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Wales Action Week is an annual initiative run by Business in the Community Cymru to encourage organisations and their employees to tackle an emerging social issue through a week long programme of activity.

This year it will run from Monday 14^th November until Friday 18^th November and the theme is preventing homelessness.

Trivallis is one of the sponsors of Wales Action Week 2016.

Paul Davies, Chief Executive at Trivallis, said: "Homelessness doesn't have one root cause and could affect any one of us.

"As a housing provider Trivallis works closely with individuals to provide not only homes, but also the right services to enable tenants to live independently and to successfully manage their tenancies.

"By supporting Wales Action Week we hope to raise awareness of the actions that businesses can take to prevent homelessness, and highlight the benefits these actions can have for communities for generations to come."

Throughout the week, Trivallis staff and partner organisations will be carrying out various activities to support people who are homeless or at risk of being homeless.

Three Trivallis tenants, who have support needs directly linked to the cause of homelessness such as a family breakdown and mental health, will be receiving extra support with their housing.

Volunteers from Trivallis and partner organisations will use donations to help repair a broken kitchen and fix and paint damaged walls

One tenant who has Asperger’s syndrome will be getting help to tidy up his home so that he can live in a safe, more comfortable environment. .

Claire Overd, STEPS manager at Trivallis, said: “We have chosen three tenants who were referred to STEPS as they were at risk of homelessness due to reasons beyond their control. We have been supporting them through the programme and recognise that this initiative will further help them to maintain their independence.

“Trivallis partners and staff will be coming together during the week to offer them the extra help that is needed to get them back on their feet after a tough time. It forms part of a continued support plan with customers to help prevent homelessness, not just for this week but day in day out.”

On Wednesday 16^th November, there will be an ‘education and employment’ day at Tŷ Pennant, Trivallis’ Pontypridd offices. 

During this day, there will be CV writing advice and interview skills workshops supported by MiFuture.

Tracey Cooke, Senior Regeneration Programme Manager at Trivallis, said: “We are working with organisations such as Womens Aid, Llamau, Adref  and the RCT Supporting People Team, to reach out to those in need of help with finding work.

“The aim of the day is that when people leave they have a CV, interview skills training and clothes that they can wear along to an interview which have kindly been donated by staff and partners.”

On Thursday 17^th and Friday 18^th November Trivallis’ STEPS Team will be delivering the ‘Get Ready and Move On’ project.

Ten young people who currently reside in homeless or supported living in RCT will learn their rights and responsibilities and how to budget and set up a new home, as they are soon to move into independent living.

In addition to these activities, two members of Trivallis’ staff, Wendy Xerri and Lisa Balfe, took part in the Llamau’s Big Sleep Out 2016, swapping their beds for cardboard and their homes for the outdoors.

Money raised will go towards maintaining Llamau’s frontline services to support young homeless people in Wales.

You can donate to the big sleep out at: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Trivallis.

If you would like to contribute to Trivallis’ Wales Action Week programme in any way or know someone who would benefit from the education and employment day, contact tracey.cooke@trivallis.co.uk or call 03000 030 888. 

Read Preventing homelessness and Wales Action Week…

Recently we have been able to turn around one of our largest areas from an unclassified to gold estate grading following a four week pilot scheme designed to improve the general appearance of the neighbourhood.

In October, the Estates and Communities Team and the local Neighbourhood Manager worked in Penrhys alongside tenants and residents to tackle previously identified problem areas in the estate, such as fly tipping and damaged garden fences, to ensure they are of a high standard.

Property Services Manager, Debra Bayliss said: “At Trivallis it’s important to us to make sure that our estates are free of rubbish and other things that cause problems to our tenants. We consulted with the community during the early stages to make sure that they were invested in supporting the maintenance of their area.”

“We wanted to hear from local tenants and residents because they’re the ones living on the estate. Listening to what they have to say and want will mean they take pride and ownership in their neighbourhood.”

The Estates and Communities Team, made up of paid staff and volunteers, are responsible for the clearance and maintenance of every Trivallis area across Rhondda Cynon Taff. For four weeks they have worked closely with Mark Gillette, who is a dedicated volunteer for Trivallis' Scrutiny Panel, to remove fly tipping and other unwanted items from the tenants’ gardens, painting garages, cleaning pathways and empty properties and even completing minor repairs on garden fences.

A large number of people living in the community helped with the clean-up, Daniel Powell Secretary of Penrhys Voice said: “The communication between everyone was phenomenal; we had daily updates where we were asked about what we wanted. I would highly recommend that they do this in other areas.”

The estate was awarded the gold grading by Debra, Mark and Daniel who scored highly for the cleanliness of the pathways, gardens, car parks, and roads. Due to the success of this pilot, Trivallis are currently in talks with Rhondda Cynon Taf council to identify a new estate to focus on to go for gold.

 

Penrhys Voice would like to say a big thank you to Trivallis. Kath Lewis who is Vice Chair of the group said: “They went above and beyond to make sure the job was done. Trivallis have worked their socks off. It looks so much better than before, we really take pride in the area now.”

Committee member Stephen Jones said: “Mark Gillette was great because he under promised and over achieved.”

Read Penrhys going for gold…