Ahead of Scottish Housing Day on 17th September, we’re highlighting the work carried out by the teams at Bridgewater Housing Association in helping its community to build capacity and think creatively in working with residents to support good neighbourhoods.
Like all housing providers, Bridgewater Housing Association is committed to delivering high quality services and maintaining strong relationships with the communities it serves. We see our purpose as not only to maintain quality, sustainable homes, but also to strengthen Erskine’s network and neighbourhoods and unite them through a sense of shared community and identity.
To give some sense of scale, Bridgewater is responsible for the maintenance of 57 acres of greenspace which is the equivalent of 50 full sized football pitches. These spaces connect our residential clusters and create opportunities for interaction for our mixed tenure customer base of around 2600 owners and 854 tenants.
Key Challenge
Our levels of satisfaction from our residents in relation to the consistency and quality of landscaping maintenance across several estates was dropping. This feedback highlighted a need for more visible engagement from the Association and a more collaborative approach to service delivery to.
Our Approach
We knew we wanted to do better. We knew we wanted to engage with our residents in a creative and informal way to encourage constructive and collaborative feedback. To address these concerns and strengthen community ties, Bridgewater staff undertook a series of estate walkarounds across different areas which invited our residents to join us on this open activity. These walkarounds were designed to:• Increase staff visibility within the community
- Create an open platform for discussion in a ‘walk and talk’ format to build
- relationships.
- Encourage participation to foster collaboration and empowerment.
- Provide a direct channel for residents to share feedback.
- Identify and resolve issues in real-time
- Build trust and transparency.
It was really important to us that the blend of staff representation across the Housing and Property Services Teams, alongside senior management from our service delivery partner, provided the participating residents with answers to their questions and support of their ideas and suggestions to be taken forward.
Outcomes
The walkarounds proved to be a successful and valuable exercise in community engagement and service improvement. Key outcomes included:
- Immediate Action: Several minor issues were resolved on the spot, including
- litter removal, bin placement adjustments, and clarification of maintenance
- schedules.
- Feedback Collection: Residents provided constructive feedback on
- landscaping, communal area upkeep, and communication preferences.
- Community Empowerment: A shared understanding of objectives and
- aspirations for the area, collating a register of residents who have a desire to
- drive forward improvements for their area with the support of the Association.
- Future Planning: The insights and interest gathered are informing the creation of
- a Customer Engagement Group, aimed at fostering ongoing dialogue and co-
- designing service improvements.
Looking Ahead
The success of the estate walkarounds has laid the foundation for a more collaborative approach to service delivery. The upcoming Customer Engagement Group will serve as a platform for residents to influence decisions, share ideas, and help shape the future of their communities. Bridgewater Housing Association remains committed to listening, learning, and acting on the voices of its residents, ensuring that the services provided reflect the needs of the people we serve.