25th Anniversary Celebrations 2010 - Charity Dinner with Guest Speaker Steve Cram MBE
Next year sees Giroscope celebrate its 25th Anniversary. One of the events that will form part of these celebrations will be the Giroscope Charity Dinner. The dinner is taking place on the evening of Thursday 20th May 2010 at Lazaat Restaurant Bar Hotel (www.lazaat.com) in Cottingham, near Hull. The guest speaker will be Steve Cram MBE. Steve's brother was one of Giroscope's founders. Individual tickets for the dinner can be purchased, but we are hoping to sell the event by the table (ten people per table). For more details please contact Giroscope. Steve Cram is one of the world's most successful middle distance athletes of all time. In a career spanning over three decades since appearing as a 17 year old at the Commonwealth Games in 1978 Steve's many achievements include six Gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and the European and World Championships. Since retiring from competitve athletics Steve has become a very successful television commentator, first with Eurosport, and then with Channel 4 before joining the BBC as the Chief Athletics Commentator - See links below for further information.
Finalists Again!
At the end of October 2009 three representatives from Giroscope attended the Social Enterprise Yorkshire and Humber Awards dinner at Doncaster Racecourse. The event was supported by Yorkshire Forward, Business Link and the Cabinet Office - Office for the Third Sector. Giroscope was nominated as a finalist in the category 'Social Enterprise of the Year'. This follows up Giroscope being finalists for the Hull Daily Mail Business Awards 2007 'Contribution to the Community' Award - See links below for more details.
Empties on the Rise
According to latest edition of Inside Housing magazine there are a staggering 943,414 empty homes in the UK (27th February 2009). The figure is rising, with the government revealing that between 2007 and 2008 the number of empty homes leapt by 25,000 – the biggest increase in 25 years. In Hull a shocking 7.4% of all homes are empty (Housing Strategy Statistical Index 2008). This represents one of the highest numbers in the country. The June 2007 floods account for part of this figure, but in no way explains such a shameful statistic. The outgoing head of Housing in Hull, John Hocking, has also cited the market renewal pathfinder as another source of increased empty homes in Hull - See links below for more information.
Targeted Support Fund - 'Hands On' Hull Project
September 2009 saw the start of Giroscope's latest project to provide work experience placements for local unemployed people. With a grant from the government's Targeted Support Fund Giroscope has taken on a new worker to supervise the project. Peter has many years experience in renovating and decorating Victorian properties and supervising a diverse mix of people. We are now giving unemployed people the chance to come and gain valuable work experience and learn new skills under expert supervision. We are working in partnership with several organisations in Hull, including Hessle Road Network to provide work placements to local young people. Please get in touch if you are interested in becoming a volunteer with us - See link below for more details about the Targeted Support Fund.
Giroscope Plans Expansion
As house prices continue to fall and the number of empties continues to rise Giroscope is planning to increase its housing stock. We now have some of the finance in place to purchase at least six new properties. This will mean six empty houses bought back into use to provide sustainable homes for local people. It will also provide much needed work opportunities along the way. We are also investigating the possibility of acquiring empty properties from other social landlords that are currently lying empty. This will enable Giroscope to use its skills to help lower the shocking rates of empty homes across the city.
Tenant Survey Points Way to Providing Better Service
In 2008 Giroscope commissioned an independent Tenant Satisfaction Survey. The survey was carried out by Carolyn and Ros Kane under the control of the University of Lincoln. The results were generally very positive, but still leave us plenty of scope for improvement. The survey showed that our maintenance service to our tenants had improved over the last two years. The survey also revealed that nearly half of our tenants had been with us for over five years. This illustrates the sustainability of the service that Giroscope provides. Copies of the survey are available to view and download from the 'Resources' section of the site.
One More Broken Window
Another survey out recently has highlighted the debilitating effect that growing up around empty and abandoned property has on children’s education. The report, titled ‘One More Broken Window’ (The Perpetuity Group) backed up with hard evidence what many of us have suspected for a while. This should serve as a reminder to Regeneration agencies not to leave neighbourhoods in ‘limbo’ as they consider their future plans.
Related Links
Empty Homes Agency - www.emptyhomes.com
Fight for our Homes Resource - www.fightforourhomes.com
Guardian article on One More Broken Window Report - www.guardian.co.uk
Hull City Council - www.hullcc.gov.uk
Inside Housing - www.insidehousing.co.uk
Lazaat Restaurant Bar Hotel - www.lazaat.com
Perpetuity Group Safer Communities & Research - www.perpetuity.com
Social Enterprise Yorkshire & Humber - www.seyh.org.uk
Society Guardian - www.society.guardian.co.uk
Steve Cram Biography - www.stevecram.com
Targeted Support Fund - www.tsf.com