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Getting into the World Cup spirit while supporting our local communities ⚽ What better way to prepare for the World Cup than by taking to the pitch ourselves – all while raising money for charitable causes. Our colleagues at Orbit Homes recently organised a five-a-side football fundraiser at The Nest in Norwich, bringing together 10 teams from a range of our partners. Together, we raised £2,500, which we’ll now start to donate to charitable causes across our communities. This fundraising football tournament has now become a great tradition of ours and a wonderful way for us to work together to maximise the positive impact we can make locally. A big thank you to all our partners for their support, and congratulations to Richard Utting Associates LLP, who were crowned tournament champions. 🏆
Helping pupils stay safe on the roads🚦 Keeping our communities safe matters to us at Orbit. That’s why our colleagues at Orbit Homes were pleased to donate 400 reflective keychains to pupils at Elmswell Community Primary School and help them stay visible when walking home in the darker months. Working with the school’s Road Safety team, and the school’s Junior Road Safety Officers, Orbit colleagues arranged for pupils from nursery through to Year 6 to choose a range of designs, from hearts and stars to footballs and animals. We hope our donation will help the children stay safe on the roads.Helping pupils stay safe on the roads🚦 Keeping our communities safe matters to us at Orbit. That’s why our colleagues at Orbit Homes were pleased to donate 400 reflective keychains to pupils at Elmswell Community Primary School and help them stay visible when walking home in the darker months. Working with the school’s Road Safety team, and the school’s Junior Road Safety Officers, Orbit colleagues arranged for pupils from nursery through to Year 6 to choose a range of designs, from hearts and stars to footballs and animals. We hope our donation will help the children stay safe on the roads.
Oh, we do like to read beside the seaside 📖 To celebrate World Book Night and the National Year of Reading, we hosted a sunset reading event in Margate. The event brought together local customers, Orbit colleagues and the Town Mayor of Margate, Cllr Katie Pope, for an evening of shared reading in the coastal setting. It was one of a series of pop-up activities delivered by our Kent team helping to improve literacy and access to books across local communities. As a supporter of the “Go All In” campaign led by the National Literacy Trust, we also recently received a donation of books. These are now being shared with residents and the wider community through events like this. It was a lovely evening that brought people together – not just to enjoy reading and celebrate literature, but also to connect with others and support wellbeing.
We’ve set a new social value target: £550 million by 2030 After reaching our original £100m target ahead of schedule, we worked with HACT to develop a new, expanded framework. This enhanced framework captures a wider range of social and economic impact, including value from new affordable homes, repairs, our 30by30 green space improvements and other key services. This has helped us set a new, more ambitious target of £550m by 2030, reflecting the positive impact we strive to make for our customers, communities and wider society. We’ll continue to work closely with HACT to ensure social value stays central to our decisions, investment planning and service delivery and that progress is transparent, credible and independently assured.
We’re delighted to welcome Neil Laird to Orbit as our new Technology and Data Director 👋 Neil will lead our technology and data teams, driving our digital transformation, strengthening data-driven decision making, and supporting our ambition to deliver amongst the best customer service of any housing association in the country. With more than 20 years’ experience spanning national infrastructure, retail, and managed services, Neil brings deep expertise in leading complex technology and data environments at scale. Welcome to the team, Neil – we’re excited to have you on board.
We’re incredibly proud to share that Orbit Homes has been awarded the Gold Award for Customer Satisfaction by In-house Research Ltd – for the 10th consecutive year 🏆 This award is based on direct feedback from customers, independently gathered by In-house Research, a specialist in measuring customer satisfaction in the new homes industry. Winning the Gold Award for the 10th year running reflects our excellent consistency, including achieving a Net Promoter® Score (NPS) of 83 and that over 90% of Orbit Homes customers surveyed would recommend us to a friend. We’re delighted to retain this award for the 10th consecutive year, recognising our team’s ongoing commitment to putting customers at the heart of everything we do.
Making this Easter egg-stra special with chocolate-filled donations! Our colleagues have been helping our Orbit Homes teams spread a little extra joy in our local communities this Easter. 🐣 Colleagues in the Midlands donated over 100 Easter eggs for children across Northamptonshire in support of a campaign led by local resident Jeanette Walsh. The eggs will be distributed to social services teams across the county, including the Leaving Care and Special Guardianship teams. 🐰 In the South, chocolate treats were donated to the Margate Family Hub - part of the Kent Family Hubs network, which provides advice, support, and services to families across Kent. 🍫 Over in the East, Easter favourites were donated to the Muddy Puddles nursery in Norwich. A big thank you to our colleagues for helping make a difference this Easter.
We’re proud to share that Orbit Homes has earned a five-star housebuilder rating by the HBF for the third year running! 🌟 A five-star rating is the highest accolade awarded by the Home Builders Federation (HBF) and is only granted to home builders who receive exceptional customer feedback in key areas related to the quality of their home and the service they received. This exceptional achievement is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and commitment of our entire team – not only in building high quality homes, but in creating sustainable communities where our customers love to live.
New Homes Coming to the Midlands🏡 We’re pleased to share that plans have been approved for Lancaster Fields, our new fully affordable development on the outskirts of Coventry. In partnership with Stonebond, Orbit Homes will deliver 33 new homes for social rent and 30 homes available for purchase through Shared Ownership. All homes at Lancaster Fields are set to support energy efficiency with solar panels and EV charging points included as standard. The development will also embrace sustainability and support our wider commitment to The Wildlife Trusts' 30by30 campaign, helping nature’s recovery by 2030. The new homes will be built by Stonebond using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). Built with timber frame installation, the homes will offer improved insulation, energy efficiency, and warmer, more affordable living. Grant funding from Homes England will support the delivery of affordable homes at the site, and construction is expected to start this summer.
We’re excited to welcome Nicola Cale as our new Customer Welfare Strategy Lead. Nicola will help shape and deliver our customer welfare strategy, making sure customers can access high-quality support that helps them manage financial pressure, sustain tenancies, and improve their overall wellbeing. She will also lead the continued development of our customer wellbeing programme, Better Days, which provides free, practical support for customers, including money and debt advice, mental health services, employment and skills coaching, and digital support. Nicola’s appointment strengthens our commitment to improving customer experience, bringing additional focus and strategic leadership to the support customers receive.
