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Another Successful
Partnership
In 2004 Cross Keys Homes was formed, taking
over responsibility for the local housing previously managed by
Peterborough
City Council. Amongst the housing stock there were 29 sheltered housing
schemes. The communal facilities at most of these had not received much
in the way of investment over the years and as a result were not
furnished or decorated in a very attractive way. In
many cases they did not enhance the the overall appeal of the scheme
and
were under used.
The management at Cross Keys recognised this shortcoming and put in
place a plan to upgrade
and improve them and made funding available
for the community centres to be upgraded. ipm were invited to quote for
the refurbishment of Johnson Walk and following the success of this
moved on to work on other schemes within the Cross Keys portfolio.
Sheltered
Schemes
before
refurbishment
Consultation
As part of the Cross Keys ethos, before any
work
could go ahead, there was a process of consultation
with staff and the residents at each of the schemes. This
helped us to establish what work needed to be carried out, what
activities currently went on and what activities they
would like to be able to accommodate in the future. In some cases this
meant Cross Keys making even greater investment as it was necessary to
construct new areas by way of extensions or conservatories to provide
additional space.
Once the initial consultation had taken place, ipm put together a
furnishing proposal which included space planning, the specification
for the furniture and interior design ideas, which was presented to the
management of Cross Keys
and the residents. This had to be carefully devised to make sure that
the work met the needs of the users of the centres,
but also that it was being done in the most cost effective way.
Residents were then involved in making decisions on the finer points of
some of the furniture and able to select the new colour scheme.
Completion
Once the specification for the work was agreed, a program was put
together
by Cross Keys including other elements of the works such as decorating
and in some cases a new building or a new kitchen. The work then went
ahead and was completed in the shortest possible time
to keep the "down time" of the centres to a minimum.
The feedback that we have received is very positive, with community
rooms now busier than ever with a wider range of activities and with
more people taking part. Thanks to the investment that Cross Keys have
made, the centres now provide an even more important hub to the
community
either for joining in an activity or as somewhere
to just sit quietly and have a cup of tea and a chat.
The benefits are obvious to
the residents as they now have a communal rooms that offer a warm
comfortable environment and with more people using them they help to
provide more cohesion to the individual communities.
From Cross Keys point of view the improvements have helped to bring the
sheltered schemes up in overall standard and provide a better
environment for existing residents and make them more attractive to
potential residents.
You can see examples of Cross
Keys Projects we have worked on in the
Projects section or by clicking the following links.
Mellows
Close
Pine
Tree Close
Rangefield
NEW
Copeland
Nelson
Place
Maud
Swift Court
You can also watch a short film about the refurbishment of Larch Grove.
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