[Susan Coen]

Wow, very thorough, thank you. I am looking forward to reading the Human Tissue Act!

susie

[Susan Coen]

We have Tunstall equipment and lost patience with their non-communication about moving to digital, and their proposed nonsense about fitting add-ons which won’t do the job long term. We are gradually replacing all Tunstall systems with Appello systems. It is expensive and painful, but it will be worth it, we believe, in the end.

Susie Coen

[Susan Coen]

me too please!

Susie Coen
clerk@salisburyalmshouses.co.uk

[Susan Coen]

i would also be interested in hearing about funding for new Almshouses.

Susie Coen
Salisbury City Almshouse & Welfare Charities

[Susan Coen]

Hi Cath

We don’t allow residents to use their own contractors/families etc for anything – we have done in the past and still bear the scars. I would seriously recommend that you don’t!

[Susan Coen]

We have a contractor who carries out checks on a quarterly basis.

[Susan Coen]

We allow pets but not at all sites. Some sites are not suitable for dogs/cats. We used to say no replacement pets, but the Trustees have recently accepted that this is rather unfair, particularly when a dog/cat provides important emotional support for a resident. Now, anyone wanting to replace a pet has to write to the Trustees putting forward their case. The Trustees consider each request on an individual basis, taking into account whether the resident has looked after their previous pet properly, whether they are now physically/mentally able to look after a new pet etc.

[Susan Coen]

Hi Polly
I would suggest you first contact your fire and rescue service to see what they can suggest/offer. Your local council may also have a Hearing and Vision team who can help.

[Susan Coen]

I am Clerk of a large charity, Salisbury City Almshouse and Welfare Charities, and also the Clerk of a small charity with only two bungalows in a nearby village. The smaller charity has its own Board of Trustees, but we carry out all administration and organise repairs etc from the large charity. The small charity pays us a fairly low management fee and also reimburses us for any repairs, insurance etc.

[Susan Coen]

Paul – we don’t carry out DBS checks for our Residents. However, on our application form, we do have the following questions:

Do you have any unspent conditional cautions or convictions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974?

Do you have any adult cautions (simple or conditional) or spent convictions that are not protected as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) order 2020.

We also check (as we do when we recruit people) social media and the local newspapers.

[Susan Coen]

Cath – in answer to your question about Residents Forums. When we first started having them a few years ago, we had a few problems. Residents would either put forward unreasonable requests such as us providing a mobile banking facility at each site, a warden shopping service etc, and get into a strop if we said no, or complain about things we have no control over such as traffic noise, or bring up petty matters which should be dealt with on a day to day basis by the Warden. It all seems to be much more sensible now – the Residents put forward reasonable suggestions (on the whole), some of which we can agree to, and seem to feel that they are being listened to. When the suggestions are unreasonable, the other Residents at the meeting tend to make it clear before we do that they are unreasonable. When we go through all the maintenance we have carried out and plan to carry out, it also makes them realise that their site is not the only site and that the Charities are spending a lot of money on making improvements. At the end of almost every meeting now, at least one Resident publicly thanks us for their almshouse which is a step forward. We also make sure that we provide lots of tea and coffee, and special chocolate biscuits which helps enormously! Susie

[Susan Coen]

Hi Adele

Residents also have to inform the Wardens if they plan to be away overnight. If they are away for a week or longer, the Warden goes into the almshouse once a week to check all is as it should be and to run the water.

We used to have a policy that Residents could not be away from their almshouses for more than 28 days in a calendar year without the approval of the Trustees. We increased this to 60 days some years ago as the Trustees felt that Residents should be allowed to travel while they were still able to do so. The Wardens keep a note of absences.

I always explain the reasons for this to new Residents when they sign up.

[Susan Coen]

Hi Marion

We are a registered provider so have to send out a questionnaire. We used to send one out annually before it became obligatory, and kept it fairly simple. The one we have to send out now is very lengthy and quite daunting for the residents. I would be happy to send you both if you would like. In addition, we have a Residents Forum two or three times a year. These are attended by me, two Trustees and our Buildings Maintenance Officer, and one representative from each almshouse site. At these we inform the residents of what maintenance etc we are planning to carry out, and they can ask questions, make requests and put forward suggestions. These have a formal agenda and are minuted. It seems to work quite well as the residents do feel that they have a voice. However, we don’t have a Residents Engagement Policy I can share with you as, at the moment, I don’t think we need one.

Susan Coen
Clerk to the Trustees

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