Communities Community investment
Creating places where customers want to live means investing in services which are broader than purely a landlord service. We define community investment as the work we do alongside people and communities to help them thrive.
Our community investment offer includes in-house tenancy sustainment and financial skills services as well as external partnerships with local organisations who provide targeted community support for GSA customers through activities, guidance, and specialist programmes.
We want our customers to be involved in telling us what it important to them and agreeing the types of activity we focus on. We will gather views through surveys and work with the Customer Panel to run focus groups to gain greater insight into the priorities in each area.
We also work with our suppliers to link employment and skills, volunteering, resources and other opportunities they can offer to our community investment work.
Community investment projects that we are currently delivering include:
Community Impact Fund
We run a Community Impact Fund through which we award grants of up to £1000 to community groups and organisations whose projects benefit GreenSquareAccord customers and their local communities.
Visit our Community Impact Fund page to find out more and apply for a grant.
Hall Green Communities
Our Hall Green Communities programme aims to connect Hall Green residents of all ages to the support, activities and services they need close to home. This work is funded by Birmingham City Council and Birmingham Children’s Partnership.
Through the Neighbourhood Network Scheme (NNS) and Families & Early Help projects, we’re connecting people, agencies and community partners who are working to support children, families and older adults in the Sparkbrook, Sparkhill, Balsall Heath, Moseley, Kings Heath and Hall Green areas of Birmingham.
The Hall Green Communities website has more details about the programmes.
Early Help - Selly Oak Families
Also based in Birmingham and funded by Birmingham Children’s Partnership, our Selly Oak teams support children, young people, and families in the constituency through:
- Sharing information and connecting people to local services, community groups and activities.
- Providing support and guidance through telephone support, email and social media.
- Strengthening community capacity to support Early Help through training and Early Help Assessments.
- Connecting families to extra support via the Family Connect approach.
- Co-ordinating Emergency Food Assistance grants of £100 per families in need with children.
Call, text or WhatsApp us on 07483 090434 or email SellyOak.Families@greensquareaccord.co.uk for more information.
Planning for Real
Planning for Real is our nationally renowned community planning process that helps communities have a real say about what happens in their neighbourhoods.
We help communities design and run programmes of community engagement so that their voice can be heard on topics such as neighbourhood planning, new housing and regeneration projects and the provision of services.
We offer a range of techniques for community engagement, but we’re most well-known for our exclusive Planning for Real process. The community planning process is based on a 3D model, which allows residents to register their views on a range of issues and work together to identify priorities. In partnership with local agencies, the community can go on to develop an action plan for change.
You can find more on our Planning for Real website.
Financial Skills and Tenancy Sustainment
If you need extra help to manage your money, we can support you through our tenancy support service. Our Financial Skills and Tenancy Sustainment team can help you:
- Set a household budget.
- Apply for benefits.
- Secure charitable grants and hardship funds.
- Apply for fuel vouchers.
Contact us to find out more about our tenancy support service.
Community Centres and buildings
GreenSquareAccord own two community centres in Oxford, The Venue@Cowley, managed by the Ark-T Centre and Northway Community Centre which is managed by a voluntary board of trustees.
We are also part of the Leys Housing Consortium in Oxford, sharing a commitment to support community initiatives. GreenSquareAccord and Catalyst Housing Association own five community buildings on the estate and co-fund a community co-ordinator post.
