Typical tenant participation activities
Estate Meetings
IDS staff organise regular tenants meetings on your estate. Attending a short meeting is the best way for you to make sure that your opinions are heard and for you to really influence the decisions that IDS will take about your housing and local community.
Surveys – involvement at home
We realise that not everybody can always go out to meetings so we carry out regular surveys by post, email and telephone. Surveys give us very useful information about what you think of the services we provide. Occasionally, we ask tenants to undertake research on behalf of IDS. Using a structured survey, peer researchers ask their fellow tenants questions to find out what you think on a variety of topics to do with your home, the services we provide and the local community.
Tenant representatives
We have a number of Tenant Representatives on our estates and at other properties. These are tenants who volunteer and assist us in carrying out joint inspections, reporting communal repairs, monitoring cleaning contractors and sometimes acting as key holders for communal areas. Tenant Representatives also help us to consult other tenants on community improvements and other issues, acting as an important link between landlord and tenant. We are always looking for more volunteer representatives please get in touch for more information.
Tenants’ forum
The Tenants Forum acts as a consultative body for our tenants and is made up of representatives from our estates as well as our other properties. It seeks to communicate the interests of all those we house. The Tenants Forum regularly meets with senior managers to put across tenants views and be consulted on all our activities.
Youth forum
The views and opinions of young people are often overlooked and undervalued in todays society. To ensure that the voices of our young people are heard, a Youth Forum is being set-up in order that the issues and concerns they face have a platform at IDS and so that our younger residents have a say in their housing future.
Community activities
IDS has an exciting programme of community activities such as community fun days, sports activities, keep-fit, dance, drama and martial arts classes, computer training, estate events, cultural exchange days, theme park outings and, for our elderly tenants, parties, outings and special events. There are plenty of opportunities for you to get involved, either by helping to organise activities, or simply by taking part in them.
Free training for IDS tenants
IDS works with local partner organisations to provide free training for tenants in areas such as computer skills, English and Maths. For tenants who would like to get more involved, for instance as a Tenants Rep, a free, tailored training programme can be arranged. This could include training on presentation and public speaking skills, life skills, fundraising, how to run a meeting, as well as training
to help you understand and prepare for the role of a chairperson, treasurer or secretary of a tenants association. The training is designed to increase your confidence as well as give you the practical know-how to play a wider part in community activities.
Tenants’ associations
A tenants association is a group of local people who have joined together for a particular reason. This may be to tackle environmental problems on an estate or conduct a road-safety campaign. IDS can help in all types of activities from running a community building to organising activities for young people. A tenants association is also the best way to apply for funding to help with community improvements. We have tenants associations on most of our large estates and would encourage you to attend their meetings as a way of getting more involved.
Issue-based groups
Sometimes groups of tenants and staff are formed to look at single issues in greater detail in order to make recommendations and solve community problems. These might include issues such as major repairs, environmental improvements, security, estate inspections or fundraising.
