What we learnt
Flockton had been highlighted as an area that had some longstanding challenges that needed dealing with, and it was affecting customer satisfaction.
What we did
We knew we needed to increase our presence and visibility at Flockton, which meant hosting some regular drop-in sessions so we could understand any frustrations our customers had, and see what we could do to fix them.
Once we had feedback from customers, we created a calendar of events and sessions customers could get involved in, working with some external organisations too. Like redecorating the communal room so it was a better space for everyone to use, and seeing how we could get involved with events like their games and food nights.
We hosted some sessions of our own to tackle loneliness in the area, and put on a summer BBQ to help with the sense of community too.
And to spark conversations, we introduced ‘iconic photos of Sheffield’ as taken and chosen by customers. We loved hearing the stories behind some of them!
Then to keep the lines of communication open and make sure their voices continued to be heard, we introduced two community champions for Flockton Court and Flockton House.
What it meant for customers
We built genuine relationships with customers and key community organisations, which we hope will continue.
And with more events taking place, it’s empowered customers to run their own sessions in the community to strengthen the bonds between Flockton Court and Flockton House, and tackle loneliness.
We got some fantastic feedback from customers too:
“It’s been fantastic, I was a little hesitant to join at first, but I’m really pleased I did. It’s the first time I have left the flat since Christmas, except for when I go shopping”.
“Seeing more and more people coming down and being introduced to new people. I’ve never seen so many people using the communal space”.
“Seeing how many people attended the session – everyone enjoyed themselves and was chatting with each other”.
What we're doing next
We’ll keep the drop-in sessions going to make sure customers know we’re here when they need us, and to tackle loneliness we’ll be bringing in external partners.
The events will continue too, with a new ‘Swap Shop’ being introduced which will be run by a customer with the support of a volunteer coordinator. And we’ll keep helping out with events our customers are running themselves too.
We’ll take what we’ve learnt from Flockton to other areas with similar challenges too.