Customer Promises
Our promises show our customers what they can expect from us. We aim to keep our promises when you get in touch, and when you receive or take part in any of our services or opportunities.
To create the promises, we listened to our customers to understand what’s important to them, and what they expect about the services they receive from South Yorkshire Housing Association. We were also led by the Together with Tenants charter, which was created to support Housing Associations to strengthen their relationship with their customers. Find out more about the charter.
We’re now working on making sure that the promises are embedded in all of our services, and our new Customer Scrutiny Group will support us to monitor how we’re doing and to look for opportunities to improve.
Growing communities
We are listening to people in Canklow to find out what they love about the area, and what they’d change. We’ve worked with the community and local organisations to bring their ideas to life – including creating events, and starting a pop-up cafe!
Find out more about what we’ve been doing, and how to get involved.
Moments of Joy
Since March 2020, residents living in our extra-care homes have enjoyed over 150 Moments of Joy sessions, including dance classes in the garden, performances streamed on iPads, live theatre acts, and even performances from world–class musicians who would normally have been touring with international orchestras.
There have been almost 3,000 attendances and one customer described the experience of music performances “like falling in love again”. Lots of family members have also seen a huge difference in the wellbeing of their loved ones as a result of the sessions. This has been a brilliant collaboration between our Age Better in Sheffield and our extra care schemes, and we hope that the joy and memories continue to live on for residents.
Customers lead new research project
Last year, our Customer Collaboration Team launched a peer research project to find out more about our customers’ experiences during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The aim of this research was to understand the ways that life changed for customers due to the challenges of the pandemic, to enhance our knowledge of what matters to customers, and to connect with each other during a time of uncertainty where neighbourliness and community was needed more than ever.
A team of volunteer customers were at the heart of delivering the peer research project and received training on how to carry out phone interviews, how to have good conversations, and how to manage any challenges.
All of our customers were contacted to see if they would like to share their experiences, and, after many insightful conversations, our volunteers were able to theme their discussions around what matters to customers. These themes including inequality, the future, societal impacts of the pandemic, quality services, and mental health and wellbeing.
The research has already started to influence and shape our work, and a full report is going to be shared in the coming months. You will be able to find the report on our website.
If you are interested in volunteering with us, get in touch on volunteering@syha.co.uk, call 0114 2900 244, or view our latest volunteer roles on our careers site.
Funding brilliant ideas
Our Beaufort Project recently welcomed three new chickens. Judith, Nester and Chickpea look like they’ve settled into their new home!
At an employee event, Adele (Project Lead at the Beaufort Project) told us all about how the chickens would bring some joy and promote good wellbeing for our customers. We were very happy to use money from our fundraising to purchase the chickens and the coop, alongside funding some other great ideas close to the hearts of our people, customers and communities. Thank you to everyone that took part!
If you’ve got an idea for your community, get in touch with us to talk about our Neighbourhood Grants.
Our grants have funded our customers’ events, projects and initiatives, including litter picking groups, a Halloween street party, children’s activity packs, and more.
Contact us on volunteering@syha.co.uk or call 0114 2900 200.
