Clwyd Alyn Housing Association - A Big Issue Cymru Big List Subscriber

 
ResFest is an annual event organised by Clwyd Alyn Housing Association for residents who live in Supported Living Schemes managed by the Association for former homeless people across North Wales.

Andy Roberts, Supported Living Manager (East) for Clwyd Alyn, chairs the committee of residents and staff who organise the event which was a runner-up at the Wales Council for Voluntary Action Third Sector Award for Communication awards in January. Andy explains how a fun event has helped residents shape the future of services provided for them…

What is ResFest?
ResFest is an annual get together for all of the Clwyd Alyn residents who live in the eleven Supported Living Schemes for former homeless young people, adults and families. The event is held in the summer at Glyndŵr University in Wrexham and features a host of activities and themed workshops as well as offering residents the opportunity to showcase their achievements over the previous year. Each year’s event is broadly themed; 2010’s was Respect, 2011’s Recycling and 2012’s will be Substance Misuse.

What are your goals?
Each year we aim to provide an opportunity for the residents themselves to steer the event. Residents join with a key group of staff to provide ideas for the day itself and our key aim is to create a day centred around the residents, where they can have an input on the services provided for them, where they can learn more about other opportunities, where they can celebrate their achievements, and where they can also relax and have fun.

What are some of the activities at Resfest?
There are a lot of informal activities, such as face-painting, five aside football, juggling etc, this year there was also a birds of prey display. And there are also workshop activities around a specific theme – last Summer the event was planned around an environmental awareness theme and called ‘ResFest Recycled’. Many of our partner organisations also support the event by providing displays and information on the services and opportunities they provide.

What makes ResFest so special?
It really is an event for the residents, organised by the residents themselves. As well as providing ideas for the event and working hard on the day itself residents help to fund ResFest by holding a number of initiatives over the year to provide a contribution to the costs. 
Many residents within this client group have experienced complex situations where their voice has not been heard in the past. It’s a tribute to all of their energy and hard work that they often overcome considerable personal barriers to shape each ResFest event and make it such a fantastic success.

How is the experience of being homeless represented at ResFest?
ResFest 2012 will be the fifth event that Clwyd Alyn Housing Association has hosted for Supported Living residents and the contributions have been as diverse as the residents themselves. We’ve had art and craft displays, music and dance items, and this year two residents released a CD of a rap they produced. 
But ResFest isn’t just about the experiences residents may have had in the past. It is very much about sharing the success stories, and showing that behind every statistic provided by a homeless person, there is an individual with potential and abilities. ResFest is all about recognising that potential and celebrating those abilities.

For further information about the Supported Living services Clwyd Alyn Housing Association manages for former homeless people in North Wales, phone 0800183 5757 or visit the website: www.clwydalyn.co.uk

Clwyd Alyn Housing Association is a Charitable Industrial and Provident Society.

About the Pennaf Housing Group

The Pennaf Housing Group’s agreed Primary Purpose is Opening Doors – Enhancing Lives.
Our five Core Principles continue to underpin all our operations, committing our staff and Board Members to undertake their duties within this framework. These are:

Integrity – Honesty and trust in all that we do
Care – Looking after yourself, others and communities
Accountable – Taking responsibility for our actions
Respect – Respect yourself and others
Equality – Accepting differences and treating everyone fairly

As portrayed within the Group’s corporate identity, Pennaf provides a nucleus for the Group, with each entity having its own unique individual identity and role, whilst at the same time benefitting from the mutual support of other Group members.

Pennaf Ltd is a Registered Social Landlord, and serves as an umbrella organisation for subsidiaries, offering a range of high quality corporate services to each of the Group Members – including Housing with Care & Support, Leasehold & Marketing, Financial Management, Development, Planned Maintenance, Human Resources, Administrations and Information Systems.

Clwyd Alyn is a Registered Social Landlord and a charitable subsidiary of Pennaf. The Association manages the Group’s housing services functions including general needs accommodation, supported living schemes, care homes, extra care schemes, housing with care and support and a wide variety of home ownership options.

Tŷ Glas Housing Society is a Registered Social Landlord and a charitable subsidiary of Pennaf. The Society directly managers the Wrexham Care & Repair Agency which provides advice and assistance to people aged over 60 and persons with disabilities to enable them to remain in their homes.

Offa is a non-charitable subsidiary of Pennaf. Its role is to undertake projects that fall outside of Clwyd Alyn’s charitable rules and to develop projects that are not dependent upon the receipt of Social Housing Grant from the Welsh Government. Offa’s main role to date has involved delivering a lettings and property management service for private sector landlords who own houses in multiple occupation and offering specialist advice on licensing criteria.

Tir Tai is a subsidiary of Pennaf, established as an unregistered company limited by guarantee. It acts as the development arm, undertaking all development activities on behalf of Group Members with the facility to ‘gift aid’ and surpluses generated to other Members of the Group.

For further details, please contact:
Judith Gavin, Pennaf Housing Group, 72 Ffordd William Morgan, St Asaph Business Park, St Asaph, Denbighshire, LL17 0JD Tel: 01745 536914 email: judith.gavin@pennaf.co.uk

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