TPAS Scotland held its annual awards as part of its Annual Conference which ran from Wednesday 28th – Friday 30th June at the Golden Jubilee Hotel.

Albyn Housing Society, which celebrates its 50th Anniversary in 2023, was successful in not one, but two awards.

The win in the ‘Best Practice in Digital Involvement’ category highlighted how Albybn’s customer-led Performance Review group have been able to communicate their views on services and engage in consultation using digital methods.

Kirsty Morrison, chief executive of Albyn Group, said: “The Customer Involvement Strategy Group and its subgroups are so important to Albyn and the work we do. From providing feedback on our newsletters and comms through the Tenant Editorial Group to scrutinising our service delivery, policy and practice and delivering recommendations to Board, the groups are absolutely invaluable and their dedication in giving their time and expertise voluntarily, is to be commended.”

But the accolades didn’t stop there with a further nominee, Anne Mackay, taking home ‘Champion of the Year – Individual Staff’, an award which recognises the staff members that goes over and above to meet the needs of tenants, and participates with the community to influence services, performance and embeds a culture of participation.

Kirsty added: “Our wonderful Communities Assistant, Anne has shown a huge passion for, and dedication to ensuring our customers voice is heard loud and clear. This has resulted in real change to our service delivery, directly based on customer feedback.

“The fantastic relationship Anne has with our customers was very evident last night, not only that they were the ones who nominated her for this award, but in their real pleasure that winning this award recognised all of Anne’s hard work.

“My huge congratulations and thanks to all the winners. I’m looking forward to continuing the celebrations as we celebrate our 50th Anniversary year.”

ng homes also celebrated a double win on the night, winning Outstanding Achievement for Best Practice in Developing Communities for the Association’s work in North Glasgow supporting community needs, removing barriers and enhancing wellbeing. Champion of the Year: Individual Staff went to deputy director of regeneration Margaret Fraser, recognising her efforts within the community to influence services and culture to ensure the needs of the community are met.

ng homes chairperson, Catherine Rossine, said: “The TPAS National Good Practice Awards help showcase that great things can happen when people come together. It is empowering to see the impact on local communities right across the country when best practice and commitment to community working come together.

“I am delighted to see ng homes recognised for all the hard work, dedication and commitment demonstrated daily, ensuring that we continue to deliver excellent service to our tenants and residents across North Glasgow.”

Margaret Fraser, who was surprised on the night with her nomination and win, added “I was completely taken aback and overwhelmed on winning this award from TPAS Scotland who are renowned for their vital work in Tenant Participation.

“I would like to thank those who nominated me and I feel very humbled on receiving this accolade for my work in North Glasgow which has been such an amazing privilege.

“It has been a wonderful journey over the past 11 years with ng homes staff, local organisations, community partners, tenants and wider community and with the ‘Power of Us’ we have seen many positive changes.

“As I retire in a few weeks’ time, I will take with me the sentiments behind this award together with the memories, friendships, and connections across our community.”

A pioneering schools project from Elderpark Housing which is just a few months old also won a coveted prize.

The ‘Junior Community Voice’ initiative involves two Govan schools – St Saviour’s and Riverside primaries and encourages young people to be ‘Junior Community Voice Champions’. Both schools are working closely with the housing association to understand and act on what matters in the community to young people.

The project won the award in the Best Practice in Developing Community category.

The schools initiative is considered a crucial part of Elderpark Housing’s tenant engagement work which throws an important spotlight on the requirements of young tenants. In the Best Practice in Developing Community category the judges were looking for “teams (tenants, other community members, staff and board members, contractors, businesses, and agencies) who have come together to improve/ build opportunities in their community and helped sustain individuals”.

Jonathan Giddings-Reid, Elderpark’s community regeneration officer, who came up with the idea for the project said: “We are delighted to have won especially as what we are doing is only a few months old.

“Tenant participation - as every housing professional knows - is a vitally important part of any housing association’s work. And it is important that ongoing process engages with tenants of all ages – including the young - whose perspective on community can differ greatly from older generations.

“The aim is to create a conversation led by young people about what community is and how we can all influence what happens in our communities. We have had wonderful support from the headteachers and staff of both schools – without whom this would not be possible.”

Jonathan has engaged with over 120 primary four, five and six pupils in a classroom setting and the youngsters have enthusiastically embraced working with their local housing association.

LinkLiving, a trauma-informed health and wellbeing charity, won the TPAS Best Practice Champion of the Year: Organisation Award.

The award seeks to celebrate the contribution of a landlord, contractor, or agency body whose contribution is worthy of the highest praise and improved the lives of its service users.

Sarah Smith, CEO of LinkLiving, said: “I am absolutely delighted LinkLiving has been recognised nationally through winning this prestigious award. It is fabulous to see our staff and our programs, which improve the lives of those who we support, gain this fantastic recognition. I’m also hugely grateful to our dedicated volunteers and fundraisers who tirelessly ensure LinkLiving thrives so it can support those who desperately need our services.”

One of the initiatives highlighted in LinkLiving’s submission for the awards is the Help on Managing Everything (HoME) project. It came into being after Link housing officers identified a variety of issues that tenants struggle with where traditional housing services needed to be strengthened with a more supportive and flexible programme.

Working together with housing teams, LinkLiving project workers provide needs-led intensive housing management assistance, enabling tenants to better maintain their homes, settle into communities, address and resolve any immediate housing crisis, and assess if they need ongoing specialist support.

The benefits of this initiative have been dramatic, including fewer evictions, tenants receiving the support they require and accessing all the welfare services available to them, as well as improving engagement between the housing providers and the people involved.

In order to support tenants with mental health challenges, LinkLiving introduced an innovative self-help service called Building Resilience for a Better Home. Delivered remotely through video calling or telephone, this project enables people to manage and understand their current difficulties using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) based techniques. Through the provision of up to nine sessions, tenants are supported to understand how their difficulties started, factors that have contributed to these difficulties continuing, and then develop tools and techniques to better manage their mental health.

Both of the above services are delivered in partnership with Link, Larkfield, and Paragon Housing Associations, who recognise the benefits of the services to their tenants, both in terms of improved mental health and ability to successfully maintain their tenancies.

The submission also highlighted a number of innovative programmes which improve mental health and wellbeing for young people. Sporting Chance comprises of a series of interactive mental health and wellbeing workshops which run in the mornings. In the afternoon, through partnerships with football clubs and sports providers, including Falkirk, Raith Rovers, and Grey Soccer Academy in Edinburgh, young people get involved in football activities. These sessions allow them to develop leadership skills, build confidence and resilience, as well as improving physical health.

Moving on Up runs five days a week and uses a trauma-informed approach to support young people in increasing confidence, developing resilience, and realise their goals. It’s a person-centred programme where young people have a voice and get to choose how their support works for them. Participants work with a dedicated project worker, take part in group work, as well as receiving one-on-one support. They also undertake SCQF qualifications.

Steps to Resilience supports young people by giving them the tools to better manage their own mental health. Doing so helps them break negative and destructive cycles of behaviour and thinking, the programme also aims to put young people on the path to having the best life possible.