A leading local housing association has announced a new team dedicated to helping build stronger, safer communities across Staffordshire and Shropshire.
Working in partnership with local聽councils, the聽police聽and other agencies, Housing Plus group鈥檚 Community Safety Team will be聽working to improve community safety by聽reducing聽incidents of anti-social behaviour (ASB)聽on聽local estates.
Housing Plus group, which includes Stafford and Rural Homes, South Staffordshire Housing and Severnside Housing will work with neighbourhood teams, to support customers who may be experiencing ASB.
Sam Allcott, Head of Neighbourhoods at聽Housing Plus group聽explained: 鈥淭he safety and wellbeing聽of customers聽is always our number one priority and聽ASB聽can have a significant impact on people鈥檚 mental health and sense of security, as well as harming the wider community.
鈥淎fter listening to the concerns of customers, we鈥檝e launched the team to offer an easy way to report incidents and to ensure聽reports are acted on quickly.聽We will be聽working in partnership with other organisations to resolve any issues and, where necessary, bring offenders to court.
鈥淭his approach marks another significant step in our mission to make a positive difference to鈥痟omes, lives and communities.鈥�
The official launch of the Community Safety Team, led by聽group community safety manager Julie Harvey, coincides with a national campaign that is bringing together people and organisations from across the country to take a stand against ASB and make communities safer.
Running聽until聽July 25,聽聽is organised by community safety specialists Resolve and backed by the Home Office, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Local Government Association, National Police Chiefs鈥� Council and the National Fire Chiefs鈥� Council. It aims to encourage communities to take a stand against ASB and highlight the options available to those facing it.
Rebecca Bryant OBE, chief executive of Resolve, commented: 鈥淲e need to change the way we think about ASB. It is not low-level crime. It devastates the lives of victims and communities and can be a precursor to more serious crime.
鈥淎s the nation begins to recover from the impact of the pandemic and our society and economy celebrates the start of return to normal life, it is important that the challenge of聽ASB continues to be given the priority it needs nationally and locally so that people feel safe in their homes and communities.
鈥淲e are delighted to have Housing Plus group involved in this hugely important and successful campaign. It is vital to develop partnership approaches across communities to deal with the growing challenges around ASB.鈥�
The efforts of Housing Plus group聽to build stronger, safer communities聽have聽also been welcomed by聽its聽partners, including聽Shropshire Police Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT),聽an integral part of policing within West Mercia Police聽that聽has Inspectors, Sergeants and teams of Police Constables and Police Community Support Officers covering each area.
Sgt Ingrid Tozer commented:聽鈥淲e will work with all partners and communities on community priorities as well as helping our partners like housing associations with their聽regulatory聽responsibility to help tackle Anti-social Behaviour and prevent crime.
鈥淪o,聽we welcome this initiative and look forward to working with them as it unfolds.鈥�
Anyone who would like to report an incident, or ongoing anti-social behaviour relating to a home managed by 糖心传媒, should contact their local customer services team or report it online.