Apprenticeship opportunities go live
Our fantastic apprenticeship opportunities are now live and available to apply for. The posts are open for applications from today until Wednesday June 5th. The following apprenticeships are on…
To mark the first ASB Awareness Week, Our housing officer (anti-social behaviour), Nigel Dowd, has shared his experiences of working on the ASB team and the importance of the partnership working that helps to create safer communities for our tenants.
“It’s often commented on by colleagues, tenants (both complainant and perpetrators), friends and even family that they wouldn’t like to do my job. I can see by the very title of the role why people would think that, it can be a thankless job on many occasions despite your best efforts, and often everybody looking for you to have all the answers when sometimes there simply isn’t one but a resolve still needs to be found.
“The successes – and there are quite a few – outweigh the negatives. When you can confidently close a case knowing all the boxes have been ticked; the case notes are an accurate account of events and that the input you have had has made a significant difference in someone’s life.
“In my experience the best results I have had has been through proactive partnership working and forging strong relationships based on trust and ability to get the job done.
“My most recent injunction was hugely because of the involvement of partners helping me to achieve my goal, along with Durham Police and Durham County Council’s community safety officer we were able to gather enough evidence, identify and locate the ring leader of a group of youths terrorising a
neighbourhood in County Durham with some horrendous reports of ASB and crime, leaving some neighbours in fear of leaving their homes.
“At Bernicia, we take a victim-centred approach and use various ways to find a solution so that people can live safely and peacefully in their home, starting with phone calls and visits and then referrals to other teams and partner agencies. When all when all the lines of help have failed or are being ignored, we start court action.
“The outcome was a two-year injunction with an exclusion zone and power of arrest attached, meaning if the perpetrator strayed over a predetermined area he would be arrested and charged with a breach of the injection and contempt of court.
“Last weekend was the first quiet weekend in months for the residents of the street, with no incidents or breach of the injunction being reported.
“Although enforcement action of any kind, be it for non-payment of rent or for serious ASB should always be the last resort, the tools and powers we have to deal with these issues are there for a reason and when used correctly can have a massive impact on a street or a community, as I believe this one will have.”
Bernicia has become the first organisation outside the public sector to sign a Northumberland County Council pledge to help young people leaving care achieve their ambitions. The council’s Care Leaver Covenant 2023+ renews the local authority’s promise to provide care-experienced young people aged 16…
As the years unfold, a transformation occurs — not just in ourselves but also in the homes we choose to inhabit. For many people, efficiency becomes important, comfort reigns supreme, and simplicity is the new sophistication. An open-plan living apartment can be less a compromise and more a good choice for a…
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