All Seaside tenants were invited to a Tenant Panel meeting held on July 16th. One of the key items on the agenda for the meeting was some proposed changes to Seaside’s tenant engagement offer. Our current Tenant Engagement Lead, Niamh, has now left her role at Seaside and the role has been taken on by Jo. Jo proposed a few tweaks to how the service is offered, including:
Monthly Prize Draw
Previously tenants could answer a quiz question to enter a draw for prizes. The intention was to encourage tenants to visit the website and then see the other support and services Seaside offer. We found that largely the same small number of tenants were entering the draw each month, so it wasn’t working as intended, as those tenants were clearly already familiar with the website! We suggested that the money spent on the draw could be put to more impactful use in the New Possibilities Scheme, especially as there are now many opportunities to win prizes in our quarterly newsletters. The Tenant Panel agreed and a notification about the end of the draw was added to the website, Facebook page, and sent out by SMS text.
SMS Service
We previously offered a texting service which tenants could sign up to, to receive curated texts about the area of interest they had selected, such as Kids events, or Over 50s. Niamh had been unable to keep up with this service and manage the other demands of the job, so very few texts had been sent out to the various groups recently. Jo proposed that the SMS service is closed and we only use the texting service to keep tenant’s updated about Seaside events and important information. We also are now using the Seaside Homes Facebook page (which is also available on our website) to post lots of useful, local free and low-cost events and support, so it was suggested that this delivers a similar service to the SMS service. The Tenant Panel agreed, and Jo has updated the website information and text the tenant’s who are currently signed up to the service to update them.
New Possibilities
We run an activity fund called the New Possibilities Programme, where tenant’s can apply for financial support to pursue a hobby, training, or activity that may boost their wellbeing. We have had a low take-up of this offer despite the Tenant Panel helping us to redesign the website and application form, and advertising the scheme in our newsletter, welcome pack, on flyers, by text and on Facebook. The scheme is also very complex for staff to deliver, and takes up a lot of staff time, and sometimes we are unable to find a way to fulfil the application. So, Jo proposed to the Panel that the scheme is streamlined and simplified, so that tenants are able to choose from a limited selection of activities/hobbies/training etc, and Seaside develop partnerships with these key providers to ensure we can purchase and book these in for tenants efficiently and without delays. The Panel agreed, and felt that a selection of choices was likely to boost applications as the scheme would be easier to understand.
Farewell
Niamh took the opportunity to thank the Tenant Panel for sharing their time, insights, experiences and stories with Seaside to improve services for all tenants. Niamh says, “It has been lovely to work for Seaside and get to know the amazing people on the Panel. I’ve been inspired by the resilience, humour, vulnerability, and authenticity of the wonderful people who call Seaside home, and I wish everyone the best. I know that you are in safe hands with Jo, who will do a wonderful job at continuing to develop our tenant engagement opportunities”.
Minutes
You can read the minutes of the meeting here.
Do you want to come to the next Tenant Panel?
We’d love to hear your insights. The Panel meetings are open to all current Seaside Homes tenants and are held in person, but can also be joined online on a video call. We will text tenants about upcoming meetings and post a blog on our News page with the details, so keep an eye out. We thank tenants who attend the full meeting with a £25 gift voucher as a token of our appreciation.