02-FEB-07
Bolton at Home's award winning commitment to put customers at the heart of efforts to improve housing in the borough has earnt the organisation a cash boost to share its good practice with other regions.
Bolton will manage £100,000, awarded by the Housing Corporation, to share with other Beacon authorities in Carrick, Croydon and Kirklees, and build on its successful Beacon work over the last year.
This new funding will allow Bolton at Home to share its knowledge of improving housing services through engaging local communities, across the social housing sector. A key part of achieving this will be through delivering training and mentoring support in other areas of the country, including Birmingham, Norwich and Brighton.
Noel Spencer MBE, Chair of Bolton at Home, and Councillor Akhtar Zaman, Bolton Council Executive Member for Regeneration, said in a joint statement: "We are very proud to be recognised nationally for our commitment to place customers at the heart of our housing service. We are delighted this funding award will allow Bolton to contribute towards successful customer involvement in other areas of the country.'
The announcement follows Bolton's Beacon Conference at the Reebok Stadium in November, which played host to visiting housing organisations, local organisations and tenants from across the country. The event showcased how the organisation works with customers to improve housing services borough-wide, providing visitors with an opportunity to take away knowledge to apply to their own areas.
Bolton at Home, through Bolton Council, was chosen as one of just four organisations in the country to receive the Beacon award for 'Improving Housing Services by Involving Tenants' last March.
This was Bolton's third housing-related Beacon award in recent years. The
previous two were for work on homelessness, and housing renewal.
