About City West
We are run by a Management Board comprising of customers, independent members and local councillors. To make sure we are fair, City West is managed independently of the council and is regulated by the Tenant Services Authority.
We’re about homes…
We are currently delivering an exciting investment programme into our customers’ homes. In our first five years we are spending over £235 million on improving homes, estates and services with a vision of completing an investment strategy of £900 million in the next 30 years.
Each of our four operational areas in West Salford will receive improvements. You can see the money we have allocated to each area for the next financial year and the amount of money we have invested so far.
A key priority for City West since our inception in 2008 was the regeneration of 12 high rise blocks in Eccles.
Work on Engels House continues to progress at the £14.3 million regeneration of Barton Village in Eccles, with the innovative EcoPod heating system recently installed. It is expected that work will be complete on Engels House in February 2012 before work begins on the second of the four blocks, Enfield House.
Work is set to begin on Kemball House, the first of four high rise blocks, to undergo extensive internal and external improvements in the centre of Eccles. This represents the next phase of our high rise improvement programme and the project has been named Ladywell Green in connection with the local area.
We have also invested £2.9 million to complete "decent homes" work and improve the communal areas of four City West sheltered schemes. We recently held opening events to celebrate the completed work at Laurence Lowry Court, The Meadows and Streetgate.
We are helping our customers save money on their energy bills. Part of this commitment is the installation of the EcoPod heating system on our high rise blocks which will reduce fuel costs and carbon emissions by more than 40%. Our energy advisors have been visiting customers across West Salford to give tips and advice on how to get the most out of their new energy efficient products we have installed in our investment programme as well as more general help and advice
We’re about communities…
There are lots of ways for our customers to get involved and help us improve our services, estates and communities.
The Youth Empowerment Panel (YEP) is a group of City West customers aged between 10- 24 who will meet to talk about and influence decisions involving young people. The group was set up following a successful recruitment event in October 2011 and they will work on a range of projects as well as delivering community events across the neighbourhoods.
As part of our commitment to equality and diversity we have been working towards achieving the Diversity in Business Accreditation (DiBA) at Exemplar level (this being the highest level awarded). The award means we are now able to offer our services to other organisations looking to gain the accreditation for themselves.
City West has also become the first housing association in the country to achieve the Cleaner Greener Safer Neighbourhood Quality Mark - the highest accreditation awarded by Keep Britain Tidy. The award is a result of the work of City West, our customers and our partner agencies to invest in and improve the area.
Over the last 3 years, we have made great strides in a number of key areas that impact on how people feel about their neighbourhoods and West Salford as a place to live and work. Creating communities that are safe and sustainable underpins our overall vision of supporting neighbourhoods and communities where people want to live.
Recently we developed our “local offers” in partnership with our customers and our partners. One of our offers was to produce a three year plan for each of our 31 neighbourhoods. These plans outline how we will address the main issues which affect each neighbourhood through the delivery of the services that we provide and how we will work with other organisations to tackle the issues of unemployment and crime.
With over 150 local people moving into employment with City West and numerous community initiatives taking place, we really celebrate the achievements of our customers each year with our “Make A Difference” customer awards.
We work with our partners to ensure the money we invest in improving our homes also creates local jobs and provides construction skills training opportunities for people across West Salford. A dedicated Skills Centre was officially launched in September 2009, and by August 2011 an amazing 140 jobs had already been created. 200 jobs are expected to be created for local
people during its first 5 years.
For most recruits, the Skills Programme has resulted in full-time employment. During the 2 week training programme within City West we help trainees to develop a number of skills and achieve a number of recognised qualifications which they will need when they start work.
We are committed to providing opportunities to local people and will continue to work in partnership with our customers and other agencies to improve the lives and communities of the people in West Salford and make a real difference.
