News

 

Our Board and Senior Leadership Team (SLT) have recognised how Magenta Living colleagues have responded positively to the current COVID-19 situation, as shown here:

 

 

In recognition of this, our Board and SLT wanted to thank all colleagues by giving everyone a day off to enjoy doing something nice. Taking a well-earned break is so important for health and wellbeing. So, on Monday 29 June the majority of Magenta Living staff will be enjoying their day off!

 

Our Contact Centre will still be available to take your calls. Extra thanks to the Contact Centre Team for supporting us, they'll also be given the opportunity for a break soon.

We're supporting #BigHousingThankYou day – Wednesday 20 May 2020 - to show our appreciation for our housing colleagues up and down the country.

Our frontline housing workers always make a difference, but even more so during lockdown.

They’ve taken on so many emergency roles without missing a beat: shopping for the vulnerable, delivering prescriptions and emergency food parcels, supervising shelters for rough sleepers and much more. And still doing all the usual stuff – sorting repairs, caring for communal spaces, helping customers cope with crisis. A friendly face on the empty streets for some of society’s most isolated people.
 

 

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Like many of us, our colleagues have been adapting to the challenges of lockdown while supporting Wirral communities. Over 40 Magenta Living employees have been working alongside Wirral Council to help deliver parcels from the Emergency Food Hub.

To celebrate today's #BigHousingThankYou we'd like to highlight the work of Jimmy and his team.

Jimmy along with a team of 10 technicians have been on the frontline, regularly delivering food parcels to vulnerable people in need. Delivering his 600th parcel on Monday, Jimmy's covered a total of 1,200 miles delivering up to 24 food parcels a day. Each member of the team have been supporting 24 people each and every day during lockdown and are lucky to get home before 6.30pm.

A #BigHousingThankYou to you and your team, Jimmy! 

 

 

Magenta Living is working in partnership with Wirral Council and other providers to help deliver items for the Emergency Food Hub.

A fleet of 40 vans and drivers has been deployed by Magenta Living, to assist the Hub in getting emergency supplies to Wirral residents in need. The supplies provided to the most vulnerable members of the community include food hampers, toiletries, sanitary products, nappies, pet food and many other essential items.

One resident who received one of the parcels, Joanne from Rock Ferry said: “It was an absolute godsend as I haven’t been able to get out to the shops. I really couldn’t thank you enough and I am so, so grateful.”

Magenta Living has not furloughed any of their staff during the current COVID-19 crisis, instead encouraging those with more free time to take up volunteering at the Emergency Food Hub as well as other organisations such as the Carr Bridge Centre in Woodchurch, the Ellesmere Port Food Bank and Wirral Arklight. In total, staff members have spent 681 hours volunteering in the community.

Brian Simpson, Chief Executive of Magenta Living said: "In response to the COVID-19 crisis we quickly established an emergency fund which was set up through Magenta Communities, a tenant led committee of our Board. Part of this fund has been given, in the shape of a £10,000 grant, to Wirral Council's Emergency Food Hub. We have also supplied vans and drivers to help distribute the food parcels. I'm so proud of our staff who have volunteered to undertake these roles and support the vulnerable and those at risk within our communities."

The £10,000 grant donated by Magenta Living has been used to cover the costs of around 30,000 meals and other essential items within local neighbourhoods.

Mark Camborne, who is leading on the humanitarian response to the crisis in Wirral covering shielding, homelessness and volunteers as well as emergency food and welfare support, said: “While the COVID-19 crisis has affected many of those within our communities who are vulnerable, the partnership work we have seen has been excellent.  Community, voluntary and private sector organisations have worked together with Wirral Council to support those most badly affected by the crisis, on a huge scale.  Magenta Living, as one of those partners, has provided both financial, and practical support via its vans and drivers to assist the partnership achieve a fantastic response.”

Magenta Living has also used their community fund to provide support to over 20 local organisations including Wirral Ark, Arrowe Park Hospital, YMCA – Hope Prospect, Autism Together, Meadowside School and Family Matters.

Colleagues from Magenta Living have been busy creating children’s activity packs to send to Wirral Council Children’s Services and Gautby Road Community Centre in Birkenhead.

 

There are three different activity packs:

• One for children under six which contains a skipping rope, crayons, a colouring book and a matching pairs card game
• One for children age 7-10 which contains coloured pencils and a colouring book, Connect 4 and a wordsearch book
• One for children age 11+ which contains coloured pencils, a colouring book, a pack of playing cards, Connect 4 and a wordsearch book.

Gautby Road Community Centre received 210 activity packs (70 of each age group), which were delivered by Adam Woodcock, Community Resource Coordinator, last week. The packs were then distributed to families across our neighbourhoods by the community centre.

A staff member from Gautby Road said: “We are really grateful to all those staff involved from Magenta Living who helped organise the children’s activity packs and we will be working hard to deliver the packs to children who will benefit over the coming weeks.”

We will also be delivering another 496 activity packs to Wirral Council Children’s Services, which will be distributed to alternative provisions, group living for young people of varying ages and foster carers.

Mark Armstrong, Assistant Director, Strategy & Regeneration said: “We hope that the children’s activity packs will help many families across Wirral during this difficult time by providing some much-needed entertainment and fun. I am very proud of my Magenta Living colleagues who continue to volunteer to help out our community and those in particular that have packed and delivered the activity packs. I am sure the recipients will be very grateful.”

We’re offering special packs to our residents and staff to help them celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE Day in lockdown.

The anniversary of Victory in Europe Day on 8th May was set to be a significant occasion with the May bank holiday moved and largescale events planned to commemorate the landmark.

We’re working with the Royal British Legion, National Memorial Arboretum and Citizen to help people mark the anniversary from their home by reading about VE Day and taking part in activities.

There are packs for children and adults and they include puzzles, recipes, extracts from Churchill speeches, lyrics to war songs and much more.

 

Brian Simpson, Chief Executive said: “We’re delighted to be able to give our customers the chance to mark this hugely significant anniversary.

“Out of lockdown this would have been a very special anniversary and it’s important that this isn’t lost.

“We hope the packs help individuals and families engage with and celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE Day in a really positive way.”

 

Packs are available for 7-11-year-olds, 11-16-year-olds and 16+.

Download them from the National Memorial Arboretum website here OR via the links below:

• VE_Day_75_Activity_Pack FINAL VERSION.pdf [pdf] 4MB
• ve_day_75_worksheet_key_stage_2.pdf [pdf] 2MB
• ve_day_75_worksheet_key_stage_3_4.pdf [pdf] 2MB

 

Due to current social distance guidelines, you may not be able to host the party you were planning, though don't let VE Day go by without joining in the fun! 

Join your neighbours in a national 'Stay at Home' street party! 

Deck out your home with red, white and blue and check out the stay at home party plan below. 

It should be a great opportunity to connect with your neighbours while staying safe and compliant with social distancing guidelines.

 

 

The Magenta Living Board and 'Magenta Communities' tenant led committee approved a Community Funding budget which is being used to help local organisations in need during this ongoing crisis. We have made some key donations which include donating 10,000 hand sanitisers, cleaning products and high-quality hand cream to Arrowe Park Hospital, purchasing colouring books and materials for Gautby Road Community Centre, along with supplying hand cream, specialist soap and Nintendo Wii games to Meadowside School in Woodchurch.

 

 

We also an active partner on the Wirral COVID-19 Humanitarian Cell steering group and Emergency Food Network with Head of Regeneration, Jamie Martin representing Magenta Living on both to ensure we can together provide support to local communities during the crisis. 

 

To further support our partners and customers in the Wirral community we have donated £10,000 from Magenta Living's approved Community Fund to assist the Emergency Food Network. Enabling the purchasing of food and supplies to support those in need. This is being aided by a rota of Building Services Technicians equipped with Magenta Living vans who assist both our own community support initiatives and those with the Wirral Hub and Wirral Council’s. Recently we received an emergency call for assistance in delivering 400 food parcels, we were immediately able to safely mobilise our vans as well as staff volunteers who used their own vehicles. We've also been helping Wirral Arklight and Seacombe Children’s Centre deliver food to their customers. 

We understand that our customers may need support in other aspects of their lives. Magenta Living have been working closely with Adult Social Care, Public Health and other local housing associations in managing sheltered and supported housing in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak.

 

Magenta Living recently partnered up with their material suppliers Travis Perkins to donate 10,000 hand sanitisers as well as cleaning products to Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral.

Arrowe Park Hospital had contacted Travis Perkins as their supplies were running low and they were desperately in need of more hand sanitisers. Travis Perkins managed to source a large number and Magenta Living stepped in to help fund the essential products. Arrowe Park were ‘absolutely delighted’ with the much-needed donation. Magenta Living have also donated tubes of hand creams for staff at the Hospital following a request via a staff member.

The Magenta Living Board have approved a community funding budget which will be used to help out local organisations or individuals in need during this ongoing crisis. Some of the budget has already funded toasters and kettles for Wirral Ark, a local homeless support and accommodation centre, so that individuals have facilities in their own living space following a plea on social media.

Pauline Cox, Fundraiser at Wirral Ark said: “The items will be such a help to us, not just at this time but for future projects after the current crisis is over. Magenta Living has always been a tremendous support to Wirral Ark and it is very much appreciated by both staff and service users.”

Magenta Living has also donated Wii games, specialist soaps and hand creams to a local community special school, Meadowside School in Woodchurch. This was again following a request via a staff member.

A representative from Meadowside School said: “Even knowing that the hard work of the staff is being recognised goes a long way to support their wellbeing, and I know the children will be delighted with the Wii games. When they are happy and engaged, the environment is safer, so thank you.”

Brian Simpson, Chief Executive of Magenta Living said: “In these trying times, it is very important for the community to pull together and Magenta Living is committed to helping out in our local neighbourhoods on a daily basis. We have over 100 staff on stand-by to volunteer in any way they can to help any local community groups that need some help and support.

“We hope the community fund will help support our partners and the communities in which we work across Wirral and West Cheshire during a very difficult period.”

We received some fantastic news on Tuesday, 31 March 2020, that Homes England have approved a £2.15million funding claim to proceed with our biggest scheme to date, Three Sails Point in Widnes, Halton. Planning permission was granted in March 2020 by Halton Council though due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, the start on site is yet unknown.  Everything is now in place to start as soon as possible, when it is safe to do so.

 

Three Sails Point will be developed along with Halton Housing Trust and Mulbury as the contractor with Magenta Living having the most units on site. The development will see 243 new homes be built across two phases providing homes for affordable rent, shared ownership and outright sale, with the breakdown as follows:

Magenta Living - 153 homes: 76 in Phase 1 and 77 in Phase 2

Halton Housing Trust -  90 homes: 26 in Phase 1 and 64 in Phase 2

As you are no doubt aware the coronavirus, COVID-19, is currently spreading in many countries, including the UK, with more being confirmed each day.

Current advice is to ensure that we all regularly wash our hands with soap for at least 20 seconds or use a hand sanitiser.

The Government`s latest advice can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

 

What is Magenta Living doing in response?

All our employees are being briefed regularly with updates as more information comes available from the Government and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

We are ensuring good standards of hygiene across all offices and blocks with particularly vulnerable residents.

Any employees returning from travels to specific countries are following the Government’s advice by ringing NHS 111 for advice about possible self-isolation.

All employees who visit your home are adhering to existing guidelines around infection control.

 

What can you do to help?

If you are unwell, please do not visit us and call to re-arrange any appointments you may have already agreed. If your query can be handled over the phone or via our web-chat service, please use these options. All our methods of contact can be found here.

We are also equipping entrances to our blocks with particularly vulnerable residents and the Customer Hub at Partnership Building with hand sanitiser, so please make use of this when visiting.

 

Contact with us

When arranging appointments at your home for such issues as repairs, inspections or ASB investigations for example, we may ask you about your health and any recent travel abroad. This is to ensure we deliver the right level of service to protect both you and our employees.

If you are self-isolating, please let us know before any appointments are arranged by phoning our Contact Centre on 0808 100 9596 (all calls are free). Also, if a Magenta Living employee or representative appears unwell to you, feel free to ask them similar questions to ensure your own safety.

We will continue to monitor the situation and update this guidance information if and when we need to, based on Government and WHO advice.  Please regularly check our website.

Over the past four years all social housing tenants have benefited from a rent reduction of 1%. This was a direct result following a decision made by central government. This year along with most other social housing providers Magenta Living are proposing to increase rents by 2.7%, which again mirrors central government regulations.

Following the 2.7% increase, the average rent charged for a Magenta Living home as at April 2020 will be £87.03. However, as a result of rents reducing over the previous four years, this 2020 figure is still lower than the average of £88.22 charged in April 2015.

Like most similar organisations, Magenta Living faces increased costs each year due to inflation and by increasing the rents we charge, this enables us to cover these costs and maintain the services we offer. This additional income will ensure Magenta Living continues to:

• Re-invest in existing homes, providing safe and warm homes for all tenants
• Build much needed new homes
• Create over £16million in social value through local job and training opportunities, community regeneration activities and the provision of community properties
• Deliver day-to-day neighbourhood management and supported housing services and financial inclusion advice and support
• Deliver our Vision of Vibrant … homes, lives, neighbourhoods

Click here to read further information about the rent increase.