How to get involved
- How to get involved
- Local Offers Challenge Hours
Time commitment 1 hour per session
Local Offers are the new service standards chosen by customers that Derwent Living is monitored against. They allow customers to see exactly how Derwent Living is performing. Through a programme Challenge Hours residents are invited to attend a 1 hour session in their area looking at the performance of Derwent Living in specific geographical areas and also the group as a hole.
Please keep an eye out for a Challenge Hour near you. - Resident associations
Time Commitment Dependent on the group 1 to 2 hours a month
Residents group are formed in local areas and work in partnership with Derwent Living. These groups hold a number of meetings a year including an Annual General Meeting (AGM) and carry out a variety of working including campaigning for local improvements and organising social events. Derwent Living can support you in joining a local group or starting your own. (Full Training and support can be given) - Sheltered Housing Forum
Time Commitment 2 to 3 Hours every 4 months
The forum is open to residents living in retirement housing. The forum looks a specific issues around retirement living and its customers. The forum also organises some social activities and outings. - Home ownership Forum
Time Commitment 2 to 3 Hours every 4 months
The forum is open to customers who own all or part of their home and who pay a service charge. This includes leaseholders, shared owners and right to buys.
The forum looks at ways to improve services for customers while maintaining service charges that provide value for money. The forum also provides opportunities to share information and develop strong relationships between customers and Derwent Living. - Review Groups/Forums
Time Commitment 2 to 3 Hours every 4 months (there may be additional time require on a ad hoc basis depending on the group/forum)
Housing Management and Anti social Behaviour Forum
Membership is open to all customers and looks specifically at the services provided by Housing management. It also looks at the processes of reporting, monitoring and dealing with Anti Social Behaviour and also monitors the local offers relating to this Forum.
Design and Environment Forum
Membership is open to all customers and looks specifically at the design and building programme of new properties. The forum also looks at ways the Derwent Living and its customers can develop and support environmental ideas and projects across the group.
Asset Management Forum
Membership is open to all customers and looks specifically at the day to day reactive repairs and planned improvement service. The forum looks at ways to improve and shape current and future services and is involved in set realistic goals and targets. The group also monitors the local offers relating to this forum.
Customer Service improvement Group
Membership is open to all customers and looks specifically at the Derwent Livings Customer Services and Complaints process. The forum looks at ways to improve and shape current and future services and also monitors the local offers relating to this forum.
Derwent life editorial panel
Membership is open to all customers and looks specifically at Derwent life newsletter. The group holds a review of each issue and helps to plan future issues. - Surveys
Time commitment 20 to 30 minutes but can be less
Derwent Living sends out a variety of surveys on an ad hoc basis though out the year. All you need to do is take a small amount of time to fill one in and send it back to us. You an also register to take part in text surveys. Again these happen on an adhoc basis and only take a few seconds to do. - Community Volunteer Team
Time commitment can vary depending upon the customer choice and area of the business being looked at.
The Community Volunteer Team inspects housing schemes other than their own to assess areas such as landscaping and cleaning services also void property standards. (Full Training and support can be given) - Reading Panel
Time commitment 1 to 2 hours on an ad hoc basic when required.
This panel is for customers who what to be involved but are short on time or do not like to travel around. The panel reviews and checks documents ensure that they are customer friendly and easy to understand. - Training
Time commitment Hours will vary depending on the course.
Derwent living is dedicated to providing a wide range of training opportunities for its customers. Along side training provide for Derwent Livings panel and forums it also offers courses in thing such as Getting your message across , how's and whys of policy , involving everyone and residents involvement pulling it together. In addition we can also source training from other providers and arrange one –to-one coaching and mentoring. Please contact the team for a full picture of the training and practical learning programme. - The Board
Time commitment 2 to 3 Hours per month.
Derwent Living Board meets on a regular basis to monitor and review service performance and plan new services and the group's strategy.
As a Board member you will make an important contribution whilst gaining valuable business experiences. (Full Training and support will be given) - Cinema, Football & Theatre Groups
Time commitment is 1 hour per session. Groups happen though out the year.
These are consultation groups looking at a verity of different topics across Derwent Living group. Residents are invited to comment on the current topic and are rewarded with cinema, football or theatre ticket. - Social Media
Time commitment 1 hour to 1 minute but may vary depending upon the customer or topic being discussed.
Derwent Living provides it customers with a verity of ways to get involved either via the internet or mobile phone. You can keep up to date with the latest news from Derwent Living via its web site, facebook or twitter pages and also post your comments on them. We also provide residents with the opportunity to be involved in the groups online E Forum were residents from across the region can be involved in an online consultation group discussing current topics that effect customers. We also provide residents with the opportunity to comment via their phone in one of our text surveys. - Scrutiny Team
Time Commitment 1 day per month
The role of the Scrutiny Team is to assess service performance and when needed to hold Derwent Living to account for weakness in service delivery.
The team looks at the performance of the group against agreed targets and objectives including the group's local offers. (Full Training and support will be given) - Strategic Group
Time Commitment 2 to 3 Hours every 4 months.
The Strategic Group is exactly what it says. The group takes part in strategic decision making while challenging Derwent livings performance and decisions. The group also helps to review and shape policies and helping Derwent living achieve value for money. (Full Training and support will be given)
We have lots of opportunities for you to be involved so you can shape our services to meet your needs.
Here are some of the involvement opportunities currently on offer. They are constantly being improved and updated. So Contact us, together we can find the best way to suit your particular interest and availability. Whether you’d like to attend regular meetings or just answer occasional email surveys, there are ways you can be involved that suit you.
Whilst you get involved, you will not be out of pocket as we will all reasonable expenses.
How you can be involved in making decisions
The types of decisions you can be involved in making fall into three areas;
• Strategic and policy decisions
• Tenure specific decisions
• Local area based decisions
Depending on your interests and preferences for involvement there are various ways in which you can help to influence and make decisions. They are open to all customers who wish to join.
This chart shows the way resident involvement is structured.
Strategic and policy decisions
At Derwent living we aim to involve you at the heart of the decisions making process and on the issues that will have the greatest impact on all our customers.
As part of their role the many of our forums and panels look at and make decisions on Derwent’s strategies and polices, affecting the services received by all our customers and the future direction of the business.
Tenure specific decisions
Some of the decisions that you can make may affect a particular group or tenure such as leaseholders for example. If you want to be involved in making decisions relating to your tenure group or service area there are options for involvement.
Local area based decisions
Often customers feel that the most important decisions they can make are those that directly affect their neighbourhood. To influence the decisions that are made at a local level there are involvement options available, some of these will vary between areas.
We not only want to hear what you have to say we want you to help drive change.
The Resident involvement strategy 2011-2014 sets out our approach to involvement.
