Many of us here at PA come to work in social housing from the private sector with a desire to give something back to our society and communities.
Working with a great team that delivers kitchen and bathroom upgrades to our residents gives us opportunities to improve living conditions every day.
Every once in a while, there is an opportunity to change someone’s life and that was the case when I met Jeanette from Kirby Frith in Leicester. She told me her story of how she took ill one day and woke up in hospital without one of her legs and suddenly, she was a wheelchair user.
Living in a semi-detached house, her life became confined to two downstairs rooms, and she lost all confidence to go out.
Her rear garden was extremely overgrown with a massive tree in the middle of it and lots of debris that had built up over the years. She didn’t have the capacity or contacts to deal with it, so even the garden was off limits. This meant that her grandchildren had limited visits, as there was nowhere for them to play.
We approached our kitchen and bathroom contractor, PiLON, and asked them for help under the social value element of our contract with them. This sets aside a portion of the contract value for projects that benefit our residents and communities.
They were totally on board with helping Jeanette and allocated one of their team to clear the garden, cut down the tree, and lay astroturf to create a maintenance free garden for Jeanette and her grandchildren to enjoy.
Looking at the photos, the transformation is remarkable, and Jeanette is over the moon, as are the grandchildren. When I visited last, there was a play tent and a paddling pool being put to good use.
I asked Jeanette what the impact of the change had been for her. She said:
“It’s absolutely fantastic! It’s the happiest I’ve been since I’ve been here. I don’t think I’ve even seen my garden since I moved in.” (She’s lived there since 1997).
“I come to my back door and look at it every morning with a big smile on my face. The neighbours are jealous. You should see the smile on my face when I’m talking about it.
“My youngest granddaughter keeps saying, ‘Garden, garden!’”
Our one team approach has worked to great effect in this instance, and we look forward to working with PiLON on other social value projects that we can bring to you in future.
