Board Member, South Wales

£3,105 Annual Salary

Who we are

First Choice Housing Association is a specialist and innovative organisation providing homes for vulnerable adults. Working across Wales the association was originally established in 1988 to provide accommodation for people with a learning disability. The association is committed to enabling many vulnerable people, including those with a disability, complex needs and veterans to lead a full and valued life within the community. We currently have over 900 tenants and employ 37 staff.

What we are looking for

This is a unique opportunity to make a difference to peoples’ lives. We have a vacancy to join our Board and are looking for someone who can work as part of a team to contribute to the strategic direction and success of the Association. The work is extremely rewarding and as well as remuneration carries expenses for both mileage and childcare. You will need to attend a minimum of nine Board meetings per year, and contribute to at least one committee on a quarterly basis. There will be two strategic planning events and occasional training days.

We would especially like to hear from people with the following skills for the Board member position:

"Knowledge and experience around IT skills and or PR & Marketing /Comms are specific skills we are looking for at the present time. If you have either of these we would love to hear from you.”

We are keen to ensure the Association has a diverse Board and as such welcome applications from younger members, ethnic minority groups, disabled and transgender applicants who can provide a valuable and positive contribution to the Board.

How to Apply

Please download an information pack and application form here:

BoardApplicationForm 2022

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Download DOC • 1.07MB

Board members handbook

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Download DOCX • 756KB

Applications are invited before closing on 30th June following which we will be inviting shortlisted candidates for interview. If you would like further information please contact Donna Jones, Director of Corporate Services & Housing - E-mail: donnajones@fcha.org.uk

New Job! ICT Officer

We are looking for a new ICT Officer in South Wales to provide core information technology (I.T.) support, system development and training of the Association’s hardware and software systems. Fantastic terms and conditions, flexible & hybrid home/office working and excellent benefits package. You can download the application pack and the form below:

Job Application Form

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Download PDF • 812KB

ictofficer

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Download ZIP • 510KB

Who we are

First Choice is at the forefront of the provision of specialised housing throughout Wales for vulnerable people with complex needs. The association is renowned for its tenant participation and we are committed to working in partnership with our stakeholders to develop best practice in development, management and maintenance of accommodation for people with additional needs.

A brief job description

• To maintain the day-to-day management, performance and improvement of the I.T. infrastructure, telephony systems and service contracts.

• Ensure system development, hardware and software procurement and external support services are aligned to the ICT strategy.

• Provide systems training to individuals and small groups as required.

• As part of a team, support a culture which fosters innovation, creativity, open communication and collaboration throughout the association.

• Provide IT solutions/projects work as required for other departments with the agreement of the line manager.

The full job description can be found in the Zipped application pack above.

Work hours

Standard full time hours are 35 per week, Monday to Friday. Flexible working hours including generous time off in lieu arrangements ,flexible working & working from home up to 3 days per week

Benefits

Excellent Pension

Health Plan

Death In service

Gym memberships

Critical Illness Cover

Generous Leave Allowance

Flexible working

Health Wellbeing

Salary

SP26-SP31-(£27,022 - £31,955)

You can find all of the benefits of working for FCHA here:

https://www.fcha.org.uk/jobs

We look forward to receiving all of your applications!

Tenant Talks Spring 2022

A lot has changed since our last set of Tenant Talks events. We have increased the number of staff at the organisation who help tenants in both north and south Wales whilst also challenging ourselves to deliver more information and resources on the environment, energy, money and Health and Wellbeing.

Climate change & decarbonisation

FCHA has had a lot of work done to the organisation as a whole when it comes to decarbonisation. 2 of our staff received carbon literacy training which we passed onto Tenants during these tenant talks.

Lots of aspects were covered including:

1. What is the greenhouse effect?

2. Greenhouse gases and what the sources are

3. What is a carbon footprint?

4. What does zero carbon mean?

5. What FCHA are doing to reduce their carbon footprint?

By informing tenants on the above, we can help them understand what in their household produces greenhouse gases and it gave them a foundation for the next part of the Tenants Talk, which was energy saving tips.

Money & energy saving tips

Energy prices are on the rise so FCHA thought it was appropriate to provide tenants with some energy saving advice. This information was already provided in the Newsletter that was delivered to all tenants and is also available on our website as a blog, just click here.

The energy tips given were a success! Some tenants already practised some of the tips provided in the session, such as having energy saving bulbs and only boiling the water you need in the kettle.

But they said that the other tips provided were very easy to implement and will start doing these more often.

Raffle

In North Wales as part of a Healthy Eating drive, our Housing Manager Maureen created 3 fruit baskets that went down a treat! In the South, Chocolates were handed out as prizes and the whole raffle was a success.

National Trust and future events

As part of our Health and Wellbeing drive in 2022 the National Trust provided us with a special pass allowing First Choice Tenants to visit any National Trust site in Wales free of charge. This pass allows up to 50 people to attend any National Trust site for a number of activities until November 2022. You can read more about it by clicking here.

Tenants were very excited to be provided with an opportunity like this and there are plans for some visits this year already!

Renting Homes Act

A new act to be implemented in July 2022 will change every tenants’ Tenancy Agreement to an Occupancy Contract. We provided tenants with information about what that will mean for them going forward after July and ensured that all Tenants will have to sign and return the new contracts to FCHA in the post.

More information will be provided closer to the date as well as a blog which will be linked here.

Community Involvement Grant

FCHA's community involvement grant is to benefit tenants and the communities that they live in. Tenants were given information as to how to apply for a community involvement grant which is a fund that FCHA can provide for more equipment, helping with partnerships or to help fund local community volunteer groups that tenants are a part of.

Tenants Voice newsletter

Finally, we talked about our Tenants’ Voice newsletter and spoke to tenants about how they can get involved in contributing stories, hobbies and recipes to share with other First Choice tenants.

These newsletters are given to every property at FCHA so we provided information about how to send us a story and mentioned that there is a prize for the best story in every newsletter!

The next Newsletter is due in July so keep your eyes peeled for the stories from tenants at this season's Tenant Talks.

Gig Buddies

A special guest was at our Tenants Talk in north Wales. Gig Buddies Cymru made an appearance with their stall to provide information about their project and to provide opportunities for FCHA Tenants in North Wales to meet a Gig Buddy and go to events with a new friend!

A Gig Buddy is a volunteer who shares the same interests in music and hobbies as you. They can go to gigs and events with you that are sometimes hard to get to.