Community groups supporting people across Eden will benefit from a new grant making fund. The new Eden Rural Community Fund, administered by Cumbria Community Foundation, was set up by Eden Housing Association after the sale of its Eden Community Alarms (ECA) office in Penrith. Grants of up to £3,000 are available to voluntary organisations and community groups that help improve the lives of vulnerable people. Projects supported could include exercise classes for older people, befriending service to reduce isolation of carers, materials and equipment to run activities with disabled young adults, improvement of community facilities to increase accessibility and one-off grants for capital equipment will be considered. Priority will be given to projects supporting older people, particularly those who are vulnerable and isolated, adults with physical disabilities, mental health needs and/or learning disabilities, carers and community and volunteer-led initiatives to deliver or improve access to services in rural areas. Cumbria Community Foundation has been building philanthropic support for communities and grassroots groups for 22 years. In that time, working with individual donors and businesses, it has invested almost £60 million into local communities. Beth Furneaux, Chair of Eden Housing Association, said “We’re pleased that the fund created by the sale…

Going forward, all social landlords are required to capture and report back to the Regulator of Social Housing on a range of Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs). We have commissioned Acuity, a market research company who specialise in the social housing sector, to carry out a short one-off survey of our tenants. Acuity will be surveying tenants  between 16 January and 10 February. Here’s some useful information about the survey: • It’s a general satisfaction survey asking what you think of your home and the services provided by Eden Housing Association • The survey should take approximately 8 to 10 minutes to complete • If you receive a call from Acuity it will be from the following number: 01273 093939, which is a Brighton Area code • Acuity will only make calls between the hours of 9:00am and 8:00pm Monday to Friday and between the hours of 10.00am and 6:00pm on Saturday. • If you notice a missed call from this number and call back, you will hear a recorded message informing them that someone from Acuity tried to call them to complete a survey for their landlord The information collected from these surveys will tell us about the issues you’re…

The December edition of our digital newsletter, Viewpoint, is now live. Click here to read all our latest news  https://mailchi.mp/edenha/eden-housing-association-viewpoint-december22    

Every year the first period of cold weather can cause large numbers of tenants to lose their heating and hot water as they have forgotten to check their condensate pipe from their boiler. Please remember to follow the advice below: If caught early enough, this issue is often quick and simple for someone to solve for themselves without having to wait for a heating engineer to attend. If you get your heating and hot water from a gas or oil combi boiler, it will most likely have a condensate pipe – this will usually be white plastic and will run away from the boiler to a drain – often going to an outside wall and looking like an overflow pipe. In cold weather the small amount of water that runs from this pipe can freeze up, eventually causing the boiler to shut down and stop working. By defrosting the pipe and removing the frozen blockage, you can get your boiler working again. How to defrost a frozen condensate boiler pipe Use hot water – not boiling – heated by a kettle or a microwave and pour over the end of the pipe where it is frozen using a suitable container…

To celebrate National Tree Planting Week and EHA’s 25th birthday,  we donated money to Friends of the Lake District to enable them to plant 25 Native tree saplings – one sapling for each year of EHA’s life. Friends of the Lake District are dedicated to protecting and enhancing Cumbria’s landscape, taking action to protect and enhance the natural beauty of our landscapes for the benefit of local communities, visitors, wildlife and habitats. These saplings will be planted within the Lake District National Park during the tree planting season in the New Year.  

Today marks the start of the International 16 days of Activism against Domestic Abuse Domestic Abuse is an act between people who are personally connected or related. It is not just acts of violence. Domestic Abuse includes acts of physical or sexual abuse, violent or threatening behaviour, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse and Psychological and emotional abuse Every day, for the next 10 days, we will be posting links on our Facebook and Twitter pages to services and organisations who will help you. There are several support services available in Cumbria, including emergency accommodation for those fleeing Domestic Abuse.   All support services are listed on the poster below.   Domestic Abuse can affect anyone. If you or someone you know is affected by Domestic Abuse, please seek help. In an emergency, if someone is at risk or a crime is in progress, always dial 999

Following a rigorous recruitment process, Eden Housing Association (EHA) has selected Chris Fawcett to lead the organisation, which this year is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Chris will join in February 2023 from North Yorkshire-based Broadacres Housing Association where he is the Executive Director – Business Transformation, having worked there for the last 13 years. The 47-year-old is also Chair of the Board of Darlington-based Railway Housing Association, so comes to EHA with extensive social housing experience. At EHA, Chris will be responsible for the leadership and operational performance of the Association, which has its head office in Penrith and manages just under 2,000 homes, mainly in North Cumbria. Beth Furneaux, Chair of Eden Housing Association, said: “We’re pleased to have been able to recruit someone of Chris’s calibre to Eden Housing Association. He has a wealth of experience in the sector, and at a senior level, and he joins us from a housing association which has the same rural focus as we do. Chris will play an important role in the future operational direction of Eden Housing Association, ensuring we deliver on our core mission of providing good value, affordable housing and being a fully inclusive, outstanding, community rooted landlord…

Eden Housing Association (EHA) recently celebrated its 25th birthday, and the AGM saw a change in Board Members. Under the Association’s Rules, Board Members Peter Fletcher and Fra Cooke retired from the Board after serving 9 years and 7 years respectively. Joining the Board of Management are Alex Rocke, Sarah Nye and Ian Thompson, whilst Stephen Colclough has been elected as a co-opted Member. Beth Furneaux, Chair of EHA, commented, “ We are delighted to see Alex, Sarah, Ian and Stephen join our Board.  With them they bring a wealth of knowledge on Internal Audit, Governance, Risk Management, Property and Construction.  Their knowledge, working experience and life skills will complement the quality and expertise we already have on the Board. We thank Peter and Fra for their dedication and commitment over the years, for the benefit of the Association and its tenants.  We are fortunate that we can attract Members who are willing to give up their valuable time without payment, to try and improve the housing situation of others”.   Pictured left to right – Alex Rocke, Ian Thompson, Fra Cooke, Beth Furneaux and Sarah Nye.  Missing from the picture is Stephen Colclough and Peter Fletcher   EHA Board…

The October edition of our digital newsletter, Viewpoint, is now live. Click here to read all our latest newshttps://mailchi.mp/edenha/eden-housing-association-viewpoint-28october22

North West housing associations Eden Housing Association (EHA) and Mitre Housing Association (MHA) have joined forces with Karbon Homes in a cost sharing partnership, to provide high quality, value for money services for EHA and MHA residents. The new partnership will see Karbon Homes deliver heating servicing and heating responsive repairs to 1,200 EHA and MHA homes, through its cost sharing vehicle (CSV) Karbon Solutions. Karbon will appoint additional heating engineers based in the North West to deliver the works. Jonathan Fletcher, Director of Pre-Tenancy and Property Services at Karbon Homes, said: “It’s great to be working alongside EHA and MHA to deliver key services to its residents across Cumbria. “The cultural alignment of our organisations made this partnership a clear fit. With a strong, mutual understanding of the challenges our customers face, alongside a passion for delivering excellent customer service and a priority focus on keeping customers as safe and secure in their homes as possible, we hope the partnership will be a real success for all parties.” As a CSV, Karbon Solutions allows organisations, like housing associations, to benefit from the Cost Sharing Exemption on services by making VAT savings on labour. Through the partnership, EHA and MHA…

From 3 October 2022, gas repairs and servicing for EHA and Mitre HA tenants will be delivered by Karbon Homes through Karbon Solutions. Karbon Homes already provide this service to 7000 tenants in Cumbria, and they have a strong local presence with a full team of engineers based in the County. We’re hopeful this will be a really successful partnership, providing a first rate service for our tenants. Karbon staff will be driving Karbon vans, wearing Karbon uniform and carry identification – please remember to check ID before letting anyone enter your home.

We’re walking 25 miles for 25 years to raise money for Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland! During 2022, Eden Housing Association and Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland both celebrate their 25th birthdays To mark this memorable milestone, staff at EHA have pledged to walk 25 miles for 25 years to raise money for a great cause On Saturday 17 September 2022, we will set off to walk the mammoth 20 mile ‘Ullswater Way’, taking in the extra Dalemain/Pooley Bridge 5 mile loop, making the route a total of 25 miles long. That’s no mean ‘feet’ for some of us and it will certainly be a challenge for all of us! We have joined forces with Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland and committed to their Club 25 to raise £1000, which will enable Hospice at Home to provide 40 hours of Pre and Post Bereavement Support. Can you help us raise the money? If you’d like to sponsor us click on https://www.justgiving.com/fundr…/eden-housing-association No matter how small your donation, every penny helps, and we thank and appreciate your support