Almond HA awarded for digital excellence
Posted on 10th Nov 2017 at 11:11 ( Last updated on 6th Feb 2019 at 17:05 )
Almond Housing Association has been awarded TPAS’ National Good Practice Award for Best Practice in Digital Involvement.
Community Engagement Officer Saima Akhtar, who leads Almond’s digital involvement work, was delighted to receive the award during a ceremony at the Fairmont Hotel in St Andrews on Friday 3rd November.
Tenants and members of our Tenant Focus Group, Mary Finegan and Patricia Galloway, who both completed our Computer and Online Basics course, were two of the four Almond tenants taking part in TPAS’ annual conference this weekend and were delighted to join Saima on stage.
Saima said: ”We are over the moon to win the TPAS award. It’s great to be recognised for the digital work we have done with our tenants.”
Almond has been involved in a wide range of activities to encourage tenants to go online. In consultation, we started delivering Computer and Online Basics courses with West Lothian College in 2015.
For tenants who could not attend a regular weekly class, we were able to source alternative options: rolling computer classes at local community centres provided by West Lothian Council, one-to-one digital support sessions at the office with our IT Buddies, and a weekly computer club for people over the age of 50. We also delivered various digital events to encourage tenants to learn more about the benefits of being online.
Saima added: “Our digital activities have been a great new way of engaging with tenants. We have received lots of positive feedback from those who have taken part in the courses, telling us how this has helped them in their day-to-day lives.”
Almond has also looked at ways to help tenants access affordable devices. We have started working with Reusing IT, a local charity which provides refurbished laptops and PCs at a low cost. In addition we identified ways tenants could receive broadband with suppliers such as BT who offer a lower-priced package for those on benefits and Happus who offer deals to Housing Association tenants.
Saima said: “We have taken a holistic approach in delivering digital services for our tenants, not just addressing one issue but looking at the bigger picture and helping tenants all the way through their digital journey.”