Clarion Housing

Our South West Equans team have made great progress in Plymouth with works at Sutton Court progressing well.

Undertaking roof works, external decorations and door entry to all blocks, the team have completed all works to Block 1, block 2 is 50% re-tiled and door entry and redecoration works are also progressing well.

Currently the completion date is forecasted as early September 2023.

Residents of the Berecroft Estate in Harlow, Essex, received free Level 1 health and safety training for free thanks to Equans and in addition they also had their car park walls fully refurbished.

In late July, Equans' in-house Trainer, Fay Brown, delivered Level 1 health and safety training to local residents covering everything from typical hazards and how to control them, occupational health, protective wear and equipment, manual handling, working at height, individual responsibilities, practical standards for site safety and legal requirements and liabilities.

All training courses are accredited and industry recognised and delivered through Equans' in-house Learning and Development Centre of Excellence Team.

In addition to the free safety training Equans' Social Value Manager, Patrick Warren enlisted the help of Social Value Officer, Richard Sanz and a handful of Equans staff as volunteers to help undertake much needed refurbishment works to the estate's car park walls.

Volunteers rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in helping to prepare the walls for re-painting, sanding down surfaces and then helping to apply the new black paint, giving the walls a fresh new look.

As part of EQUANS' work with Clarion, a number of residents have taken the time to provide some positive feedback about the works carried out to their homes.

"So happy with all the team. they work very hard and always explained what they were going to do. I love my kitchen and bathroom! Karen was lovely to talk to and to get everything sorted, always on the end of the phone if needed. Thank you for all the hard work." Resident of Bexfield Road, Foulsham

"To Andy, Natalie and the team, thanks for your help and the wonderful work installing our new kitchen, we love it!" Resident of Plumley Gardens, Widnes

"Work done to a high standard with patience and thoughts for the tenants' ideas and opinions. Would recommend with a 10! Karen is professional and lovely ensuring we were comfortable and happy with decisions and choices and regularly checking works were done effectively." Resident of Wade Close, Aylsham

"I have been extremely satisfied with the works and contractors. Friendly, helpful and cleaned up well when finished. Karen has been very helpful, such a nice person to talk to, makes you feel very comfortable, clearly explained procedures and listened when I had concerns. Dennis was also great to deal with, he followed up the snags and took ownership of the small jobs." Resident of Bexfield Road, Foulsham

"I was impressed with the workmen, they were all polite, clean and efficient in all the work they did in my kitchen. I and other residents too, are really pleased with the external painting work that was carried out on the flats. The painters were friendly, helpful and very clean and efficient." Resident of Thornhills, Widnes

"Happy with the staff and workmen, communicated well. The improvements have helped with the warmth and bills in my home." Resident of Southwell Road, Wisbech

"To all the team at Clarion, thank you so much for my lovely kitchen. Really polite and helpful workers who did a fantastic job." Resident of Cherrysutton, Widnes

"Very professional and friendly, very happy with the outcome." Resident of Musticott Place, Wisbech

"Scheme décor lovely, workers on site very polite and courteous. Good communication from Karen and the Equans team. Kitchen also lovely and residents have all commented how much better it all looks." Livesmart Scheme Manager of Margaret Crescent, Norwich

"Lads turned up at the right time, credit to the company and kept me informed along the way." Resident of Bancroft, Tamworth

"Karen has been very professional and helpful throughout the works, every time I had a query or worry she reassured me and found out the information for me." Resident of Bexfield Road, Foulsham

If you have recently received works from EQUANS and are happy about the service you received, please ask your Resident Liaison Officer for a comment card or blue house form and leave us a comment. Make sure to name any staff that you felt went above and beyond.

In July, our Yorkshire & Central Leeds team helped provide a new parking area for local residents following the removal of an old garage site.

The old garage site neighboured the Clarion Leeds office and after being removed, Equans painted new white lines to create a new parking area for residents visiting the office and facilities.

Equans' North-West team recently celebrated reaching their halfway point for the window renewal works being carried out in Widnes.

The team are currently delivering a 20 month estate-wide programme at the Cherrysutton Estate in Hough Green, Widnes. Works started in April 2022 and are due to complete by December 2023.

The programme of works was developed with the intention of making use of spring and summer weather for the external works, and poorer autumn/winter weather to deliver the internal component renewals.

All the internal component work and 40% of the external work was completed in 22/23. The remaining 60% is being delivered in 2024.

By far the largest workstream in the programme is the window renewal to around 360 properties across the estate. So it was a key milestone when the site team were able to mark the halfway point of the work by presenting the resident of the property making the halfway point with flowers and chocolates to celebrate.

For further information please view the full case study by click here.

Students from schools in Hertfordshire and London receive a valuable insight into the construction industry following school engagement events delivered by Equans.

This month, volunteers from Equans were joined by staff from supply chain partner KM-ECO to deliver a number of school engagement events, in order to prepare students for employment.

Staff and volunteers generously gave up their time to speak to students about interviews, CV writing as well as general tips and advice about the world of work and more specifically about working within the construction industry.

Initiatives such as these are delivered as part of Equans' social value offering to Clarion with the aim of promoting training and employment opportunities for school leavers.

An Equans director lead by example this month when he volunteered his own time to support a school engagement event at a school in Hertfordshire.

Regeneration Director, James Cousins, generously gave up some of his time recently when he took a moment to speak to students from Stanborough School in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire about careers within the construction industry.

James spoke to several students about their aspirations after leaving school, gave some inside knowledge about the industry as well as some great tips on how to prepare for interviews.

The event was organised by Equans' Social Value Manager, Patrick Warren, who in addition to attending the event also visited the Wickford Alternative Provision to talk to students about routes into construction as well as giving them advice on interview techniques.

Windows and communal doors have been completely replaced at Wenlock and Oswestry Court in the West Midlands. This included new handsets into each of the flats for the new intercom on the communal doors.

Comments from some of the residents that received these works:

"I am really happy with the work, they left it really tidy and I really recommend the people"

"All the appointments went smoothly, there was an issue with one of the windows but it was easily fixed."

"We have had great communication from Equans. All our appointments have been attended to on time and the team have been respectful and friendly."

Alongside Clarion, EQUANS staff have shown further support to Clarion Futures in the delivery of their Digital Inclusion sessions for residents.

Most recently, Social Value Officer, Richard Sanz, attended the latest Clarion Digital Inclusion session at Burnham-on-Crouch in Maldon this June, to help offer support to residents learning about the digital world.

During the session Richard provided advices and tips for daily tasks usually undertaken online whilst helping residents get online and up to speed with their digital devices.

This event is part of a wider initiative, providing supporting for Clarion Futures' digital inclusion workshops.

We'd like to make you aware of some changes to the site team delivering works within the South East & Eastern region.

Sadly, we've said goodbye to Resident Liaison Officers, Taryn Leigh and Karen Walker. We'd like to thank them for their efforts and wish them well as they leave the Clarion partnership.

With the departure of Taryn and Karen, we're now welcoming three new Resident Liaison Officers, Sue De Aston, Claudia Paton and Jim Swallow. Sue will be covering the Wisbech area, Claudia will cover March and Jim will cover Essex and Bishops Stortford.

Please join us in welcoming our new starters, Sue, Claudia and Jim. Their contact details can be found here.

Sue De Aston	Claudia Paton	Jim Swallow