A presentation from Ron Skea, Operations Director started proceedings followed by three workshop sessions by:

• Ian Treanor of Dundee City Council’s Energy Efficiency Team
• Julie Rain of the Tenancy Sustainment Service who gave a talk on the impact of the Welfare Reform Bill
• John Tinline of Abertay Housing who gave a talk on Planned Maintenance.

Lunch was followed by a presentation on Anti-Social Behaviour and its impact on Communities by Heather Borland of Abertay Housing & PC Stephen Borland of Tayside Police and then to complete the day Robin Bell entertained the crowd with a special game of “Play Your Cards Right”.

Abertay Housing Association has formed a positive partnership with One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS), to co-ordinate and deliver services in the North Fintry area of Dundee, and which will be known as Families’ House. This partnership project demonstrates the commitment of both organisations to provide services that support local families in community based settings and both organisations look forward to a long and productive partnership with shared aims and aspirations.

Abertay sees their mission as enhancing the quality of life in their communities, and when looking for a partner organisation to work with to create a facility to benefit families and children, they saw OPFS as an ideal choice.

OPFS has a long history of local service delivery to Dundee families, both lone and two parents, stretching back over 25 years, and they will provide space with a crèche provision to develop both group and individual work for adults and children. They can offer advice and support on a variety of topics, including parenting and family life, housing and benefit issues, training and employment, as well as supporting parents who are feeling isolated. This support can be provided on an individual basis, or within a group. Drop in sessions aiming to improve parent – child relationships by enabling them to enjoy positive play are open to all parents who have children aged from birth to 7years old, and will be held on Thursday mornings from 10.00 to 11.30 am.

OPFS also offer a Community Family Support Project and will use Families House to expand their work. Local parents and children, aged 5-10 years can join the evening family clubs on Mondays and Wednesdays, between 4 and 8 pm. Local Dads and male carers can join in Supporting Scotland’s Fathers activities on Saturdays, and there will be Thursday afternoon sessions for local parents around making money go further, getting the happiness bug, and coping with employment issues.

For further information regarding the Families’ House, please contact: Ann McKenzie on 01382 507688 or email: ann.mckenzie@opfs.org.uk

Lord Provost Letford officially opened the Families’ House by cutting the ribbon at 11a.m on Friday 30^th March.

Picture shows Abertay’s CE, Ian Thomson, alongside OPFS’s Board Member Ann Kelsey, Lord Provost Letford and Abertay’s Chairperson, Ken Dunn.

As social landlords we are required by the government to improve the condition of our tenanted properties to meet, what is known as the Scottish Housing Quality Standard.

We are pleased to announce that we have appointed IRT Surveys Ltd as the main contractor carrying out this work. IRT are a Dundee based specialist in this field and we are very much looking forward to working with them during this project.

The survey uses thermal imaging cameras, which visually display heat loss from the building, enabling the surveyor to see where heat is being wasted and to identify areas where the building could be improved.

Infa red does not pass through walls, glass or clothing and no pictures of individuals will be taken. The image below shows what will be seen from the survey :-

IRT will be commencing surveys with effect from Monday 27th February 2012 and this is likely to continue for several weeks. The surveyors will be visiting the areas in the evening as the surveys work better in the dark, but will have identification and branded vans and clothing to help residents identify them.

In the meantime, if you have any further queries or require further information please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Service Team on 01382 903545.

For those of you currently in receipt of Housing Benefit, you need to be aware of some of the changes which may affect you.

What are some of the changes?

• All working age benefits will be replaced with a Universal Credit.
• Housing Benefit will be rolled up into Universal Credit and will be paid to you monthly in arrears. At the moment, the majority of you choose to have your Housing Benefit paid direct to Abertay, but under Universal Credit you will no longer have the choice and will have to manage your own rent payments.
• A Housing Benefit cap will be introduced on homes where there are deemed to be more bedrooms in the property than a household requires.
• Increased Housing Benefit deductions will be made for claimants who have
  non-dependants living with them (i.e. grown-up relatives or lodgers)

If you feel that you are likely to be affected by any of the above changes and wish to discuss the matter further then please contact:

To assist Ken, Committee also voted in Dorothy Taylor as Vice Chair. Dorothy is a long standing member of Abertay, having originally joined the Steering Group way back in 1990, and was a key figure during the stock transfer from Scottish Homes in 1997.Both Ken and Dorothy will lead the Management Committee, who have ultimate responsibility for the running of Abertay. Any resident who is interested in learning more about Abertay’s Committee of Management, or who would like to attend a meeting as an observer should contact the our Chief Executive, Ian Thomson, for further information.

We would be delighted to hear from you!

We were recently approached by the daughter of one of our tenants who is about to embark upon a voluntary venture (through Project Trust and the Greylodge Settlement), to Cape Town, South Africa.

Amber Duncan (17) initially wrote in to our Chief Executive, Ian Thomson, to enquire whether Abertay would be willing to contribute a small donation towards the cost of this venture. During her time in Cape Town Amber will be working with the orphans who live in a Children’s Home there, on both an educational and social care basis.

As our members are aware, Abertay sets aside £500 per year to help worthwhile causes and we were delighted to use some of this to help Amber realise her dream.

Amber has raised the required funds through various activities including: race nights, beauty nights, sponsored waxing (ouch!), prize bingo, raffles, and a collection at her local B&Q store. Amber has also received many donations from local companies and has used these as prizes for the aforementioned.

We will be updating you on Amber’s progress over the coming months so please watch this space!

Everyone agreed it was a super day and that the planning and organising had been well worth the effort. Roll on the next anniversary!!

You are cordially invited to Abertay’s 15th Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 21st September 2011 in Fintry Parish Church at 6.30 pm.

As in previous years, there will be a report from our Chairperson, Russell Rowbotham, along with the presentation of our Annual Accounts.

All Shareholders will have the opportunity to vote and stand for committee. We are a tenant led organisation and in order to maintain this we need more tenants on our Committee of Management. If you are interested in becoming a member, or would like to come along to one of our committee meetings as an observer, please let us know. Further information can be obtained by contacting our Chief Executive,

Ian Thomson.

We have been entertained for the last 3 years by the wonderful Dryburgh Gardens Versatiles, who have provided us with songs and dance from a bygone era. This year, however, we aim to entertain you in a different way and have booked a youth group dance troupe named Showcase. They are an award winning organisation who combine hip hop and streetdance and who will no doubt have you all swaying in your seats! Our ever popular prize draw and renowned buffet will follow the evening’s entertainment.

We do hope you will come along and look forward to seeing you there…

The day was enjoyed by over 100 Abertay residents and the highlights included a presentation from Lesley Ferguson our Corporate Services Director on the subject of “where your money goes”. This was followed by two workshop sessions held by Raymond Lynch from Dundee City Council Trading Standards and Susan Gunn from Celebrate Age Network.

A very enjoyable lunch was then followed by a presentation on the new V&A from Professor Nicholas Terry, Acting Principal of Abertay University and to round the day off, Isabelle Barr (Scheme Manager at Dryburgh Gardens) entertained the audience with musical bingo.

Many thanks go to McGill Electrical for donating all of the prizes and to DEEAP, Tayside Fire & Rescue, the Community Safety Team and Julie Rain (Savings & Loan Officer) for providing the information on the exhibitor stands.