INSIDEOUT Newport housing course celebrates
fi rst birthday with national award A Gwent project aimed at preventing youth homelessness has celebrated its fi rst birthday by scooping a national award.
T
he Newport-based MyPad project won a Tenant Participation Advisory Service Cymru award at a Cardiff ceremony on
May 8, for improving its services by involving young people in creating better resources for its pre-tenancy training programme. Young people in social housing are more
likely than any other age group to lose their homes within 20 months of getting them. The four-day MyPad course works to prevent
this by offering practical training from housing professionals to 16 to 24 year-olds applying to Newport’s common housing register. Three young MyPad participants worked with
housing staff to create innovative new learning resources for the course, which was launched in
May 2012 and runs monthly in Newport. Eighteen-year-old Nathan Fletcher from St
Julians, and 21-year-old Ben Scott from Stow Hill, worked with MyPad project offi cers Kelly Major and Kate Thomas for two months to produce a short fi lm on youth debt, and a new home handbook for young people. MyPad project assistant Aimee-Louise Hunt,
who is 18 and from Maesglas also supported the work and helped the lads prepare a presentation for MyPad’s offi cial launch in April 2013, which saw Ben and Nathan give a talk to more than 60 people.
“I did the MyPad course in February and
really enjoyed it, so when we had the opportunity to make a fi lm and handbook I was really
Smart advice for consumers
in Wales The Energy Saving Trust and the Climate Change Commission for Wales have launched a new advice leafl et.
It shows the benefi ts
consumers in Wales will get once they have their smart meters fi tted.
S
mart meters measure gas and electricity used, which mean no need for customers to read their meters or having estimated bills. Instead
accurate bills and a home display giving real time information on energy use will help consumers to budget, especially in a cold winter. The advice leafl et provides consumers with
key points to keep then well ahead of the game and ready to make full use of their smart metering installation when the roll out starts. Installing a smart meter can help to reduce energy consumption, fuel poverty as well as help reduce Wales’ carbon emission managing use better. The UK Government has announced that every
@wearevoice
home in England, Wales and Scotland should be offered a smart meter by 2019 and Northern Irish homes by 2020. Around 27 million homes, plus smaller non-domestic premises, will be offered the chance to be fi tted with smart gas and/or electricity meters over the next seven years. Duncan McCombie, Energy Saving Trust Wales
said: “Here at the Energy Saving Trust, we’re very
excited about the imminent start of the installation of smart electricity and gas meters throughout the UK. But there’s still a big challenge ahead – We need to ensure that consumers in across Wales are kept well informed and are ready for smart meters.
“Armed with the correct information consumers
can make more informed decisions about how they can reduce their energy. Knowing where they use energy helps them decide how to save. Simply switching off appliances on standby and turning down the heating when they are going to be away from home will make savings. Having the information on when and what they use will also help then ensure they are on the right price plan.” To receive a copy of the smart meter
leafl et please send your name and address to
advicewales@est.org.uk.
JUNE.2013 /
WEAREVOICE.CO.UK / 75
keen,” said Nathan, who lives in temporary accommodation run by Solas-Cymru. “We worked hard and I’m proud of
what we’ve created, so I feel the award was deserved.” MyPad is delivered by Newport City Council
and Supporting People, plus the city’s biggest social landlords – Newport City Homes, Charter, Melin and Linc-Cymru. For more information on MyPad, see www.
mypadnewport.co.uk. Contact MyPad Co-ordinator Kelly Major on
kelly.major@
charterhousing.co.uk or 07557 437 147 for referrals and more information.
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