Archives: News & Events

Little Shed is our new community hub on the high street in Tonypandy and last week we officially opened our doors inviting tenants, staff & partners in to celebrate with us!

The space used to be our old office but with the help of the Black Sheep youth project and our contractors it’s transformed into a modern and welcoming space which will be home to our Grub Hub food parcel project, a Community Fridge, Digital Friday’s, Play It Again Sports shops, health sessions plus so much more.

Our local contractors and suppliers also kindly supported the venture through our Community Benefits programme (‘Giving Back‘) and we would like to thank:  Vision Products, Property Building Maintenance Wales Ltd, Flair Electrical Engineering Ltd, Bright Collie, Greenstream Flooring, IVC Flooring, Ministry of Furniture and the Arts Factory Rhondda for their generous contributions and in helping is see our vision at the Little Shed become a reality.

In 2019 we joined forces with the Black Sheep (part of ARC Training Company) to refurbish the space on Dunraven Street. Their young people worked to renovate the Little Shed while gaining new skills and qualifications. Thirty students from local comprehensive schools have worked on the space and these amazing young people have all completed Level 1 in Health and Safety in construction, Level 1 in Asbestos Awareness and Level 2 in Manual Handling, 2 have progressed to gain employment

We have been successful in achieving a prestigious and nationally recognised equality and diversity mark for social landlords.

The QED Award, developed by Welsh housing charity, Tai Pawb, provides a comprehensive framework for improving the equality and diversity impact of an organisation. Awarded by an independent panel, it considers strategic areas such as governance, leadership and culture as well as customer-facing service provision, including access and tenant involvement.

Colleagues, tenants and board members from across the organisation, as well as our contractors and partner organisations engaged in the twelve-month accreditation process which included staff surveys, engagement with tenants, interviews, a review of policies and procedures and the production of an action plan.

We were delighted to hand over 26 new homes in our Cwrt Tafarn scheme in Llantrisant this week.

The former Southgate garage site was transformed, and new homes built to Welsh Government standards which further demonstrates our commitment to provide energy efficient affordable homes. We worked closely with Pendragon Contractors to deliver these high-quality homes and delighted this scheme is now complete as it is an absolute joy to see the delight on the new tenants faces as they received the keys to their apartments.

RHA Wales is pleased to announce that our new 4-year procurement framework was completed successfully in May 2022. This new framework enables us to continue our strong focus on maintaining and investing in our 1800 plus homes, improving tenant services and demonstrating our commitment to supporting local by working with South Wales based contractors.  

The framework includes our day to day repairs and maintenance service, electrical servicing, kitchen, bathroom and window replacements, decoration and adaptations.

As part of our continued priority to invest in our colleague’s health then we proud to have signed up to Mind’s Mental Health at Work Campaign.

Mental health has come to the forefront, along with physical health, in efforts to protect the health and wellbeing of our colleagues during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The Mental Health at Work Commitment is a simple framework that is evidenced based, integrating and aligned with existing pledges and charters, developed by developed by the Thriving at Work Leadership Council, Business in the Community (BITC) and Mind.

The Mental Health at Work Campaign consist of 6 standards:

1. Prioritise mental health in the workplace by developing and delivering a systematic programme of activity
2. Proactively ensure work design and organisational culture drive positive mental health outcomes
3. Promote an open culture around mental health
4. Increase organisational confidence and capability
5. Provide mental health tools and support
6. Increase transparency and accountability through internal and external reporting

Universal Credit (UC) is changing from October 2021. In April 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government brought in a UC temporary uplift of £20 per week. This uplift increased the standard allowance of UC by £86.67 every month.

This increase was only ever meant to be temporary and was brought in as extra support for claimants during the peak of the pandemic. The additional amount you receive is due to stop in October 2021. So the amount of UC you receive will be reduced by £86.67 per month.

This change is something that will impact everyone who is claiming UC and we don’t want our tenants to worry you as we are here to help.

Over 500 RHA tenants receive UC, some only claiming after April 2020 and may not be aware this was a temporary increase in the money received. Look at your Universal Credit payment statements, as you will see that the amount you are receiving is marked as ‘temporary’.

The table below shows how the standard allowances for Universal Credit and how this will impact you:

Our Homegrown community garden projects in Ashfield Close and Fforch Close, have been successfully awarded new garden packages by environmental charity Keep Wales Tidy.

Our tenant led ‘Homegrown’ community garden and nature projects are one of the first in the country to benefit from this year’s Local Places for Nature scheme.

These community gardens are creating spaces to bring tenants together to plant flowers, trees, vegetables and encourage our local wildlife to enjoy these safe spaces. All the plants, tools and materials are being provided for free by Keep Wales Tidy.

Last year, more than 500 small gardens across Wales were created, restored, and enhanced. Community groups and organisations of all shapes and sizes got involved – from disability charities and youth groups to social enterprises and carer groups.