This story came from our community newspaper. Click here to read the full newspaper. This summer we introduced a new gardening competition, ‘Hafod in Bloom’, in which we encouraged our green fingered customers, both young and old, to show us their hard work in their...
Spooky Halloween celebrations at Clos Meurig!
Tenants at Clos Meurig, near Cowbridge, celebrated Halloween together with a spooky street party organised by Mrs Roberts, and other residents who live in the street. Although the windy weather was against them, they put on a fantastic event and everyone had a great...
Housebuilder Persimmon boost fundraising for defibrillator
Residents and colleagues at our Golau Caredig extra care scheme on Gladstone Road in Barry, which provides independent living for people aged over 55, have been raising money to buy a defibrillator. Through various donations and fundraising events, including their...
Four pillars of sustainable behaviour change
Our Research and Innovation Specialist, Philippe Demougin, talks about the four areas that Side-by-Side will address with their work on sustainable living. We’re currently in the midst of COP26 (the 26th Climate Change Conference) where world leaders are debating our...
How can technology help tackle loneliness?
Our Director of Research and Innovation, Dr Jamie Smith, was recently part of a Wales Centre for Public Policy (WCfPP) conversation exploring loneliness and isolation. He talked about Side-by-Side’s work on using technology to help mitigate their impact. Watch for...
A new approach to sustainable living
Our Research and Innovation Specialist, Philippe Demougin, talks about what Side-by-Side are doing to encourage colleagues and customers to make sustainable life choices. With COP26 coming up in Glasgow on 31 October, at Side-by-Side we decided this would be a good...
Unexplored potential
In his latest contribution to Welsh Housing Quarterly (WHQ) our Director of Research and Innovation, Jamie Smith talks about the unexplored potential of changing behaviour in communities to help reduce carbon consumption. The massive technical and economic challenge...
Tŷ Heulog turns five!
On 29 September, residents and colleagues at our Tŷ Heulog Extra Care scheme in Talbot Green pulled out all the stops to celebrate five fantastic years since opening in 2016. The event was bursting with community-spirit, bringing people together for a day of fun and...
Black History Month
A message from our Chief Executive Jas Bains: While it’s impossible to confine hundreds of years’ worth of history to just a few weeks, Black History Month is an opportunity to appreciate the significance of black history and highlight some of the many positive...
Are you a landlord looking to lease your property? We offer guaranteed rent
Our Cartrefi Hafod team specialise in finding accommodation in the private sector to help provide temporary homes for homeless families and individuals who are often facing extreme hardship both financially and personally. Working in partnership with local...
Health and social care levy
A message from our Chief Executive: Yesterday was a significant day for the future of social care and I thought I would take an opportunity to share my thoughts on what it means for Wales and, in turn, what it means for Hafod. The UK Government announced how it will...
Your Universal Credit is changing
You may know that the UK Government increased Universal Credit (UC) payments in April 2020 by £20 a week as extra support for claimants during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The additional amount was a temporary increase which was originally due to stop at the end...
New service launches to support families in the Vale of Glamorgan
We are excited to launch our new support service, Teulu, today! The new service replaces our previous project, Vale Vulnerable Families, and will provide housing-related support for vulnerable families living in the Vale of Glamorgan. Working in partnership with the...
Get involved with the circular economy
Our Side-by-Side Innovation team are proud to be supporting the latest pop-up event being held by Benthyg Cymru and Repair Cafe Wales on 11 September. Offer your skills by volunteering on the day. Those who can repair electrical items and bikes, and those with...
Community Calling campaign makes a big difference to Stephen’s life
Stephen has found it difficult living alone during lockdown, especially not being able to contact his friends or use the internet. He didn’t have a smartphone as he couldn’t afford the costs. So when his neighbourhood coach Fatoma told him about the Community Calling...
How can we improve the services you receive?
We’ve launched our annual satisfaction survey for our housing customers to share how they feel about the services they receive. Your views are important to us so please take the time to tell us what we are doing well and where we can improve. You can read...
Well done to our Care Stars!
Well done to Amanda Davis and Lisa Parfitt for being recognised as Care Stars! Care Stars was created by Social Care Wales to shine a light on those who have made a positive difference to people’s lives during the pandemic. In June, 120 care workers from across Wales...
Helping make Cardiff a bee-friendly city
We’re delighted to be working with Cardiff University to help turn Cardiff into a bee-friendly city as part of their Pharmabees project. To encourage the growth of the local bee population, Cardiff University has kindly donated some wildflower seeds to us, made up of...
Spin out to help out
Our Director of Research and Innovation, Jamie Smith has contributed to the latest issue of Welsh Housing Quarterly (WHQ). He talks about our how Side-by-Side Innovation started out, and the three main challenges it will initially be tackling. In an earlier article...
Quiz masters at Golau Caredig!
Home Instead recently hosted a huge 50-question quiz for our residents at Golau Caredig Extra Care Scheme in Barry. The Home Instead team were really impressed with our residents’ general knowledge and discovered that they are all avid quiz show watchers!...
Tenants come together to grow their own!
Tenants in Cardiff have joined together to create a communal garden project and set up a vegetable patch. They’re currently growing broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, runner beans and courgettes. They wanted to start growing vegetables as a way of bringing the...
Smartphone campaign helps reconnect customer with loved ones
So far we have distributed 12 smartphones as part of the Community Calling campaign which supports individuals without access to the internet both during Covid-19 and beyond. Cassius is our first customer to benefit from the campaign. He has struggled without having...
New bike shed makes a wheelie big difference!
In December 2020, after customers raised concerns that they were unable to store their bikes safely and securely outside their home, a bike shed with a stand for four bikes was installed at one of our block of flats in Cardiff. The lack of facilities for bike storage...
Side-by-Side Innovation has launched!
Three, two, one and lift off! We’re proud to announce that Side-by-Side Innovation has launched. Side-by-Side are a small, dedicated team that work at arms’ length to our core business, but completely in the interests of our customers and communities. Over the...