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RBH News
Young Tenants sign up to Junior Warden Scheme
July 19, 2010, 11:28:11 AM
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It is notoriously difficult to engage younger tenants with their landlord but together at Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) we have developed a pilot programme which seems to have done just that. The Junior Warden scheme has proved to be such a success that it will now be rolled out across more areas.
Ruth Sillence our Communities First Co-ordinator said “As many social landlords will appreciate, it is very difficult to find a sustainable method of working with children and young people in the community. However, our Junior Warden scheme seems to have really ‘hit the spot.’
The scheme was launched at the Freehold estate during a week in the Easter holidays when we recognised that many children would be bored and looking for something to do.
The idea was for RBH and our partners to provide fun activities which at the same time included intrinsic messages about citizenships and community. The ultimate objective however, was to sign people up to be Junior Wardens and commit to longer term involvement.
Playing and working with the local caretakers, park wardens, fire-fighters and the Council’s youth offending team has clearly paid off. There are now 43 young people on the Junior Warden register with an average of 15 people attending every week.
“We want this group to actively participate in their community,” said Ruth. “As well as promoting citizenship RBH Junior Wardens will also ensure they develop confidence which will help unlock their potential.”
Junior Wardens will organise local events, report back on what they like and dislike about the area, promote their community and they will also have an RBH Junior Warden uniform to make them a visible part of the estate.
The success of this first pilot means we will now be rolling out the schemes to other estates in Rochdale in the school summer holiday.
Ruth adds: “If we manage to replicate the success of the pilot scheme we could have over 100 Junior Wardens operating on our larger estates. This will provide us with a unique opportunity to tap into the opinions of our younger residents and let them have a say in the services we provide.”
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