130 local residents of North Tonbridge joined us for a partnership event on Wednesday 26th July, at the Tonbridge Angels football ground.
The event gave locals an opportunity to network and meet our specialist teams including Neighbourhoods, Resident Involvement, Tenancy Specialists, Repairs, and Clarion Futures.
We were joined by our new Housing Director, David Hunter and David Avery, Chair of the Clarion Board, who spoke to residents and listened to their concerns, ready to feedback to our housing teams.
We were also joined by local MP, Tom Tugendhat, who met with residents to discuss the local community and was keen to hear about the various services provided by Clarion and Partner agencies.
Local agencies including Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, the Police, Kent Community Wardens, Citizens Advice Bureau, Imago Volunteering, NHS Primary Care Network and Careium Support also attended the event.
The event had lots of stalls highlighting our service areas, giving residents the opportunity to report and raise any issues relating to their property or estate. Our repairs operatives were on hand to carry out small repairs and inspect any new or outstanding repairs.
Some key highlights for residents include:
- One resident secured a £150 school uniform grant and £150 towards energy costs
- 30 households raised new or discussed existing repairs
- Two service charge questions were resolved
- Three ASB cases were raised, with support given on how to report and get resolved at Clarion.
Residents were able to find out more about the EQUANS handover to Clarion Response, effective from now, and share their views on plans for the new Resident Involvement strategy which will be reviewed next year.
We were delighted to hear that 13 residents expressed an interest in becoming an involved resident, who will help make a difference to our services.
We provided free activities for children, including face painting and football practice with coaches. Wealden’s helped children plant seeds to take home and grow and provided bubbles and balloons.
Residents were treated to healthy-tasting food, cooked up by a community chef. All the food served had recipes for people to take home with them to practice themselves at home.