

Why not call in for a chat with our advisors?Here’s where you can find us and when:

BuryADAB Centre7 South Cross Street, BL9 0RTLast Wednesday in themonth, 10am-12noon

Ashton-under-LyneNew Charter hub2 Henrietta Street, OL6 6EFEvery Thursday,9.30am-12noon

OldhamAksa office2 Medtia Square,Phoenix Street, OL1 1ANEvery Thursday,10am-12noon

ManchesterWaterloo Centre389 Waterloo Road,Cheetham Hill,Manchester, M8 9ABSecond Wednesday inthe month, 10am-12noon


★5Aksa News: Issue 3, 2015facebook.com/aksahomes @AksaHomes

Could you be aNeighbourhoodNetwork Champion?

TheAksa NeighbourhoodNetwork (NN) was set up to

help residents who care about theirneighbourhood and want to make a

difference in their community.

During our 100 days campaign,many of you volunteered to be

Neighbourhood NetworkChampions and you’ve been

doing some great workever since.

Our Champions getinvolved in activities to help

keep neighbourhoods clean, greenand safe.They encourage other residents

to get involved and access differentservices that can help them.Championsalso tell us about any problems in their

neighbourhoods and work with theAksa team to resolve community issues.Here’s a few things the Champions have

been getting up to...

NN Champions from differentneighbourhoods learning to use digitalservices, social media and the internet.

Look out for your Champions in your neighbourhood. They’ll be getting involved in our‘Kick start your garden’ project next month - always a popular and fun event!Why not get involved and learn about gardening with them?

Champions organised a gardening event on

Southbank Road,Bury to start residents planting

vegetables and develop a community garden.

(Pictured:Shabana Kosar and JoAhmed fromAdab

encouraging their neighbours to grow their own).

Over the dark winter months,Championshelped to pass on community safety advice toresidents in their neighbourhoods.(Pictured:NN Champion SameerArshad withChris Cordwell from OREP handing out communitysafety leaflets onAllama Iqbal Road,Glodwick).



In July 2013,we launched ourNeighbourhood Plans -a set of promises foreach of our sixneighbourhoods to helpmake yourneighbourhoodsbetter places to live,work and enjoy.

You can find full detailsof where we’re up to onall our plans here on ourwebsite:www.aksahomes.co.uk/neighbourhoods-and-communities

Here’s somehighlights…

Your NeighbourhoodPlans

We’re halfway there We held our first restorative

justice session with two residentswho had a long-standing dispute

with each other.This gave one of thetenants the opportunity to tell the

other how their actions made themfeel and helped the other personrealise that they had done wrong.We’ve had no more issues since.

Work in partnershipwith the Police and other

agencies to develop along-term crime prevention

strategy for theneighbourhood.

What wepromised:

What we did:

Lots of other activities and projects mentioned in the newsletter link into your NeighbourhoodPlans, such as The Launch Pad, Give it a Go and Aksa A Team.

Work with the police andother agencies to increasesecurity in areas identifiedas hot spots for anti-social

behaviour (ASB).

What wepromised:

What we did:With tenants, set up BignorStreet Residents’ Group toresolve issues such asASB.

They’re now working with thepolice and reporting issues

more. Also improved securitywith new gates and

pedestrian entry system.

Neighbourhood

Management


Aksa News: Issue 3, 2015facebook.com/aksahomes @AksaHomes

86%of you said you’rehappy withour services(see pages 14-15)

★7

What wepromised:

Develop a programme ofactivities that help tenantskeep warm and reduce

their fuel bills.

A ‘good neighbour agreement’was drawn up for residents,by residents on Cotton MillCrescent (Oldham South) toaddress low level anti-social

behaviour. It has helped peoplebe more respectful of each

other and brought thecommunity together.

We found a problem onestates with rubbish so

residents from Oldham Northvisited a recycling plant to find

out more about recyclingand helped to make

neighbourhoods cleaner.Find out moreon page 19.

Carry out internal andexternal property

inspections to allAksaproperties within the

neighbourhoods.

What wepromised:

What we did:

What we did:

What wepromised:

What we did:As part of our 100 days

‘Love your neighbourhood’event,we gave advice andguidance on customer’s

repairs issues and how toprevent damp and

condensation at home.

Aksa Homes has providedfunding to create an educationalgarden at Bignor Street which is

due to be finished inApril.Residents visited local community

gardens for inspiration.

What wepromised:Review tenancy

agreement to clarify theaction we will take toresolve problems withnuisance/noise/untidy

gardens.

What we did:In November,we ran our ‘Big

Energy Saving bus tour’visiting all neighbourhoods to

give tenants one-to-onesupport and help them switch

suppliers and reduce theirbills - see page 12.

Coming soon

Great Homes events to beheld regularly to look at

the repairs andmaintenance service.

Home

You and your family


★8 Aksa News: Issue 3, 2015

A new centre to help youbuild skills, get ‘jobready’ and set up yourown businessOn 9th February we openedour new business, enterpriseand training hub onMarlborough Street,Glodwick for residents.

The Launch Pad is run byAksa and is a great newplace where you can accessdifferent training and learningopportunities to help getyou into work and even setup your own business.

One of our Stepping intoWork clubs is running from

the centre, along with arange of other courses tohelp you build your skills andconfidence and get youready for employment.

The ‘Give it a Go’ project isalso based at the Launch Padwhich can give you theadvice and support you needto set up your own business.You can find out more onpage 10.

Formore information, contact John Fay at the Aksa office.


Aksa News: Issue 3, 2015 ★9facebook.com/aksahomes @AksaHomes

“I was on JobseekersAllowance for a couple of yearsbut I didn’t know where to gethelp. The Job Centre wassending me to different placesbut I wasn’t getting the supportI required.“I was f irst made aware of thesupport Aksa offer to tenantswhen two members of staffknocked on my door and spoketo me about the Stepping intoWork programme. I wasn’t sureI would qualify and how theycould help me but theyexplained thoroughly aboutthe programme and howthey would assist me.They invited me along to theirnext work club.“I attended the work club andI was amazed by the supportAksa staff were able to offerme. Tahira and Shabana liftedmy spirits and helped me torebuild my conf idence so I cansucceed in the area I hadqualif ications in and believe inmyself again.“Shabana assisted me to applyfor apprenticeships in adminand IT but unfortunately I wasunsuccessful due to not havingany experience. Instead,Minaz was able to get me avolunteering position withinAksa. This helped me so muchto feel conf ident and after

ages, I felt like I was makingsome progress.“Volunteering with Aksa openedmany doors for me. I feel like Iam a part of a team whilstlearning so many valuabletransferrable skills. Aksa hasgiven me opportunities to getinvolved in other things like theNeighbourhood Network,Tenants Panel and they arealso looking at securing aplacement for me withinthe New Charter HousingTrust Group.“I feel like my life changedwhen the two ladies fromAksa knocked on my door.I feel like a completelydifferent person who hascome so far in the last sixmonths all with the supportof Aksa Homes.”

Sajad’s story Ms N’s storyMs N wanted to get back intowork, but as she wasn’t receivingJobseekers Allowance, she wasn’tin touch with many services tosupport her.

Ms N started coming along toAksa’s work club for help andsupport in looking for a job.At the club, Mrs N was givenhelp and guidance on puttingher CV together and completingan application form.

Ms N had a telephone interviewin February and was then offereda job working for a customerservice centre, contacting localcatering businesses. The job ispart-time and ideal for her asa parent.

As well as being successful ingetting a job, Ms N was also agreat support to other residents inthe work club.

Through our Stepping into Work programme, we have helped residents into a wide range ofjobs including nursery nurses, pharmacy assistants, optical assistants, bakery workers and jobsin retail, customer services and construction.

Why not contact us and see howwe can help you get into work?

Sajad Hussain hasturned thingsaround with thehelp ofAksa’sStepping intoWork programme



Got a great business idea?Why not ‘Give it a Go’?Give it a Go is a scheme which has been set up to give residents likeyou the advice and support you need to turn the dream of runningyour own business into a reality.

Give it a Go is basedat the Launch Pad where two

professional companies, (Upturnand Blue Orchid) are available everyTuesday to guide you on setting up

your own business.The team can alsomeet you at the Aksa office if it’s

more convenient.

your own business into a reality.

and Blue Orchid) are available every

your own business. The team can also

The jobs market is verycompetitive so to help getyou into work, why not put

your own business ideasinto action?

We offer volunteeringopportunities to Aksa tenants tohelp you gain experience, skills,and confidence to help you getinto employment.

Volunteering can help people ofall ages, whether you needvaluable experience to help youget a job or you’re just leavingschool and want to build up yourskills and CV.

All you need to do is speak toTahira Adam at the Aksa office to

arrange a meeting and then youcan get going from there.

At the meeting, you’llcomplete a simple applicationform and look at the type ofvolunteering which is rightfor you.

You’ll then have a group orone-to-one induction beforestarting your placement.Placements are usually justfor a few hours a week,for six weeks.

Volunteering withAksa Homes

your own business ideas into action?

You can also findout how to apply to

Oldham Council for abusiness start-up grant. Give ita Go can also offer grants to

under 25s which may notneed to paid back.

So far, 16 volunteershave had placements

with us making atotal of 289 hours

volunteering!



Sameer Arshad and Mrs Akhtar started volunteering withAksa in October 2014. Sameer and Mrs Akhtar speakEnglish and Urdu fluently and helped to talk to residentsabout ideas for healthy walking activities in the areas.They both gained experience of working with residents,interpreting, completing paperwork, collecting dataand helped to plan future activities based aroundtenants’ needs.Sameer also went on to work with tenants during ourCommunity Safety Week and on the Energy Savingbus tour, helping tenants to reduce their energy billsand keep their homes safe.

Sameer is now completing his A-Levels and is looking to startuniversity in September. He hopes to work part-time alongside his Sportsstudies.We also helped Sameer into volunteering at Madhlo youth centre as asports volunteer working with children and young people.Mrs Akhtar went on to successfully complete a Community InterpretingLevel 2 course and is now applying for jobs in the NHS and other publicservices to work as an interpreter.

Sameer &Mrs Akhtar’s story

Here are two residentswho have successfullycompleted thevolunteer programme

Aksa celebrates InternationalWomen’s Day VIP style!Aksa Homes selected 30 women who have attended the last twointernational women’s events as VIP’s to attend a special day.

Women were treated to a special day in beautiful Uppermill, Oldham.Fay Selvan Chair of New Charter board and CEO of The Big LifeGroup opened the day by sharing the history of international women’sday and the current inequalities women face today. Sally Bonnie,Director of The Collective Partnership showed the women how tomeditate and make scented aroma sprays.

We rounded off the day with a barge trip down Uppermill canal,a hot lunch and a trip to Uppermill museum.

Aksa News:

Director of The Collective Partnership showed the women how to

Sameer said: “I had a

really good experience of

volunteering at Aksa. I learnt a

lot about the community,

developed my communication

and problem solving skills and

gained lots of confidence.”

Mrs Akhtar said: “I gained

confidence and used my interpretingskills to speak to residents.

The experience I gained helped me

in my course and getting involved in

Aksa helped me meet new people

and learn about all the thingsAksa does.”

Pictured:SameerArshad



TheAksa team was on hand to give residentsone-to-one support to compare energyprices and help them to switch suppliers toreduce their bills.

Over the six day tour we:

Spoke to and helped more than200 residents

Gave one-to-one advice onswitching energy suppliers to morethan 150 residents

Helped tenants save a total of £5,400on their fuel bills by switching

Helped customers complete 10Warm Homes discount applications

We also referred customers to ourMoney Care team and the MiNTedservice for more financial support

In November, we ran our ‘Big Energy Saving bus tour’spending a day in each of our six neighbourhoods tohelp you save money on your energy bills.

The tour was also the ideal opportunity for us to promote our newMoney Care service for you - confidential and impartial face-to-face advice and support with debts, benefits and tax credit, fromqualified debt advisors. See page 4 for more information.

Big Energy SavingNetwork, in partnershipwith the Department ofEnergy and ClimateChange gave us£5,000 of funding tohelp us run the event.



In November, we held aTenant Panel recruitmentday to encourage somenew residents to join ourpanel and get involvedwith Aksa Homes.Several of our previous members nowhave new jobs which is brilliant news andafter many residents worked with us forthree years,we thought it’d be nice towelcome some new faces and ideas to the group.

The event was a big success and lots of you came along to hearprevious members,MrsAnwar and Mrs Bibi talk about their journeywith theTenant Panel and how being involved has made a difference totheir lives.

Many people were interested in getting involved and we’re delighted towelcome four new members to the panel.

FarewellWishesWe would like tosay a HUGEthank you andfond farewell toour previouspanel members:

● Kiran Sonya

● Azra Anwar

● Johura Khatun

● Mr Hussain

● Mr Razaq

● Mr Suleman

● Yasmin Ali

We really appreciate all thegreat work you have donewith us and wish you all thebest for the future.

Congratulations to those ofyou who have now got jobs -brilliant news!

NewTenant Panel members:

Sujata Begum, Danielle

Norton and Sajid Hussain

The panel is going to be looking at all yourfeedback from our last customer survey

Panel members are all Aksa tenants like you, so theywill have a good understanding of your views and howwe can use them to make services better for you.

For more information on the survey, see the nexttwo pages.

Warm welcome


★14 Aksa News: Issue 3, 2015

The 2014 customer surveyresults are in!

We’re pleasedto say thatmost of youare happy withour services,but we knowthat there’sroom forimprovement,so we’ll beusing yourfeedback tohelp makethings betterfor you.

We’ll keep youup to date.

OVERALLCUSTOMERSATISFACTION

86%

GOOD NET PROMOTER SCORE(How likely you are to recommend AksaHomes to others)+35

A net promoterscore of +20 isrecommended asgood for a sociallandlord like us,and we got +35

Each year, we run a big customersurvey called the STAR Survey(Survey of Tenants and Residents).Most housing associations do this tocheck how happy their tenants arewith their services and find out whatthey need to improve on.

We really value what you say –both good feedback and thingsyou want us to improve on.

Your views are so important to usand help us to keep making ourservices better for you.



The 2014 customer survey

SATISFIED WITH YOURNEIGHBOURHOOD AS A PLACE TO LIVE83%

THINK AKSA HOMES IS GOOD ATKEEPING YOU INFORMED87%

Last year, we ran our 100 day 'Love yourNeighbourhood' event and arranged loadsof activities in all your neighbourhoods.The event aimed to encourage lots ofpositivity and get residentsmoreinvolved in communities and help usdeliver our promisesmade in theNeighbourhood Plans.

We’ve been keeping you up to date on allour work and activities, using socialmedia. We’ve seen a 362% increase inFacebook reaches and 250,000moreconnections on Twitter.Our IT & Biscuits class has helped lots ofyou get started on social media – readmore on page 18.

INTERESTED INGETTING INVOLVED INWORKANDVOLUNTEERINGOPPORTUNITIES41%

We opened The Launch Pad in February- a business and enterprise hub helpingAksa customers to set up their ownbusiness and accessmore learning andtraining to help get you into work.Seemore on pg 8.

SATISFIED WITH THE QUALITY OFYOUR HOME82%

65% of you say the quality of your homeis important to you.We’re continuingto putmoney into your homes tomake them good quality for you.We’re listening to your feedback on theworkwe do on your homes to keepimproving our services.

The Aksa team willlook at all theinformation you gaveus in this latest surveyalong with yourfeedback from othersmaller surveys toget a bigger pictureof what we need towork on.

We will keep youupdated on what theteam has been doingand improvements thatwe have made for you.

Everyonewho answeredthis customer survey wasentered into a prize drawandwe’re delighted to tellyou that Mr&MrsMumford-Lloyd from

Buckley Street, Uppermillwere our lucky winners!They won £150 inTesco vouchers.

Mr. Buckley with GeorginaNolan (Project Manager)receiving vouchers

We’ve listened to your views ongroundsmaintenance and arenow training ourNeighbourhood NetworkChampions to be Green Chartermonitors. Ourmonitors willhelp us to check up on ourgardening services andmakeimprovements for you.



TeenScene

Teaching TheatreDid you hear about the play we puton at Oldham Coliseum?

Me and five mates have been meeting up at thetheatre every Monday to produce our own play.We did all the work like costume design, budgeting,script writing and lots of other stuff and then we puton our play the other week.

No, what was that?

That sounds awesome,must have been hard work!



Yeah it did but it was worth it☺ We’ve beenlearning about all the stuff that goes on behind thescenes for a bit now – stage decoration, marketing,box office and production. Got some great stuff toput on my CV now.

Sounds brill. It’ll look really good when you gofor jobs, they’ll be well impressed! ;)

Yeah I hope so. I’m really interested in doing moreplays and arty stuff now. You should come alongnext time mate☺

We’re working with Groundwork and ourATeam to set upsome new projects for young people in our neighbourhoods.

We’re looking at some exciting activities such as craftssessions, environmental arts projects and computer gamingsessions where young people can get together.

This work is funded by the Big Lottery Fund and aims toencourage young people to develop good relationships with eachother and their elders in communities.

Watch out for more news on this very soon.

Getting off the Ground

TeachingTheatre was the second project

Aksa Homes has run with Oldham

ColiseumTheatre, giving young people

valuable life skills and experience which

will help them prepare for the world of work.

We look forward to running more projects with the theatre.

Did you know?

Here's a picture of usWhy not take advantage of cheaper theatre tickets,

exclusively for Aksa tenants? See page 2.

Here issome ofthe greatwork alreadystarted



It’s so useful to know how touse the internet nowadays asmany services are now justbased online. So,why not comealong and find out more?

It & Biscuits is currently heldevery week on a Friday morningat theAksa office in Oldham.

We’ll soon be running IT &Biscuits in our Manchesterneighbourhood too, so if youlive in this area and want toknow more, contactTahiraAdam at theAksa office on0161 620 2992.

IT & Biscuitssessions helpyou to get startedon social mediaand learn aboutthe benefits ofbeing online.

IT & Biscuits

The tenants of Bignor Street secured funds fromAksato create an educational garden on the land at theback of the flats.

To help with designing the garden tenants took a tripto award winning New Charter garden projects.

Residents were shown around theStanhope community gardens andYouthBase in Micklehurst.Residents involved inboth projects shared their experiencesand explained how the projects haveevolved.The design is now being finalisedby tenants and the garden is set to bebuilt and open by next month.

The garden will be maintained by theresidents of Bignor Street and will be aspace for them to enjoy.

Kurt Evans,Bignor Street tenant and NeighbourhoodNetwork Champion said: “I am happy thatAksaare willing to support us financially to improve ourarea and really looking forward to making ourgarden a reality.”

New Garden gets the go ahead

residents of Bignor Street and will be a


★19Aksa News: Issue 3, 2015facebook.com/aksahomes @AksaHomes

Everyone found the trip interestingand learnt about why recycling isso important and what they cando as residents to help look afterthe environment.

After the trip,NeighbourhoodNetwork Champions sharedinformation on recycling with theirneighbours.They also translated the

information into different languagesto help get the messages across tomore people.

The ladies’ work has really paid offwith neighbourhoods now lookingmuch cleaner and some of thewomen are now getting involvedwith moreAksa activities too.

11 ladies from Westwoodand Coldhurst took a tripto the recycling plant inSharston to find outwhere our rubbish goesand learn about beingenvironmentally friendly.

Congratulations to all eight residents who’vecompleted their pre-entry level ESOL course inEnglish language.This is a fantastic achievement.

TheTalk English Project, run in partnership withAksa, helps people to improve their Englishlanguage skills, access services, get more involvedin the community and help increase their chancesof getting employment.

Having built their confidence through this course,these tenants are now hoping to enrol on thenext level course to develop their English further.

If you’re interested in English classes,please contactTahiraAdam at theAksaoffice on 0161 620 2992.

information into different languages

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Hats off!

office on



ST Pto Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)

Putting a

ST P“I found the staffdealing with my

complaint to be helpful,courteous, sensitive,

responsive andknowledgeable. I found itvery easy to report my

complaint and I was verysatisfied with howmy complaint was

dealt with.”

“I am reallygrateful for whatAksa has done to

resolve my complaint;my neighbour’sbehaviour ismuch better.”

What do customers sayabout how we deal withanti-social behaviour?

In the last 12 months, AksaHomes has resolved 22 casesof anti-social behaviourreported by customers

What isanti-socialbehaviour?Anti-social behaviour (ASB) isaction which causes nuisance orannoyance to an individual or acommunity. Examples ofASBcan include:

playing loud musicbeing verbally abusiveharassment

threating to or committingacts of violence

damaging or defacing otherpeople’s propertyparking illegally

committing criminal offencesin anAksa property or thelocal area

possessing,manufacturing andselling controlled drugs

Sometimes, anti-social behaviourcan last a long time and cause alot of upset and distress to peopleand their families - but pleasedon’t struggle in silence.We are here to help you.

What can Aksa

do to help?

We treat all reports of

anti-social behaviour in the

strictest confidence.

Once you have reported anti-social

behaviour to us,we will arrange for

you to meet with your

neighbourhood co-ordinator to

discuss it further in a comfortable

environment for you.We can then

agree a joint action plan together

to resolve any issues.

We use lots of different methods

to resolve anti-social behaviour to

get the right result for you.

This could include meetings with

everyone involved/affected,

mediation, issuing written warnings

and cautions and working with the

local police. Where needed,we

also put injunctions in place and

carry out evictions.

We give you the help and support

you need to resolve things.

ContactAksa Homesimmediately -we can help.

You can report anti-social behaviourto us in different ways:

Phone our office:0161 620 2992

Call ourASB hotline(24 hours a day):0800 027 0522

Vist www.aksahomes.co.uk/anti-social-behaviour-and-domestic-abuse/asb-reporting-form

Email: [email protected]

So, what can you doif you’re a victim ofanti-social behaviour?

See page 23for dates andtimes of our StopASB bus tour.



Fun and games!

This is a zigzag word search puzzle.Words go left, right, up, down, notdiagonally, but can bend at a right angle.

There are no unused letters in the grid,every letter is used only once.

Find all the words from this list:

APRIL

BIRDHOUSE

BLOSSOM

BLUE SKY

FRESHNESS

GARDEN

GREEN GRASS

MARCH

MAY

NESTLINGS

SEEDS

SOWING

SUNLIGHT

YOUNG GROWTH

SpringWord SearchWord Search

COLOURMEINCan you addsome colourto theseSpring chicks?


Aksa News: Issue 3, 2015 ★23

Events and classes

Mondays12noon - 2pm

Stepping into Work (Oldham North)At Millenium Centre, Featherstall Road North,Westwood,OL9 6QB

Share skills and experiences, find workopportunities,make contacts, create a CV and getthe support you need to help you into work.

Tuesdays12noon - 2pm

Stepping into Work (Oldham East & South)AtThe Launch Pad,Marlborough Street,Glodwick,Oldham,OL4 1EG


Fridays12noon - 4pm

Stepping into Work (Bury)AtADAB,14 Heywood Street,Bury,BL9 4EA (New venue!)


Wednesdays9.30am - 12noon

Advice Drop-inAtAksa Homes office, 2 Medtia Square,Phoenix Street,Oldham OL1 1AN

Get support with housing, benefits, completingforms and other services.

Thursdays10am - 12noon

Stepping into Work (Manchester)AtWaterloo Centre, 389Waterloo Road,Manchester,M8 9AB



Rent Surgery Drop-inAtAksa Homes office, 2 Medtia Square,Phoenix Street,Oldham OL1 1AN

Get support with housing, benefits, completingforms and other services.


Money CareAtAksa Homes office, 2 Medtia Square,Phoenix Street,Oldham OL1 1AN

Get support with money matters including debtadvice and other services.

Thursdays1pm - 2.30pm

Aksa IT classesAtAksa Homes office, 2 Medtia Square,Phoenix Street,Oldham OL1 1AN

Learn basic IT - how to use a computer, create anemail address and use Microsoft packages e.g.Word and other computer programmes.

Free for all Aksa tenants. Contact us for moreinformation or to book your place.

facebook.com/aksahomes @AksaHomes

Time Where How we can help

Why not tear thisout and stick iton your fridge?

Stop ASB bus tourWe’ll be visiting your neighbourhoodsto give you information and supporton reporting anti-social behaviourand how we can help resolve issues.Look out for our bus! Here’s wherewe’ll be and when:

Tuesday 26th MaySouthbank Road,BuryWednesday 27th MayPeakdaleAvenue,ManchesterThursday 28th MayAllama Iqbal Road/Jinnah Close,OldhamFriday 29th MayArmitage Close,Oldham


Contact us

Resource Housing Reg. No. 2111

Emergency RepairsCall 0161 620 2992 if you need anemergency repair during the following times:

• After 5pm Monday to Wednesday• After 4.30pm on Thursdays• After 4pm on Fridays• During weekends and Bank Holidays

Aksa HomesAksa House, 2 Medtia Square,Phoenix Street, Oldham, OL1 1AN

[email protected]

facebook.com/aksahomes

@AksaHomes

Main Switchboard:0161 620 2992

Tanuja PatelWorks withOldham NorthandAshtonneighbourhoodsand theTenantPanel

VictoriaClark-LeeceWorks in Buryand Manchesterneighbourhoods

ShabanaKosarWorks inOldham Southneighbourhoodand looks after

our work with Oldham ColiseumTheatre and theATeam

John FayWorks inOldham EastneighbourhoodandThe LaunchPad

Tahira AdamLooks after ourStepping intowork and ICANlearningprogramme

Janet HallIs working onNeighbourhoodPlans, yourfeedback fromour customer

survey and House Proud 2 -improving repairs

Jayne Booth(yourNeighbourhoodCo-ordinator)Works with allof the Project

Officers and looks after all of ourhousing management functionsincluding tenancies and anti-socialbehaviour

All of the Project Officerslook after differentneighbourhoods andservices. Here’s who tocontact for the differentareas and activities:

Tanuja Patel Works withOldham Northand Ashtonneighbourhoodsand the TenantPanel

Victoria Clark-LeeceWorks in Buryand Manchesterneighbourhoods

ShabanaKosarWorks in Oldham Southneighbourhood and looks after

our work with Oldham Coliseum

John Fay Works in Oldham Eastneighbourhoodand The LaunchPad

Tahira AdamLooks after ourStepping intowork and ICANlearningprogramme

Tahira Adam

Your Aksa Project OfficersJanet Hall Is working onNeighbourhoodPlans, yourfeedback fromour customer

survey and House Proud 2 -

Jayne Booth (yourNeighbourhood Co-ordinator)Works with all of the Project

Officers and looks after all of our

AKSAHOMES

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aksa news - spring 2015

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