Herefordshire Housing's 'Big Day Out' proved to be a BIG success with both customers and colleagues, when 134 colleagues including the Chief Executive, Directors and Board Members, went out to meet hundreds of our customers across the county.

'Going out and about last Thursday gave us the chance to find out more about who our customers are and to get a much better understanding of what they need from Herefordshire Housing. We used our Residents Census to gather information which puts us in a much better position to shape our services according to our customers' needs,' said a Herefordshire Housing spokesperson. 'There was a fantastic approach to the day from colleagues who were really enthusiastic to get out and see more of our estates and neighbourhoods and meet as many customers as possible. The day was also a great learning experience, as we paired front line colleagues with those who are office based and the combination of skills made great partnerships and made the day run smoothly'.

'The best part of the day was working as one big team and meeting customers and improving services for them. I don't usually get the chance to see customers face to face, so this opportunity was invaluable. It is definitely something I would like to do again,' said Kate Bateman of Human Resources. 'The day definitely had a positive impact on our customers who got to see us face to face with immediate results'.

One of the many examples of great customer service offered that day was by Mandy Fincher, Business Support and Barry Coles, Property Services. They visited a customer and learned that she had some broken kitchen drawers which she didn't want to bother Herefordshire Housing with. As Barry had his tools with him he was able to fix the drawers while the customer chatted to Mandy and filled in her form.

'The Big Day Out proved to be about much more than collecting information from our customers, everyone involved thought the day was a great success and every part of the day reinforced that we are passionate about working together as a team to be customer focussed and continuously improve services to our diverse range of customer,' said Peter Brown, Chief Executive.

Continued . . .

First Hand Experience

Graham Cosway and Stephen Cosway called upon us during the 'Big Day Out' and I filled in the long questionnaire, which seemed mainly concerned with determining my ethnic origin, the colour of my skin and my sexual preferences than anything else.

The two men (I hope you do not mind being called 'men' as that is what you actually are, regardless of any political correct term that I should use when writing) did ask if we had any problems though. They were very helpful when I made my complaint about both my car and Kirsty's car being written off within two weeks of Herefordshire Housing's Peter Grayer insisting that I am no longer allowed to park in our garden. Parking in the garden had been going on for 15 years, provable with photographic evidence, and had of course been fine when the house was owned by the Council.

I was also asked whether we needed any repairs and did sense a genuine concern for our welfare from the visitors, despite the quality of questions on the questionnaire.

I look forward to hearing the result of the car parking incident, which still makes me fume because I lost out big time with the value of the car and what the rip-off 'Direct Line' insurance people paid me. That is, of course another story but coincidentally my insurance renewal came up this week. Needless to say, I have cancelled my 'Direct Line' motor insurance and taken this year's insurance with a differnt company, offering far better cover at a much cheaper premium. This was arranged by Tina's son, Russell through Clarke Roxburgh in Ross. Brokers can still do better than insurance the 'Direct' way!

After weeks away being refurbished by bellfounders Taylors, Eayre and Smith of Loughborough, the six bells of St Giles Church Goodrich are back where they belong in the tower once more and here to stay for many years. They will now be re-hung and tuned, ready for a service on the 19th October at 10.30 am, where Bishop Michael of Ludlow will preside over their rededication. All are welcome at the service.

A lot of hard work from a dedicated group of volunteers moved the bells back into the tower on a windswept day where the rain miraculously held off until all six bells were back safely in the base of the tower. Once in the tower work began to hoist and re-hang the bells, fitting the ropes down to a correct level and getting it all ready for the bell ringers to get to work.

The bells all have new headstocks, new bearings, new pulleys, wheels and clappers, and some of the bells have been tuned as well to improve the sound.

This is all in a days work for Bellhanger Andrew Ogden of Taylors who spent the first day setting up the pulleys needed to hoist the bells 60 feet to raise them up to their usual home. Each bell took between 15 to 30 minutes to hoist but the Tenor bell, which weighs half a ton, took 45 minutes since it needed slightly more persuasion to go through the holes in the floorboards.

'The guys did a really great job helping to get the bells back in the tower,' said Andrew. 'And they had made a lovely job of cleaning up and painting the works in the tower ready for me to put everything back.'

For Eileen Lyon, Secretary of the Parochial Church Council this is the culmination of 4 years hard work applying for grants and co-ordinating the whole process. 'I am so relieved and excited to see them back where they belong,' she said. 'I can't wait for them to ring out again, the rededication service will be, for me, quite a moving experience. Thank you to all those who worked so hard on the day to move the bells back to where they belong Ben Stephens, Martin Rowberry, Alex Hough, and Norman Morris and of course Andrew Ogden from Taylors'.

Two young people from Herefordshire received awards on Thursday, 2nd October for outstanding contributions to their local communities at West Mercia Constabulary's annual Good Citizen Awards. Amy Cross from Ross and Ben Sainsbury from Wormbridge, near Hereford, received their awards for being Good Citizens from Chief Constable Paul West at the gala evening held at force headquarters, Hindlip Hall near Worcester.

Chief Constable Paul West commented: 'My congratulations go to Amy Cross and Ben Sainsbury. They are both very special young people. The Good Citizen Award Scheme is run annually by the Force to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of young people, aged 18 and under, which might otherwise go unrecognized. It celebrates those who have made an outstanding contribution to their community through courageous acts, outstanding fundraising activities or exemplary unselfishness in their attitude towards others.'

Amy Cross, aged 10, from Ross was nominated for her fundraising activity, charity work and overall good citizenship. Her independent fundraising has paid for the sponsorship of children in India, enabling them to go to school and receive an education. Amy also makes gift tags to sell and provides a gift wrapping service. Comments on the nomination form included: 'For the past two years she has been thinking of others she hasn't even met. Amy is a very caring individual who constantly looks for ways to help people around her and bring a smile to their faces. She is kind and thoughtful and always considerate of others. She has raised over £100, made a difference to others' lives and is a really good citizen'.

Ben Sainsbury, age 17, from Wormbridge was nominated for his actions when his friend suffered a serious accident. Ben's quick and decisive first aid helped to get him through until the ambulance arrived. He later helped with his friend's recovery, travelling to Birmingham to visit him in hospital in the evenings and coming back for school each day. Ben continues to help him with his support and friendship. His nominator said, 'He is extremely modest and would never claim any acknowledgement for himself, but his courage and intervention may well have saved a life.'

To be eligible for nomination, acts of good citizenship must have taken place between 26 May 2007 and 25 May 2008. Individuals or small groups of no more than three young people can be nominated.

Wyenot News were invited to a Country and Western Evening at Ross Conservative Club on Saturday and when we arrived, we found the function room packed out with people, either dancing or simply sitting and listening to some great live country music performed by solo artiste, Mike Shameless.

The Conservative Club have arranged many evenings of entertainment and they are well worth joining the club to be able to enjoy them. There have been comedy nights, Italian nights, jazz events, local duo, Holly and Paul, and lots more. There was a lovely, relaxed atmosphere and the evening was most enjoyable.

Herefordshire Council has given the go ahead for a new school hall to be built at St. Joseph's RC Primary School in Ross on Wye. The school's children can look forward to enjoying school concerts, assemblies, lunches and sporting activities in the new 180 square metre hall from next September.

The original school hall was sold off with St Joseph's Convent, so alterations were made within the main school building to provide a temporary hall. To minimize the impact for local residents, the new hall will be built at a lower level than the school and playgrounds, incorporating toilets, storage areas, boiler room, kitchen and disabled toilet and shower. It is being funded with help from the Department for Children, Schools and Families under a programme which allows local authorities to draw down funding for voluntary aided schools.

Bernie Davies, head teacher, said, 'We're delighted that planning permission has been granted. This will mean so much for the children and families who use the school. We've been struggling and have been prevented from providing many of the activities we would like to provide such as indoor sports, dance and gymnastics.'

Now that planning permission has been granted, detailed plans will be developed and the building work put out to tender. It is hoped to appoint a contractor in December and complete the new building by September 2009.

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