A cause for celebration

Wahida Yussuf and her daughter Fatima

Another year passing was cause for an almighty celebration last weekend as record numbers of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) tenants attended an event at the town hall.

Over 400 tenants joined staff to mark the occasion of the Tenants’ Celebration and Information Day. The informal event gave tenants the opportunity to drop in and gain information about matters relating to their tenancy as well as celebrate the achievements of tenants across the borough and join in with a plethora of activities.

Wahida Yussuf who attended the event with her husband Hussein and six children, ranging from age two to twelve, said: “The day was very good and there was a lot of information for tenants. My children really enjoyed themselves and there was plenty for them to do so it was like a big day out. All the staff were very friendly and I would like to say a big thank you to RBH.”

Tenants took part in a variety of workshops including creating music CD’s with Backdoor Music Project, Hopwood Hall’s Hair and Beauty School and sugar craft for cakes. They were also able to take advantage of specialist advice on finance and work from the RBH Money Matters Team and talk to other RBH staff as well as partners such as the NHS Health Trainers and Women’s Housing Action Group (WHAG).

NHS Health Trainer Service Programme Manager, Angela Aitken, said: “The role of the Health Trainers is to reach local communities to deliver health changes. We recognise that communities such as this have the greatest health needs and it was a great opportunity to work together with RBH to support their tenants and work together to improve their health outcomes. Our core focus is to encourage people to eat healthily, drink sensibly, stop smoking and access local services so hopefully we’ve been able to pass on some valuable information to tenants in the borough.”

There were also a variety of performances from the Palops Portuguese Dance Group, the Irish Dance Group, NESTAC African Dance Group and Castleton Dance Academy.

After weeks of anticipation and collecting nominations winners of the Borough in Bloom and Good Neighbour competitions were finally announced on Saturday and awards were presented by RBH Director of Resources, Nickie Hallard. Another important focus of the day was to raise funds for the Macmillan Trust, whom RBH staff chose to support as their chosen charity this year. In aid of the Trust there were raffles, auctions and various sales.

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing’s CEO, Gareth Swarbrick, said: “The day was a resounding success. Everyone worked extremely hard to ensure that this year’s event encouraged different sectors of the borough’s community to take part. Their hard work certainly paid off and it was encouraging to see such a diverse group of people contributing and having fun. In addition to all the enjoyment, they were able to benefit from having a number of service providers on hand ready to offer advice.”