Hello,
I start this month with some very sad news. Our Executive Director of Finance, Michael Heekin, passed away on 22 November 2024. Michael was deeply respected for his extremely broad experience and great warmth of personality. He was extremely popular with colleagues, board members, and his peers across the sector alike. His gentle presence but formidable knowledge will leave a marked absence around our tables for a very long time to come. He will be sorely missed by us all at CKH.
Listening to our residents
Our new resident engagement panels are off to flying start. Our new programme of resident engagement has been launched to ensure we are hearing from a wide range of residents about all aspects of our business.
Our Resident Experience Panel held their first meeting recently and reviewed a number of our policies to ensure they reflect the needs of our residents. It really is vital that our residents challenge us to provide the best possible service to all, and are able to hold us to account when they feel we could do better.
Our Service Improvement Panel have also been planning the service areas they want to take a deep dive into next year. They will start with the information we give to new residents, and also go back to review our damp and mould process, having previously helped us shape this in their previous guise as our Scrutiny Panel. We also launched our programme to visit every single one of our homes this financial year (we are now at 7,000 homes!) to check the condition of the property and that all residents have the support they need. Our Service Improvement Panel will be reviewing the process we use to book these visits in with residents, to ensure it is accessible to all.
Christmas fun
Well, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a visit from Santa! We are delighted that the man himself has agreed to find time in his busy schedule to visit us at our Wellbeing Garden and at the WestRaven Community Garden! He will also be bringing some festive cheer to residents in our short stay accommodation. Details of our family fun events are on our website.
As always, if you would like further information about our service provision, or have suggestions for partnership working, please do not hesitate to contact me and do not forget to follow us on our Facebook, Instagram and Linked In channels, to keep up to date with all our services and events or visit our website.
Claire Higgins MBE
Chief Executive, Cross Keys Homes