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Rhondda Housing Association evolved from a single terraced property in Tylorstown, and forty years later on 27 January, a stones’ throw from where it all began, they proudly celebrated being one of Wales’s longest-serving housing associations at a special event at Rhondda Fach leisure centre.

 

The celebrations were enjoyed by staff, tenants and partners, and were entertained by Treorchy Comprehensive School’s flash mob choir. Special guest First Minister Mark Drakeford was in attendance, speaking at the event about the importance of a home, and the role housing plays in enabling people to lead more settled and prosperous lives.

The Association has been at the heart of the community for 40 years and has a rich history and a strong record of providing quality homes and improving lives. As part of their 40th-anniversary celebration, Rhondda Housing Association revealed their new brand name, RHA. Following consultation with their board, staff and tenants, the new name provides flexibility, and RHA means many different things; Responsible, Honest, Authentic, reflecting the organisations’ values, and Regeneration, Homes, Agility, aligned to how they approach their work.

Our tenant volunteer-led ‘Grub Hub’ project has scooped two Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Welsh Housing Awards. The Grub Hub project won the empowering and involving communities award and our tenant Logan Oberholster took the top spot in the Housing Champion category.

 

CIH is the independent voice of housing, the home of professional standards in Wales. Their Welsh Housing Awards recognises and celebrates the creativity, passion and innovation of housing organisations and individuals across the breadth of the sector in Wales, and they received hundreds of worthy applications.

The ‘Involvement and Engagement’ award recognised our Grub Hub project for successfully addressing the food poverty priority and creating a robust environmental community impact with volunteers, partners and staff. The prestigious Housing Champion award for Logan recognised his passion, enthusiasm and commitment, who has made a real difference to the lives of so many others.

Congratulations to all those involved.

 

For more information on Grub Hub, then look at our video:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=jGqqiYFKvMk&t=27s

We are pleased to have secured £100,000 from Welsh Government’s Foundational Economy Challenge funding. This will allow us to play a vital role in facilitating the economic, environmental and social regeneration of Rhondda Fawr by working partnership with local suppliers, businesses and entrepreneurs.

We are committed to making our High Streets focal points for development, as they are unique places for people to live, work, visit and enjoy. We have already acquired the old Co-op site in the heart of Tonypandy, which will see us investing to improve this area, giving local people a vibrant town centre to be proud of, creating jobs and building community co-operation.

This funding will allow us to employ a local supply chain officer who will work closely with our community partners and local chambers of trade to share learning and build on success. We plan to develop community businesses and support sole traders, working with local people, in local communities, which will unlock enterprise opportunities and turn business ideas into reality.

 

 

RHA Chief Executive – Luke Takeuchi, said:

“We are delighted that the Welsh Government has supported our bid as part of the Economy challenge fund to support the Foundational Economy.

We plan to regenerate this key area of Tonypandy’s town centre and the foundational economy principles form a key part of our strategic thinking for the project. We have invested in this site as we feel there is genuine potential to better utilise local skills and creative ideas to develop a vibrant mixed-use site that will improve the health, wellbeing and prosperity of local people.”

 

 

For more information on this programme then please contact:

Head of Communities & Enterprise – Simone Devinett

Telephone: 01443 424218 or email: [email protected]