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Summer2019 Newsletter

New Possibilities Programme Launch! See pages 4 & 5

Free photo 92429214 © creativecommonsstockphotos - Dreamstime.com

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Pg 3 Latest News

Pgs 4 New Possibilities & 5 Programme - it’s here! Find out all about our new scheme and how to apply

Pg 6 Lets Talk Rubbish—the Council launches new recycling A to Z

Pg 7 How are we going? - key performance data for 2018-19

Pg 8 Children’s party ideas on a budget - kids parties don’t have to be expensive

Pg 9 Summer Events—free and low cost events coming up this summer

Pg 10 Training & Development - a selection of free and low cost training opportunities available In the city

Pg 11 Get Involved - did you know about the tenant gardening and decorating schemes available?

Pg 12 Money Matters—working and receiving Universal Credit

Pg 13 Healthy Recipe Ideas— quick and easy recipe ideas that won’t break the bank

Pg 14 Kids Corner—puzzles to keep the kids entertained

Pg 15 Puzzles - make a cuppa, put your feet up and get your thinking cap on

If you have any comments, news stories or items you would like

to see included in this news-letter, please email:

info@seaside-homes.org.uk

Or phone: 01273 732061 and speak to a member of the

team

In this Issue ……..

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NEW Anti-Litter Team

On Monday 8th April 2019, the

Council’s new Anti-Litter Team

began work in the city. Officers can

now issues fines, known as Fixed

Penalty Notices of £75 for littering and £300 for

fly-tipping.

In the two weeks prior to the scheme’s launch,

officers approached over 1,000 members of the

public issuing friendly warnings about disposing of

their litter properly.

Action will be taken for leaving unwanted items on

the street, placed beside bins and against smokers

who drop cigarette butts on the floor or down the

drain.

DON’T GET FINED—Please dispose of your rubbish

properly or take it home with you.

City shortlisted for Britain’s Best Walking Neighbourhood Award 2019

Local residents and visitors to the city are being encouraged to vote for Brighton & Hove for Britain's Best Walking Neighbourhood Award 2019.

Announcing the finalists, The Ramblers stated that the city was shortlisted because of its great access to green spaces, the seafront and specifically the strong community engagement in making its streets lively and full of events, art, things to see and places to go.

The famous seafront promenades and undercliff walks provide 13km of off-road walking for residents and visitors and 40% of the city is within the South Downs National Park. The City also boast around 147 parks including heritage parks, playing fields and green spaces. Of our major parks, seven have been awarded Green Flags by the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign.

Every vote counts, so give Brighton & Hove the best chance of winning and encourage your friends, family, colleagues and neighbours to cast their votes.

Voting is open until 30 June with the winner set to be announced on 10 July.

Vote at: https://mailchi.mp/ramblers.org.uk/bbwna

Book an Explorer Pass and you could save up to 35% at the city's top all-weather attractions.

Brighton Explorer Passes are valid for 30 days from first redemption and can be booked online.

The Brighton Explorer Pass includes British Airways i360; Sea Life Brighton and the Royal Pavilion so whatever the weather you can keep the whole family entertained...

www.britishairwaysi360/plan-your-visit

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Seaside’s New Possibilities Programme

Yoga or pottery

classes… ?

Improve my

IT skills?

Join the lunch

club?

i360 or

Sealife

Centre…? I must fix my bike!

Our New Possibilities Programme is designed to help break down the practical barriers that can prevent our tenants from taking part in activities or education that will have a positive impact on the happiness and mental wellbeing of themselves and their families.

The programme reflects the national “Five Ways to Wellbeing” campaign that has been adopted locally by the NHS and Brighton & Hove City Council.

Tenants are invited to apply for funding to cover the cost of an activity that is linked to the “Five Ways to Wellbeing”:

CONNECT- when it comes to wellbeing, other people matter. Building connections will support

and enrich you every day

BE ACTIVE - being active is great for both your physical and mental wellbeing as well as

improving your fitness

KEEP LEARNING - learning new skills can give you a sense of achievement & improve self

confidence

TAKE NOTICE - be mindful of the world around you and understand

yourself better. Learn to relax by taking up yoga or tai chi

GIVE BACK - give to others… even the smallest act of kindness counts.

Volunteer your time or join a community group

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Full details and T&Cs can be found on our website www.seaside-homes.org.uk/newpossibilitiesprogramme

Here are just a few examples:

The cost of attending a course, some training or a series of classes

Transport to an event or an activity

Holiday clubs for children

Classes and equipment for children (eg: swimming lessons, football club)

School trip

Entry to a venue for a day out

Entrance to a lunch club or other social event

What sort of things will the New Possibilities Programme pay for?

How do I apply?

There will be four funding rounds per year, each open for a period of one month. The first funding round starts….

1st July 2019 (closing date for applications 31st July 2019)

To get your application form either visit our website on:

www.seaside-homes.org.uk or call: 01273 732061

How will Seaside decide who gets funding?

On receipt of your application, a member of staff will check that the application is complete, signed and fits the criteria

Shortly after the closing date, all complete applications will be reviewed by the tenant engagement team:

The team will be looking for applications that have a positive impact on happiness and wellbeing and relate to one (or more) of the “Five Ways to wellbeing”

Successful applicants will be chosen by the tenant engagement team. Seaside’s decision is final

Feedback will be provided to all applicants within 14 days of the closing date. If you are not successful, you are welcome to make a different application in the future.

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Recycling is a hot topic at the moment, particularly in relation to plastic and the impact it’s having on wildlife and our planet.

Every day the Council’s recycling crews collect from around 12,000 homes across the city!

Here’s a quick reminder of what can and can’t be recycled:

Fly-tipping is the illegal dumping of waste, items or materials. This includes anything from

putting a TV on the pavement to dumping a van’s contents in the countryside.

Some people may not think they are doing anything wrong when they fly-tip, but it is a

CRIMINAL OFFENCE which can carry an unlimited fine. STOP NOW!

• Cans and tins (rinsed and empty)

• Aerosols (empty—lid removed)

• Cardboard (flattened)

• Paper including magazines, flyers, directories

and envelopes with windows

• Plastic bottles (washed and squashed)

• Metal jar lids

You can also recycle the following items but please separate them:

• Glass bottles & jars (washed with lids removed)

• Household batteries (in a clear bag on top of your box/wheelie bin)

The following items cannot currently be put out for road side recycling in our area:

• Plastic pots, tubs or food trays

• Plastic bags

• Food waste

• Tin foil

• Foil wrapping paper (or glitter covered cards & wrapping paper)

Household electrical items, paint, wood, clothing etc can be recycled at local recycling points and the two main recycling centres in Wilson Avenue in Brighton and Old Shoreham Road in Hove.

Brighton & Hove City Council have launched

an A to Z guide which shows how you can

reduce, re-use and recycle 180 different items

and materials.

Visit www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/recycling

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94.78%

Rent Collection

2018/19

106 Properties

Re-let during

2018/19

Seaside Homes properties are managed by the Temporary Accommodation Team at Brighton & Hove City Council and our repairs are undertaken by Mears, the Council’s principal contractor.

Based on the information provided by our Managing Agents, here is a summary of performance for 2018-19

During 2018/19 a total of 193 tenants completed a customer satisfaction survey following a repair at their property. Of those, 188 tenants responded that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the work that had been carried out. 97.4%

Thank you to K&T Heating

Services for achieving 100%

compliance for 2018/19!

Ensuring that all Seaside

Homes properties have an up

to date gas safety certificate

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Paddle Round the Pier 6th & 7th July 2019 —Hove Lawns, Hove

Brighton Craft Fair 27th July 2019 - Friends Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton

Luna Beach Cinema 31st July to 18th August 2019—for full details visit: www.lunabeachcinema.com

Pride Parade 3rd August 2019 — for full route details visit: www.brighton-pride.org

Fun Dog Show 11th August 2019—Hove Park

Antiques, Vintage & Collectables Fair 25th August 2019—Brighton Racecourse

Fiery Foods Festival 6th to 8th September 2019 — Kings Road by the i360

National Speed Trials 7th September 2019— Madeira Drive, Brighton

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Our Tenant Engagement Team are always on the look out for free and low cost training courses

in the local area. If you would like to hear about upcoming courses why not sign up to our SMS

alert service (www.seaside-homes.org.uk/smsalerts/) and we’ll text you as and when they

come up! Here are just a few courses that are due to start soon:

If you would like to apply for funding assistance to attend a training course, call the tenant

engagement team on: 01273 732061 or find out more details by visiting:

www.seaside-homes.org.uk/newpossibilitiesprogramme

Cooking on a Budget (Course)

Start Date: 18th July 2019 or 15th August 2019

Duration: 5 Weeks—Thursdays 10am to 12.30

Organiser: Brighton & Hove Food Partnership

www.bhfood.org.uk/events or: 01273 234806

Drawing on Location

Date: Saturday 20th July 2019

Duration: 10.30am to 2.30pm

Organiser: The Friends Centre, Brighton

www.friendscentre.org. or: 01273 810210

Sewing Workshop

Date: Wednesday 24th July 2019

Duration: 10.00am to 3.00pm

Organiser: The Friends Centre, Brighton

www.friendscentre.org. or: 01273 810210

Old Spice Cookery Group (Course)

Start Date: 19th September 2019

Duration: 5 weeks—Thursdays 10.30 to 1.00pm

Organiser: Brighton & Hove Food Partnership

www.bhfood.org.uk/events or: 01273 234806

Emergency First Aid for Teens & Adults

Date: Thursday 25th July 2019

Duration: 10.00am to 1.00pm

Organiser: The Friends Centre, Brighton

www.friendscentre.org. or: 01273 810210

Internet Essentials 50+ (Free)

Date: Various

Duration: 6 weeks—Fridays 10am to 12 noon

Organiser: Age UK with Digital Brighton & Hove

Telephone: 01273 720603

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Tel: 01273 732061

Email: info@seaside-homes.org.uk

The Board of Seaside Homes has set aside a small

discretionary fund to assist tenants. If you have a

project or problem that Seaside Homes may be able to

help with contact us on: 01273 732061 or email:

info@seaside-homes.org.uk . Applications will be

considered on a case-by-case basis.

Did you know that Seaside Homes offers both a gardening and decorating scheme for tenants?

Although it is your responsibility to maintain your home and garden, we appreciate that this can be difficult for a variety of reasons. This

may be your first home and you lack the necessary gardening/decorating tools or you may struggle to carry out such works due to

ill health or frailty.

Our schemes offer two options; decorating vouchers or basic gardening tools for those who can carry out the work themselves. Or, for those who are physically unable to carry out such works we offer assistance

to get works done.

For full details about both schemes visit:

www.seaside-homes.org.uk or call: 01273 732061

and talk to a member of our team to request your application form

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Are you struggling to pay your rent? Don’t ignore

the problem;

We can help

Please call 01273

294400 (option 2) and speak to a member of the

Credit Control Team

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Summer Fish

Stew

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 25 mins

Total: 35 mins

Serves: 4 people

If you have a healthy and easy recipe you

would like to share, please email it to us at:

tenants@seaside-homes.org.uk

Rainbow Fruit Skewers

These vitamin-packed fruit skewers are a simple, colourful

and fun way to get the kids to eat fruit. Plus, they’ll love

helping you to make them!

Take 7 wooden skewers and thread the following fruit

onto each—1 raspberry, 1 strawberry, 1 cube of mango, 1

chuck of pineapple, 1 chuck of kiwi, 1 green and 1 red grape

and finish off with 2 blueberries.

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Can you spot the 10 differences?

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Make a cuppa, put your feet up and get your

thinking cap on!

Difficult Medium

How many words can you

make from the letters in the

wheel? Each word must

contain the centre hub letter B.

There are at least 15 words

including one 9 letter word.

Avoid proper nouns

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Seaside’s properties are managed

by Brighton & Hove City Council’s

Temporary Accommodation Team.

As our managing agents, they are

your first point of contact:

Temporary Accommodation Team:

01273 294400 then select one of

the following options:

Housing Officers:

Option 3, then option 1

Credit Control Team:

Option 2

Anti-Social Behaviour:

Option 3, then option 2

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Other Useful Numbers

Mears Repairs Helpdesk

0800 052 6140 or

01273 294409 (landline)

BHCC.repairs@mearsgroup.co.uk

Noise Nuisance

01273 292929

Adaptations (Access Point)

01273 295555

Citizens Advice Bureau

0845 120 3710

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For more information about

Seaside Homes, training and

events, getting involved and lots

more, visit out website:

www.seaside-homes.org.uk

As a tenant it is your responsibility to keep the keys

for your property in a safe place.

To avoid the chance of being locked out, why not

give a spare key to a relative or friend just in case

of emergencies.

Please be aware, if you do

lose your keys, you are

responsible for the cost of

replacement keys. The

same applies for lost door

fobs.

Keep your keys safe!