E-bulletin July 2010

Hello there - and welcome to our latest Chief Executive and Chairman's e-bulletin.

We aim to bring you the top stories from Plus Dane Group and to demonstrate the real impact that our neighbourhood investor philosophy is having on the ground. We hope that you enjoy reading our e-bulletin. If you have any comments, or would like to find out more about our work, please contact us.

Best wishes

Ken Perry                                                                               John Pollard
Chief Executive                                                                        Chairman

Tenants award £32 million contract

Twelve Plus Dane tenants from Merseyside and Cheshire have played a leading role in awarding a £32 million repairs, gas and maintenance service contract for 7,000 of our Merseyside properties. The team gave up 250 days of their time to make the decision on who will deliver the service, working independently to read tenders, interview competing teams and visit work sites and call centres, and chose to award the contract to Plus Dane’s existing in-house trades team in Cheshire. A new Plus Dane trades team in Liverpool has now been formed. The deal safeguards more than 60 jobs and 11 apprentice roles.

Anne Ward leaves Plus Dane Group

All of us at Plus Dane extend the warmest of wishes to Anne Ward, who stepped down from her current role as Chief Integration Office on 9th July after 43 years of dedicated service to the social housing sector. Anne set up Dane Housing (Congleton) Ltd, the first housing transfer organisation in Cheshire in 1998. She then oversaw the successful merger of Dane with Merseyside and Lancashire based Plus Housing group of Merseyside in 2008, creating the Plus Dane group and the establishment of the group’s innovative Neighbourhood investor (Ni) brand and vision.

Anne is moving into a new life that includes sharing her long experience of housing as a non-executive board member, spending more time travelling and having more opportunity to devote to her many interests. Anne is a great leader and a women of vision and integrity, who as Chief Executive of Dane Housing transformed the quality of life for many people. She leaves our new Group in great shape for the future and we would like to thank her for her massive contribution to the neighbourhoods we serve and wish her well in the next stage of her life.

Liverpool to host carbon cutting project

Toxteth has been chosen to host a trial of cutting edge ‘Smart Grid’ technology that will improve the reliability and quality of electricity supplies, as well as helping to increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. The area was awarded the SmartGrid project after a team, led by The Mersey Partnership, Plus Dane Group and Liverpool City Council, put forward a bid to host the national trial. The project, which is one of the first in Britain, will be led by Scottish Power Energy Networks and will deliver a number of benefits to electricity customers and the environment, as well as boosting the economy by supporting further investment in green technologies. It also brings new IT and communications technology into the power-supply system.

Plus Harvest Developments exceeds annual targets

Plus Harvest Developments, a major partnership of 16 developing housing associations set up in 2005 to widen the supply and choice of homes in rural and urban environments across the North West, has exceeded all its annual targets. As a result, PHD has automatically pre-qualified as an investment partner for the final year of the programme. This is a great result, particularly in the challenging economic climate, and demonstrates the real value that can be added through strong and successful partnership working.

Everybody Online launches Taste for Teaching project

Plus Dane’s digital inclusion project, Everybody Online, has launched a new ICT project aimed at schools across Liverpool. The Taste for Teaching project offers pupils the opportunity to turn teacher and use their ICT skills to demonstrate the benefits of the internet to their peers and other members of the community, with the first school to achieve 3 learning modules set to receive a £5,000 ICT grant.

Retrofit project helps schoolchildren in Wavertree learn about “going green”

Schoolchildren from Heygreen Community Primary School are taking part in a series of innovative arts workshops to help them learn about the importance of “going green”, with the help of Plus Dane Group. The project is underway as part of the Retrofit for the Future scheme, a national £17 million programme that aims to demonstrate how green technologies can make existing homes more energy efficient and reduce carbon emissions.

Following a fantastic response, a family has now been chosen to take an active part in the project over a two year period. Local artist and lecturer Diane McLoughlin and her family will live in the property once its renovation is complete, and will help to record and monitor the way it works. Through her professional interest in arts education, Diane has played a key role in encouraging the involvement of the local school and has led the development of the arts project, which will enable children to explore their own ideas of what an eco-home is.

Plus Dane celebrates Refugee Week

As part of our commitment to celebrating and promoting equality and diversity throughout our neighbourhoods, Plus Dane was pleased to support Refugee Week during June, which offered a unique opportunity to discover and celebrate the contributions refugees bring to the wider community. We marked this year’s celebrations with 2 key events, the first of which took place at Anne Conway House, one of our specialist Supporting Housing projects that provides housing related support services to young single homeless people from the BME community.

One display at the project on the day was a wide range of cultural food for staff and key stakeholders alike to sample from refugee communities and the display of colourful clothing worn by refugees, along with memoirs and stories.

A community event was also organised at Crawford House, which was attended by a large number of refugees from many countries, members of the local community, representatives from social services, the PCT, local councillors and MPs Louse Ellman and Steve Rotherham. The level of support was a great demonstration of the importance placed by organisations across the city on the provision of support services to the local asylum and refugee community.

Credit union launched in Congleton

Through an innovative partnership between the Cheshire Neighbours credit union and Plus Dane, a new credit union has been launched in Congleton, offering a wide range of range of credit services for the benefit of local people, particularly those who may be financially excluded and unable to access credit elsewhere. The Cheshire Neighbours project, based out of Plus Dane’s offices at Shepherds Mill in Congleton, will provide a real alternative to people who are financially excluded, offering low cost loans and providing a means of helping people to save for the longer term.