Curo News

Our commitment to support our residents

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 08:00:00 Z

At Curo we want to assure all our residents that we will always support you and work with you to keep you in your home wherever possible.

We support the following statement issued by the National Housing Federation which represents housing associations across the country, including Curo:

Housing associations are not-for-profit landlords to more than six million people in England. Any resident worried about paying their rent should contact their housing association, who will help.

Housing associations are committed to:

1. Keeping people secure at home
No one will be evicted from a housing association home as a result of financial hardship, where they are working (or engaging) with their housing association to get their payments back on track.

2. Helping people to get the support they need
Housing associations are helping residents to access benefits and other support to alleviate financial hardship, including supporting people to get work where possible.

3. Acting compassionately and quickly where people are struggling
Housing associations will work with any resident who is struggling to find arrangements to pay rent that is manageable for them in the long term. Legal action will only be taken in serious circumstances – for example as a last resort where a resident will not agree a plan with their landlord to help them pay their rent, or where it is needed urgently in cases of domestic abuse or of antisocial behaviour that is putting other residents or communities at risk.

These commitments stand during the coronavirus crisis, and beyond.

Please get in touch if you're finding it hard to pay your rent - we will do all we can to help.

Curo chats: Keeping you and your family safe in your home

Mon, 06 Jul 2020 15:35:50 Z

Ashima, Dan and Katie are chatting through how we're working with you to keep your home, your building and your family and neighbours safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Get more home safety tips and advice.

For more of Curo chats like this, visit our Youtube channel.

Letter to social housing residents from the Housing Minister

Tue, 19 May 2020 14:27:06 Z

The Government's Minister of Housing has published a letter to all social housing residents setting out the measures that are in place to support you during the next phase towards reopening society.

The letter includes information about maintenance and repairs, gas safety checks, remediation works, home moves, support for domestic abuse victims and anti-social behaviour.

Read the letter here (PDF).

Read the letter in large print here (PDF).

Click here for more information about COVID-19 and how we are maintaining our services for our customers.

Curo resumes construction operations

Mon, 11 May 2020 13:44:16 Z

Curo’s housebuilding division is today re-opening construction sites across the West of England, in line with government instructions and the three-step plan to end the coronavirus lockdown unveiled on Sunday 10 May. Prime Minister Boris Johnson actively encouraged construction and manufacturing operations to resume while urging companies and workers to continue to observe physical distancing measures.

Curo closed all sites on Friday 27 March, following the lockdown announcement. While the government’s guidance did not require building works to stop, Curo – like many other housebuilders – took the decision to do so in order to support the national effort to minimise the spread of COVID-19.

This allowed the necessary time to prepare for a safe return on site by putting in place measures to enable our workforce to adhere to government and industry bodies’ sector-specific guidance for construction works during the COVID-19 outbreak.

To ensure the safety of our site colleagues, the communities we work in and the wider public, we are following the Construction Leadership Council’s latest version of the Site Operating Procedures (SOP V3). This sets out how construction sites should manage the risk of COVID-19 spread through practices such as physical distancing, increased cleaning regimes and personal hygiene.

Curo remains fully committed to protecting public health while continuing to deliver much-needed new homes across our region.

We're here for you - reach Curo 24/7 with MyCuro

Thu, 07 May 2020 11:14:03 Z

We want to let you know that we are here for you during this challenging time, and whilst things are a bit more difficult you can still reach us 247 with MyCuro. Curo colleagues have a message they would like to share with you.

To find out more about MyCuro and to register click here

Supporting the community through the Coronavirus lockdown

Mon, 04 May 2020 10:23:38 Z

Image above: Hub Events Coordinator, Gemma, delivering hot food and groceries with Curo's electric pool car.

Since the start of the Coronavirus lockdown, The Hub at Mulberry Park has had to close its doors to protect public health. But while classes and meetings have been temporarily suspended, the Hub’s team have quickly adapted to the new ‘normal’ and found other ways to support the communities of Mulberry Park, Foxhill and the wider Combe Down.

Exactly one week after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the national lockdown, The Hub was launching its local delivery service of hot food and groceries.

Hub Manager, Lizzie Irvine, says: “We wanted to continue to support local residents and decided to bring our delicious Café products to their doorstep through a no-contact delivery service.

“We also knew that some of our community members may not be able to go out during this period and could be struggling to secure a delivery slot with the big supermarkets. That’s how we came up with the idea of adding a range of basic groceries, including fruit and vegetables, to our delivery service.”

Hub Facilities Manager, Richard, is also part of the delivery team during the Coronavirus lockdown.

To keep everyone safe, The Hub’s team are offering this service while strictly observing social distancing guidelines. Payments can only be made by card, over the telephone, and parcels are placed outside customers’ front doors.

There are two teams operating at The Hub on alternative days, to enable physical distancing and ensure deliveries can continue for as long as possible during lockdown.

The service has grown from three deliveries on the first day to more than 20 now, consisting of a mix of hot Café dishes and groceries.

Lizzie says: “The service has been very well received and is appreciated by the community. We’ve served a number of elderly members of the community who buy hot meals and groceries; one gentleman in Foxhill has been ordering something every day. Our most popular items are the hot special of the day, toasties and the groceries – particularly milk, butter, bread and eggs.”

Among customers there are also young families who can’t leave their homes, people self-isolating and key workers ordering lunch specials so they don’t have to cook after long shifts.

In addition, The Hub is now producing and delivering close to 40 hot meals every day to Curo residents in supported housing schemes in Bath.

The Hub is also supporting ‘Scrubs for the NHS’, providing a drop-off point for scrubs produced by members of the community for NHS workers. Volunteers help sort the scrubs in one of the rooms at The Hub, separate from any other people in the building.

Hub Manager Lizzie says they intend to keep these services going for as long as possible during the coronavirus crisis and are always looking for new and safe ways to support the community.

The Hub’s Café and groceries delivery service is available for local residents in Foxhill, Mulberry Park and Combe Down Monday to Friday, from 9am to 3pm. To place an order call 01225 436 869 - £5 minimum order, card payments only.

Community heroes: Making face shields for key workers

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 10:53:06 Z

Curo resident Maya Wolf (pictured above with her handiwork) explains how she and a friend decided to put their talents, time and resources to work by making hundreds of face shields for people on the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic:

In mid-March, seeing all my freelance work being cancelled, I began making face shields. They have gone to pharmacists, doctors’ surgeries, care homes, home care workers, hospices, midwives, hospitals and others.

When my materials began to run low, with a friend and colleague, we fundraised enough money to buy sufficient materials to produce another 800 face shields. We split the materials (with her in Bristol, me in Bath) and continued to make and distribute these shields to whoever needed them.

As time has gone on other people have set up much larger-scale productions of face shields and other PPE. Now, when I deliver shields to people who request them, I include information about where else they may access more if needed.

In this way I intend to scale down my production and redirect my efforts, to a place where it can be of equal if not more use. I’m presently considering the options.

I don't think of my efforts as being heroic. To me they are a normal, compassionate response to the situation I witnessed around me and my natural reaction to help in any way I could. This for me, as a self-employed artist and maker, was to use the time and materials I had to hand, to help protect the public-facing people I saw around me, who sorely lacked PPE.

Self-employed community artist, Maya Wolf has been a Curo resident since 1998. She has worked on the Bath Lantern Procession, as an artist, when it was based at the Holburne Museum, and as a co-director and artist for the two years that it was based in Walcot Street. Maya is also co-organiser of the Bath Lantern Procession which is scheduled to take place in December this year.

www.wolfworks.co.uk

Instagram @mayawolfworks

Pictured: One of Maya's spectacular lantern creations.

Our construction sites are closing Friday 27th March

Tue, 24 Mar 2020 15:33:34 Z

Updated 15:40hrs - 24th March

While the government guidance issued 23rd March is specifically allowing construction works to carry on, we’ve taken the decision to temporarily close all our sites as of Friday 27th March. We’re doing this to protect our colleagues, contractors and the wider communities against the spread of COVID-19.

The minimum number of colleagues will be present on sites until the end of the week, carrying out essential and necessary work to ensure the safe and secure closure of our sites.

This work is being carried out in the safest manner possible in keeping with Health, Safety & Environment (HSE), Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) and Build UK guidelines. Our construction colleagues are observing social distancing rules and are fully committed to supporting the national effort to minimise the spread of COVID-19.

This temporary measure will be in place for 3 weeks in the first instance. We will review and update this information regularly.