North Devon Homes

As part of our commitment to be a community landlord we offer a number of additional services to our customers and wider community.

“North Devon Homes is committed to creating communities where people want to live. We do this by working to build trust and understanding with our communities. This helps to inform and support our work to regenerate and manage estates so that they are safer and better places to live”. North Devon Homes Chief Executive Martyn Gimber.

Youth Service

Our work with young people began in 2009 funded through the Big Lottery Reaching Communities and has continued after funding finished with in house investment into the team.

We run two youth clubs in Forches and Slade Valley, which are run by our youth service team,  that provide a safe environment for important out of school activities, giving access to young people of different ages and backgrounds opportunities to make new friendships and build on existing ones.

School holidays are packed with diversionary activities over the weekend for young people who do not normally have the chance to partake in such activities for example, camping, adventure weekends, beach trips, swimming and musical activities.

We provide many services for our young people to use, for example: homework clubs, health advice and courses, job application and CV writing, fitness clubs, mediation and one to one support with problems. 

Young People are central to the project that helps build confidence, increases aspirations, develops peer mentors and positive role models within a space where they can develop new skills, try out new things, where they are seen and judged differently from the school or home, where their talents and differences are appreciated and where they can have fun.

This project provides diversionary activity distracting young people from criminal activities and also as a hook bringing young people into contact with opportunities for achieving wider goals such as furthering their education or finding employment.

Supported Housing Services for older people

North Devon Homes has 22 housing schemes specifically designed for older people and aims to provide comfortable, convenient and secure accommodation, with support available where required, to older people who wish to continue to live independently. In addition, North Devon Homes runs a support and alarm service, which is available to older people living in the North Devon area. A team of Support Advisors are based across the area and offer a variety of services including fitting an alarm or a keysafe, regular welfare checks, assistance to move to a suitable property, help with claiming benefits and filling in forms and support in keeping regular appointments for health issues.

Financial Inclusion

As part of our commitment to our community we run a Money Matters Advice Service in house to all customers of North Devon Homes. Whether they want assistance with budgeting and learning to manager their finances or whether they need help filling in benefits forms or finding out what they are entitled to our team are on hand to help.

Working with customers to manage their finances is part of the reason we have one of the lowest rates of rent arrears in the country and helping customers to sustain their tenancies is something we are extremely proud of.

Credit Union Sustainability Partnership (CUSP)

Along with either other housing associations we formed CUSP as a way to bring ethical and affordable lending to our communities. Stamping out the work of high lenders and loan sharks. We all work together with our Credit Union Partners Westcountry Savings and Loans to market better financial help for customers, staff and partners.

We also work closely with the Illegal Money Lending Team to ensure we can all play our part in getting loan sharks away from our communities.

Advantage South West

Housing Associations in the South West have come together to form Advantage South West – a partnership formed to help lower costs on procurement by bulk buying as a larger organisation. What started as a partnership based purely on procuring materials such as kitchens, it has turned into a much wider strategy, working together to improve the local skill base, training and a number of other avenues.

Partnerships

We work with a wide range of partners who have supported us through funding and/or partnership working within projects for example;  Northern Devon Healthcare NHS, Police and Crime Commissioner, local schools, local charities, local authorities and last but not least customers who live within our communities.

"We joined to get the benefit of working alongside rural and independent providers by sharing best practice and innovation."