on yer bike!
Filed Under Country Curtain | Posted on January 18, 2008
When a young child told Doncaster man Jim Tierney he didnt have a bike it set Jim off on an award winning journey.
Jim, who lives in Denaby, South Yorkshire, and is chairman of the Craganour Tenants and Residents Association (TARA), collected bits of old bikes to make one for this child.
It all started about 15 months ago and Jim decided to continue recycling bikes until every child on the estate had one. Together with a team of residents, he worked hard towards achieving this under the Craggy Cycles recycling bikes project. The team have also sent a number of recycled bikes to Romania and Africa for youngsters there.
Jim said: The project isnt just me, it revolves around lots of people. People who bring me old bikes to recycle, Paul Skelton who helps with the bikes, and who teaches others how to repair them, and others. They are all fantastic and help the project so much. The local councillors and the MP also support this project.
And as the initiative goes from strength to strength, the Craganour TARA has picked up around five awards for the project the latest being the green project award in the TPAS Connecting People Awards held in Manchester in October. The project now goes through to compete on a national level hoping to become overall winners nationwide for this category.
The bike initiative, together with the Craganour TARA, is fully supported by St Leger Homes of Doncaster the organisation that manages more than 21,000 properties for Doncaster Council the Doncaster Federation of Tenants and Residents Associations and the local media, who have put out pleas for old bikes.
A tenants and residents association (TARA) or a tenants club can provide one of the best ways for tenants and residents to become involved in the decision making processes that affect their lives and the development of their local communities.
St Leger Homes of Doncaster encourages the formation of associations and clubs and offers full support and advice to groups who are already established and to groups that are thinking about setting up. The groups are nonpolitical.
Lyn Ralph, the chair of Doncasters Federation of Tenants and Residents Associations, explained: There are more than 70 tenants and residents associations and tenants clubs in Doncaster. The groups join together, or are affiliated, under the umbrella title of the Doncaster Federation of Tenants%26#39; and Residents%26#39; Associations. Representatives from the federation volunteers elected every year by association and club members meet together as the Standing Joint Committee of the Doncaster Federation of Tenants%26#39; and Residents Associations%26#39;. The committee is better known by its abbreviated title the SJC. The SJC meets regularly to discuss local and national housing issues and meets with St Leger Homes and Doncaster Councils senior officers and discuss a wide range of issues including diversity, recycling, repairs, grounds maintenance and much more.
St Leger Homes of Doncaster consults formally with the SJC on a monthly basis to ensure that the views of tenants and residents are recognised and included in all aspects of housing management, added Lyn. Members of the SJC are also actively involved in numerous other community partnership initiatives.
St Leger Homes of Doncaster, an arms length management organisation, was created by Doncaster Council in October 2005. It recently was awarded a good two-star rating following an Audit Commission inspection.
This two star rating means it can, and is, unlocking the multi-million pound funding necessary to deliver Doncasters Decent Homes Programme. Again, a project tenants are being consulted on. In fact, the tenants and residents associations played a vital role in designing the specifications for the new fittings under the Decent Homes Programme and continue to remain central in the communication process.
The Decent Homes Programme is a huge refurbishment scheme that will improve many peoples quality of life and bring the quality of Doncasters housing up to, and beyond, the Governments Decent Homes Standard.
Martin Musgrave, chief executive of St Leger Homes of Doncaster, explained: We are working in partnership with seven construction partners on this project. Over the coming years %26pound;300 million will be invested into Doncaster council homes ensuring they meet, and exceed, this set standard.
Work on homes can include new kitchens, bathrooms, windows and doors, new fireplaces, rewiring and central heating.
The partners are Bramall Construction, Henry Boot Construction and Wates Living Space, while the window and doors are done by The Kier Group, Anglian Windows and Doors, Nationwide Windows and Sovereign Group.
Tenants are regularly communicated with prior to work starting and are invited to a Choice Event. Here, if their home has been chosen for a new kitchen, bathroom, fireplace or door they can go and choose the ones they like from a varied selection.
One tenant who has benefited from the Decent Homes Programme already is Eunice Langley of Skellow in Doncaster. She had a new kitchen, bathroom, fireplace, windows and doors, boiler and her home rewired.
Eunice (76), who has lived in her home for around 40 years, and who raised her three children there, loves her new home especially her kitchen.
I love my new kitchen because there is more cupboard space and the colour is much lighter, she said. The bathroom and fireplace are lovely too.
St Leger Homes is also working on a range of other projects one of them is to turn void or empty houses into homes. So far, the organisation has transformed 58 empty houses. In one case two small empty bungalows were knocked into one to help a Doncaster family.
Mum-of-three Yvonne Randall was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in June 2003 and is now heavily dependent on a wheelchair to carry out her day-to-day business. She struggled to get around her old home, but St Leger Homes converted the two empty bungalows into one, making the home big enough for Yvonne and her family. Yvonne can also easily manoeuvre around in her wheelchair.
Yvonne said: This bungalow makes life a lot easier. Its given me a new lease of life.
Another way St Leger Homes is working to transform properties is to join forces with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) to invite suitable designs for extending and adapting one bedroom bungalows in the borough.
St Leger Homes manages around 3,000 such properties. The bungalows typically have small kitchens and bathrooms and as people live longer and have more active lives, these properties are increasingly unsuitable and undesirable for tenants.
The call for designs is being run by RIBA as a competition for architects across the country. Four successful entrants will be shortlisted to produce concept design proposals. This competition process has produced landmark buildings and structures such as BALTIC, The Sage Gateshead and the Millennium Bridge in London. Lyn Ralph, the chair of the Doncaster Federation is included on the jury and will help to choose the design.
Martin Musgrave added: We are dedicated to providing quality homes for council tenants in Doncaster and we are always looking at new and different ways to achieve this. By joining forces with a respected body such as RIBA we hope we can attract the finest architectural minds to Doncaster and really improve the accommodation on offer.
As you can see we are constantly striving to improve the quality of all of our services and always value the support, advice and views contributed by our tenants.
Lyn Ralph added: We have had feedback from our tenants to say we are getting improvements in services from St Leger Homes we are delighted with these improvements.
Tags: becom, cog, diversity, doors, new fire, refurbishment, s child, windows and doors, youngstersRelated posts
Leave a Reply