How to get involved

There are many ways of getting involved and having a say in what happens in your local area.

You can get involved as an individual, by taking part in a survey or visiting your local Tenant Involvement Officer to discuss local issues. Or you could join a Tenants' and Residents' Association or Area Housing Forum, or take part in one of our Tenant Challenge Days. Or you can apply to become a member of your Local Management Committee or the WDH Board.

Getting involved means being able to discuss and influence issues that affect you.

As an individual

You might not want to join a group, but that doesn't mean you can't have your say about local issues. You can:

Join a tenants' and residents' association

If you like working with other people you might enjoy joining fellow tenants and residents in a tenants' and residents' association or group in your area. Tenants' and residents' groups have the power to influence local decisions and are often involved in organising activities and events.

In a tenants' and residents' group, you can:

• Improve housing conditions, your environment and the services you receive.
• Meet other people living in your community and make new friends.
• Voice your opinion in decisions affecting your home and neighbourhood and the services provided to you.
• Increase the sense of community.
• Raise money to benefit your community.
• Monitor the performance of the Housing Service.
• Influence practices and policies that determine the provision of services.
• Attend social events.
• Make your community a better place to live.
• Advise on local priorities and the allocation of resources.
• Liaise with other groups and organisations.
• Organise activities with others in your community.

Read about the Tenants' and Residents' Groups in your area. If your area doesn't have one, then you could start one yourself. Email us at tenants@wdh.co.uk to get the help, advice and support you need.

Tenant challenge days

Tenant Challenge Days are informal and fun, yet also help us get a wide cross section of opinions from our tenants.

At Tenant Challenge Days, you can:

We can offer free transport and refreshments to those attending Tenant Challenge Days. If you are interested in attending, email us at tenants@wdh.co.uk, or contact the WDH engagement team on 01977 724668.

Focus groups

Focus Groups consist of no more than 10 tenants who are invited to take part in an informal discussion on specific issues.

The facilitator, usually a member of staff, cannot take part in the discussion but they will take notes and ask specific questions to get everyone involved.

Individuals are not identified in any notes and all personal details are kept confidential.

If you would like to find out more about Focus Groups or are interested in taking part in one please email tenants@wdh.co.uk.

Service review groups

This is an opportunity for you to influence the service delivered by WDH. You can help assess policies and service standards or get involved in testing new services.

The service areas covered include:

If you are interested in becoming part of a Service Review Group you can email us at tenants@wdh.co.uk.

Local management committees

There are five Local Management Committees (LMCs), each representing one of the management areas of WDH.

The key role for LMCs is to provide local solutions to local issues. They are accountable to the Board for the local housing services within their respective areas. They have an important role in considering spending priorities, including the scheduling of improvement programmes within their areas.

LMCs have responsibility for listening and feeding back opinions to the Board from the Area Housing Forums, Challenge Days, Service Review Groups and user panels.

To encourage local people to become involved in the LMCs, all independent and tenant vacancies are advertised locally and in specialist BME press in order to attract all sections of our communities.

If you are interested in applying to join one of our LMCs please visit our section about current vacancies. Or you can read more about LMCs.

The WDH Board

The Board of Wakefield and District Housing is responsible for, and makes decisions about, the policies and strategic direction of the organisation.

Its members are three tenants, three nominees from Wakefield Metropolitan District Council and three independents, chosen for their particular experience and / or expertise.

Tenant Board Members are elected annually over three years, on a rotational basis, and will serve no more than three years without re-election.

Nominations to fill Board vacancies are sought from Local Management Committee tenant representatives and any vacancies created are then advertised locally and in specialist black and minority ethnic press in order to attract all sections of our communities.

If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a member of the Board, you can email us at Boardmembers@wdh.co.uk.

Or you can read more about the Board.

further information Consulting you and getting you involved... We want everyone who uses our services to feel they can get involved in how we run and develop them. We are continually looking at how we can improve the way we consult you and get you involved. read about how the Board and LMCs make their decisions.