This is the second year that the children’s carol singing event has taken place. The original idea came from a member of the local community, and we thought it was a good one so were happy to work with the St Mary’s School to make it happen. Lots of the tenants were involved, putting up decorations, and lights to make the area look suitably festive. In fact, without the incredible support and hard work of a small group of involved tenants there is no way the event would have happened. The children and teachers put in lots of time rehearsing and really seemed to enjoy themselves on the night.
The event was attended by many of our tenants and some of the parents of the young children who were singing. The whole event was delightful, and the singers treated us to various carols and Christmas songs as well as some very funny dance moves.
At Prestwich and North Western we have always believed that our role extends beyond merely providing a home to rent and we have been working to help support a new Tenants Association that has started running breakfast clubs with other events planned for the new year, including a warm space in our newly created community hub meeting place. We felt supporting the carol singing was an important part of building a strong community spirit and it would bring some happiness and light at this time of year.
It is true that just prior to the event we received a complaint that the event should not go ahead as it was associated with a particular religion and therefore promoted one religion above others. We decided that we would canvas the views of all residents on the site to see how widely this view was held. It is important that we take all complaints seriously and we fully comply with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaints Handling Code. I am aware that some people have been annoyed about the complaint and the survey that we sent but we felt it was important to gauge people’s views on this matter so we could be sure that we were providing a service tenants supported. The views of our tenants are the most important voices in this matter.
To date 20% of tenants have responded to the survey and all are in favour of the event continuing in the future. We intend to publish the result of the survey in the new year.
Mike Corfield
CEO
