Get involved

Becoming a member is very easy, it lets you influence what we do, how we do it and you can get involved as little or as much as you wish.

Being a member:

• Is open to all
• Costs just £1 for life
• Means you are eligible to attend and vote at our Annual General Meeting
• Allows you to stand for election to our Board

If you are interested in becoming a member click here for more information: Membership Policy

Our E-news and Annual Report help you keep up to date with what is going on here at BHA – they include news about changes to services, new services, details about our housing developments, information on planned improvements and much more.

We love to get feedback from our customers about the content of our E-news and Annual Report. It’s really useful for us to hear what articles you found interesting and if there is anything you would like to hear more about.

Throughout the year we conduct a variety of consultations and surveys, these are a quick and easy way for our customers to get involved and share their views, opinions and ideas. Some examples of these are: –

Rent Consultation Survey
Each year we conduct a Rent Consultation Survey where we seek the views of all our customers on the rent proposals for the new financial year. This is a great way for you to learn about what our plans are for spending on improvements, new services, planned maintenance and what any new proposed rent level may be.

Customer Satisfaction Survey
We capture customer satisfaction every month in a variety of ways including by phone, via text and email invites, and in-person with our customers. By taking part in these surveys, you help us understand what we are doing right and what we could do better. It also helps us pick up any issues promptly and make any required improvements quickly. You may be invited to give us feedback on a specific service (like a satisfaction survey after a repair) or more widely, where we ask for feedback about all of our services across BHA. Our surveys will be cleared branded as Berwickshire Housing and our callers will identify themselves as from BHA and be calling you from our 0800 652 8104 number.

If you receive an invitation to take part in a consultation or survey, we’d encourage you to do so and let us know what you think. The feedback from these surveys really does help us to make improvements and let us know what is working well. If you need any help to complete the survey or need it in an alternative format (ie paper or large print), please don’t hesitate to let us know on 0800 652 8104.

Don’t forget you can always let us know your thoughts on anything at any time by using the feedback form that is available here on our website or send us a direct message via social media.

As a customer living in one of our Independent Living settings (Gowanlea Court, Boston Court and Linkim Court) you have the opportunity to get involved and share your views on our services each weekday at our daily coffee mornings. These coffee mornings are held in the communal lounge within each of the Courts and the times of these are displayed on the noticeboard in each venue.

We encourage you to pop along and enjoy a brew ‘n’ blether with your neighbours and chat with our Independent Living Housing Support Assistants.

Taking part in an Estate Walkabout is a great way for you to help our Neighbourhood Managers understand the needs and priorities of your area.

Our Neighbourhood Managers are out and about in our communities regularly, why not take the opportunity to chat with them and share any areas that you feel need to be improved. We are always open to suggestions and new ideas.

If you aren’t able to catch up with your Neighbourhood Manager while they are in your area you can still let us know your views by filling in the contact form below at a time that suits you.

Did you know anyone can set up a Residents’ Group?

A Residents’ Group is totally independent from us and is solely run by residents. They can be a great way to get together with people living in your local area or your street or building.

Together you can share information, support each other, run social events, or develop events that bring the community together.

By getting together, our customers and other local residents can have a bigger impact on helping us to recognise what’s important to them and their local community.

We are committed to helping anyone who would like to set up a Residents’ Group and develop it into a Registered Tenant Organisation (RTO).

Becoming a registered RTO helps to create more effective and robust links with us and extends our legal obligation to consult directly with the group.

We can support RTOs with grant applications and funding, the use of facilities and we might be able to offer some staff time to help co-ordinate meetings and take minutes.

For more information on Registered Tenant Organisations visit: https://scotland.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/neighbourhood_issues/tenants_and_residents_associations

Being a Digital Engager can be as simple as interacting with us on social media by liking, sharing and commenting on our posts to taking part in online surveys and questionnaires.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with our latest news and to find out what is going on in your local community.

On our social media feeds you will be able to see all the properties we have available to let, pictures and stories of what staff and customers have been up to and other items of interest that we think you might like to hear about.

If you would like to get more involved as a Digital Engager you can:

• Help test new digital services giving us hands-on feedback from your perspective
• Provide feedback on a number of topics via email
• Volunteer to become a Digital Champion, helping to support people in your local community become more active online

As all your feedback is done online at a time that suits you, there is no need to attend any formal meetings.

Joining the Customer Voice Group is a great way for our customers to tell us what they think and share with us feedback to help influence the way we develop our range of services within the local community.

What do they do?

• Meet monthly to talk about the stuff that matters to customers
• Get involved in projects around the business
• Examine closely our performance and help find ways for our services to be improved for everyone
• Review our services, policies and processes, and track our progress to make sure we’re keeping our promises

What are the benefits?

• Shape how we do things
• Improve the quality of customer experience
• Gain new skills (looks good on your CV)
• Meet new people and make new friends

The Group works alongside key members of staff and has a direct link into our Board Members and the Executive Team.

We recognise being part of the group is a big commitment, that’s why the rewards and benefits include vouchers for participation for your time and effort spent

Our Customer Voice Group is open to participation by all our customers. If you would like to find out more or think this may be something that interests you – simply email or speak to your Neighbourhood Manager.

The Group meets at our office in Duns but you can take part online, if you prefer.

Will I get paid for being part of the Group?

• We have a rewards and benefits system where we offer vouchers  for your time and effort spent.

I don’t have any experience of being in such a group before, can I still take part?

• Of course! We welcome all our customers, from all walks of life, to get involved.  Our dedicated team is here to  guide and support you. We will provide you with all the information you need.

If you require any additional support, we are here to help with all different needs and abilities.

How often does the Customer Voice Group meet?

• The Group meets every month at our office based in Duns but you can take part online, if you prefer.  The meetings usually take place on a Tuesday from 6.15pm.

Our board members play an important role in ensuring that all decisions, new policies, procedures or changes to existing ones, have our customers at the heart of them. This is why we need you, our customer, to join the Board – helping us to improve our homes and services.

We are looking for enthusiastic, community-minded people from all walks of life. While you don’t need to have previous board-level experience, we would like to hear from people who can support our team in delivering our ambitious business plan.

The role of a board member is unpaid but is highly rewarding. Our board members benefit from support, developmental training and a sense of real pride and satisfaction from providing quality homes for people who need them, and while we don’t offer remuneration, we pay reasonable out-of-pocket expenses.

If you are interested in becoming a board member click here for more information: Become a Board Member