MEMBERS PRESENT
Shirley Baldwin
Margaret Valleley
Molly Hodges
Greta Ashford
Roy Adams
Betty Marchant
Lillian Jones
Nancy Evans Eddie Clark
Betty Bamfield
Diane Howls
Jo Anscombe
Douglas Green
Peggy Cavangh
Joan Robbins
Mary West
Gordon Cartwright
Tina Walsh
Gwyneth Hutt
Eddie Clarke Herefordshire Housing
Pam Saunders "Single Assessment" Co-ordinator for Herefordshire

1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES
Shirley, Vice Chairperson, opened the meeting and welcomed all of the members and their guests.
Apologies were from: June Bates, Crawford Powney, Jack Halfpenny, Gloria Goodwin, Leslie Beeks, Sally Ann Smith, Doreen Gower and Jean Fishpool.

2. MINUTES FROM THE LAST MEETING
All members received a copy of the minutes. They were accepted as a true record of the proceedings.

3. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE LAST MEETING
One of the members said that they had been assured SHTUG would get a breakdown of the service charge soon.
Eddie told members that he didn't think the total amount of the service charge could be broken down. It was inherited from Herefordshire Council at the time of the take-over.

Eddie told members that he had resigned from Herefordshire Housing and would be leaving at the end of February.
Interviews for tenders for the construction of lifts have taken place. The company selected is C J Baylis. Work will hopefully start before the end of March.
The excess chairs at Church Croft have been given to Hope Charity. Photographs of the children sitting in the chairs will be taken and it will be lovely to see them going to such a good use.

Members expressed that they were going to miss Eddie very much and wished him well for the future.

4. GUEST SPEAKER
Shirley welcomed the group's first guest speaker Pam Saunders. She is the "Single Assessment" Co-ordinator for Herefordshire.
Pam came to the meeting to explain about the Single Assessment and the Care Records file.

She told members that the file would hold important information about 'You, Your Health and Social Needs'. Also in the file will be stored Medical, Nursing, Therapy and care notes for the services patients are receiving.
The file is kept in the patient's home and it is private and confidential. The patient chooses who has access to the information.
Members said they liked the idea of the file being kept in the patient's home, and they hoped it could replace the file kept by the wardens.
If anyone has a problem or needs a question answered please contact Pam on 07791683202.
Shirley thanked Pam very much for coming to the meeting.

5. GUEST SPEAKER
Shirley welcomed the group's second guest speaker -- Keith Eyles. He is the Anti-Social Behaviour Officer for Herefordshire Housing.
Keith had been to a previous SHTUG meeting to explain about the Senior Awareness Day he was hoping to set up in the future.
" I am pleased to say that I now have a date and times for these meetings". The meetings will take place at Disraeli Court on Wednesday 18th April 07. The morning session will start at 9:30am and the afternoon session will start at
1:30pm. Each session will be made up of forty Sheltered Housing Tenants -- split into four groups often. The Police, Ambulance, Fire brigade and Herefordshire Housing will also be in attendance. Transport will be arranged by Herefordshire Housing and Coffee will be provided".
If you have any questions please contact Keith at Legion Way on 01432 384084.
Shirley thanked Keith for coming to the meeting.

6. TREASURERS REPORT
After paying out £20 for flowers and £32:97 for inks for the printer we now have £259.37p in the fund.

7. TENANT LIAISON MEETINGS
Brierley Court: The main topics were the lifts and the service charge.

Church Croft: The new Housing officer was introduced to us.
We discussed the need for stepping-stones to the washing lines.
Eddie said these were on order.

Penyard Gardens: Very good meeting. The state of the long Grass was raised.
Eddie said this was due to the climate change and if this carried on, maybe Herefordshire Housing would have to look into cutting the grass all year round.
Tenants on the scheme asked when Smallbrook Gardens were going to have their warden replaced? Tenants said it was unfair to have to pay a service charge for a warden to visit five times a week and then only get two or three visits.
Eddie said the company would not be advertising for a warden on that scheme until after the review in Sheltered Housing.
Also mentioned was the lack of heating in the bathrooms. Those with showers have to open the windows and freeze because of the steam. If you open the door the fire alarm is set off.
Eddie is to find out if Penyard Gardens will be on the Improvement Programme in the future.

Ballinger Court: The main topic was the need for a new thermostat for the radiators. We have been waiting since March 2006.
Work is to start on the kitchen. Carpets are to be replaced in corridors but the lounge carpet will not be replaced until the kitchen is complete.

8. EDDIE
Eddie passed details of a National Arts Competition for the over-sixties to members.
An incident happened recently when we had to call the Police to gain access to a property. The tenant had left the keys on the inside of the door. " Can I please stress how important it is not to leave your keys in the back of the door as we cannot gain access with the master key in an emergency".
Eddie suggested that we invite Jackie Vaughan- Jones the new care-line manager as guest speaker to the next meeting.

9. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Innesfield: We would like to thank Eddie and his team for the hot food and drink they delivered. We had a power cut for six hours during the high winds.

Fowbridge Gardens: They have cleaned the flat roofs on the back of the bungalows, but we need the moss cleaned from the glass roofs on the front.
Many bungalows are awaiting repairs to the chimneys. Two bungalows are on a three day emergency ticket, but no one has been and its five days.

Southgate Court: Southgate have made inquires about the installation of a communal digital aerial. It is very expensive, about £4000. Funds will not run to this.
Eddie advised the group to make an application for an individual digital aerial.

Elm Grove: Some of the storage heaters are not working.

Church Croft: A SHTUG member has resigned due to being subject to verbal abuse at a tenants meeting. They feel they can no longer represent this scheme.

Ballinger Court: June Bates has also resigned from SHTUG due to family commitments.
A copy of the letter the chairperson wrote to Gordon Shirley and Jim Russell was passed to members. No answer has been received to date.

A copy of the letter written to the 0 T inviting them as guest speaker to a meeting at Church Croft was also passed to members. Hopefully this will put a stop to the rumours.

10. GUEST SPEAKER FOR THE NEXT MEETING
Members agreed to invite Jackie Vaughan-Jones and Mike Steadman as guest speakers to the next meeting.

11. DATE AND VENUE FOR THE NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be held at Barklie Court on Thursday 1st March 2007 at 10:30am.
After the meeting at Disraeli Court SHTUG members enjoyed a game of bingo and tea with tenants from that scheme. Thank you all at Disraeli for a lovely time.