Key Customer Panel
Our Key Customer Panel is a group of
Friendship Care and Housing customers from across the East &
West Midlands who have expressed an interest in getting involved at
a higher level.
The panel has been running since December 2006
and is seen as the flagship of customer involvement at Friendship.
It is used as a tool for staff and customers to submit agenda items
for discussion, debate and consultation. To date, the panel has
been actively involved in the consultation and approval of all our
Service Standards and our ‘About’ leaflets. Panel members have also
been involved in the development of a number of policies such as
the Starter Tenancy Policy and the Rechargeable Repairs Policy. The
panel is able to invite different members of staff and people from
external agencies to speak to the panel about what they and their
teams do.
The meetings are chaired by Victoria Leonard, Friendship's
Customer Relations Manager. After each meeting, a written record
(minutes) are sent to members of the panel and all staff. Managers
are sent a list of actions for any items they need to respond to
following panel member’s questions. The minutes are then made
available on our website. To view the minutes from the lat 12
months, please select from the list below:
In the last twelve months further improvements
have been made to how the panel works. Meetings alternate
between the daytime and evening and most recently some meetings
will now be held in our Nottingham office, as well as the
Birmingham office throughout the year. This is so
that people can fit meetings around their work or family
commitments. This has made it easier for different people to attend
and has therefore made the panel more diverse.
We are continuously looking at ways to build
the capacity of the panel and give members opportunity to get more
involved in national housing issues, attend seminars and more
recently we have arranged training opportunites tailed just for
them. This has helped them look at the bigger picture
and network with other housing association tenants from across the
country. Promoting and encouraging people to attend these events
broadens their knowledge and understanding and helps them make
better informed decisions. It also increased their confidence and
their ability to challenge us so they and Friendship Care and
Housing get the most out of getting involved.
If you are interested in joining the Key
Customer Panel or any of our other Key Customer activities, please
click
here. Alternatively you can contact Victoria
Leonard, Friendship’s Customer Relations Manager on 0121 212
8663.