by BITMO Chief Executive, Deborah Kelly

• The police do respond to reports of crime
• Crime statistics are monitored, and policing is organised around those statistics
• Reporting crime online, is quick easy and we can help you to do it.

My son was assaulted last week and the conversations I’ve had with people following it have been interesting. Those conversations suggested to me that reporting even serious crimes to the police is not taken for granted.

We know that our community in Belle Isle are concerned about crime and that they witness crime, but that crime reporting levels are very low. The best way to address crime is to provide the police with the information they need to track it and deal with it.

If you witness any illegal activity such as drug dealing, aggression, intimidation, assault, damage of property, or illegal road use, it is easy and quick to report it online. BITMO staff can help you, and it really will help to get the resources we need to create a safer stronger Belle Isle.

Please continue to ring 999 in an emergency and use 101 to report non-urgent crime. You may find it easier to report non-urgent crime online, using this link https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/report-it

BITMO’s housing office and BITMOs GATE will not be open on Thursday 13 January as was scheduled. We apologise for any inconvenience.

The housing office and BITMOs GATE will both be open on Monday 17 and Thursday 20 January for in-person visits. Please note both services are closed for lunch between 12pm and 1pm. This limited service is because of the ongoing issue of transmission of the COVID-19 virus. The telephone service is available Monday to Friday 9am-5pm on 0113 378 2188 (and 0113 376 0499 for out of hours emergencies). BITMO will keep the situation under review and post any updates about opening times for the week starting 24 January on the website and Facebook.

Belle Isle TMO’s telephone service on 0113 378 2188 will be closed from 1pm on 24th December until 10am Wednesday 29th December and from 1pm on Friday 31 December until 8.45am on Tuesday 4 January. On Friday 24th and Friday 31 December from 1pm – 5pm for emergency only call 07312 259474.

If you have an emergency repair from 5pm on 24 December until 29 December or from 5pm on 31 December to 3 January, please call 0113 376 0499. An emergency is something that needs fixing quickly because it is a danger to health and safety. Examples are:
• A damaged door or ground floor window which leaves your property insecure
• A severe leak or burst
• A leak affecting electrics
• An unsafe electric fitting that is sparking or smoking or has bare wires showing
• No heating
If you have a leak, please turn your water supply off at the stop tap until help arrives.

If you have a problem with your power supply check your fuse box and if you have access to the internet check the Northern Power Grid website for power cuts in the area before calling through a repair
If you smell gas please call 0800 111 999. Turn off all appliances. Do not turn switches or sockets on. Open all windows and DO NOT SMOKE.
Lastly may we take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

BITMO invited just over 400 households living in the 2-storey blocks inviting them to a meeting in October. Here is the outcome letter sent to all residents after the meeting by BITMO Chief Executive Deborah Kelly.

BITMO hosted a resident consultation event on the 26^th October that was very well attended.  People from your area came together to tell BITMO about their experience of living in this community.

The issues they raised were concerning. First and foremost, the criminal problems of drug dealing, and drug use, and the violent and anti-social behaviour that goes along with them were discussed. It was reported that no less than four BITMO properties around Belle Isle Circus are openly dealing in drugs. Other addresses were mentioned in the West Granges and the Windmills. This has been reported to the police.

The parking situation generated a good deal of discussion and people are very keen to see a local permit scheme and enforcement that takes place in the evenings and weekends, which is when the parking issues are evident.  We have requested a strategic review of parking in Belle Isle from the Council. BITMO struggles to influence this issue. It is the responsibility of the Council, but we will liaise with Council colleagues to try to push it up the agenda.

People were concerned also about the condition of people’s gardens and our enforcement team are picking up this issue.

A number of issues were raised about anti-social behaviour, and these were picked up by our Tenancy Support and Enforcement Officer. We also picked up a few property repair issues and are resolving those.

We were asked about the use of weed killers and biodiversity, and about planned maintenance investment in your homes over the coming years. If you would like to discuss work that needs doing in your home, please get in touch with the repairs team and request a comprehensive stock condition survey. That will help us plan what work we do and when.

I’ve also included a copy of our November GATE programme for your information. Many of the sessions are bookable so if you are interested in attending any of them please get in touch via the number on the leaflet.

Yours sincerely

Deborah Kelly

Chief Executive Officer

BITMO invited just over 100 households living in the 3-storey blocks inviting them to a meeting in October. Here is the outcome letter sent to all residents after the meeting by BITMO Chief Executive Deborah Kelly.

I would like to thank those of you who were able to attend our consultation meeting on Tuesday 19^th October 2021.  A number of important issues were raised that we will act upon straightaway.

1. Firstly we were made aware of various acts of anti-social and criminal behaviour that are negatively impacting on the wellbeing of residents.  We were advised that residents and non-residents are smoking cannabis in some of the communal areas and are wedging external doors open to allow non-residents access.  We also received complaints that people are riding quad bikes in the grassed areas. These activities have been reported to the police and we have requested additional police presence to deal with this.

We are installing improved lighting and CCTV to monitor this situation, and to provide information to the Police. Drug use, possession and supply as well as being illegal are all breaches of tenancy and we will act against individuals responsible for this.

      2.  The standard of cleaning in the blocks is not high enough. We are going to increase the frequency of cleaning.

      3.  The gutters and drains need unblocking – an order has been raised for this.  As scaffolding is needed, it will take a few weeks before you see this happen on site.

      4.  General comments were made about ASB around the BITMO office, we are improving CCTV and bringing this to the attention of the police.

      5.  We have developed plans to improve the green areas at the rear of the blocks and once we have a contractor in place to do this work we will involve you further in what the work should look like.

Again, thank you for attending the meeting, it is only by hearing what your experience of living in your home is, that we can take action that will make a difference. Please continue to be vigilant and report any drug use, criminal or anti-social behaviour to the Police and to us. If we work together we can deal with these issues.

Deborah Kelly Chief Executive

by BITMO Chief Executive, Deborah Kelly

Our Board met at the end of July to discuss and agree some new policies and changes to what we do, which included:

• a designated reserves policy that will give us an additional £70,000 per year to give in grants to our customers and to enhance the physical environment in Belle Isle
• the decision to form a charity, which will help us to access funding and develop our services
• the development of a partnership with the National Federation of TMOs (NFTMO) to provide services on their behalf to their national membership base
• a new swifter, more streamlined and effective complaints policy
• a new donations policy

If you would like to find out more about the work that your TMO does, or if you would like get involved with us by becoming a Board member at BITMO, contact Karen.Hoole@belleisletmo.co.uk.

Hello! This is a message I sent to BITMO staff, which I wanted to share with Belle Isle residents.

I hope you are well!  I just want to take a moment to remind us all of what we have achieved over the last year, and ask you to focus on our Five Year Plan.

These plans can become very dusty and get forgotten. I don’t want us to veer away from our agreed focus. If there is anything you need or want in terms of the priorities listed below, please get in touch. You might want training to become stronger digitally.  You might want to initiate a project on our green agenda, you might have thoughts about how we can improve our efficiency.

You are the hive brain of BITMO and your contributions are vital.  Have a think, discuss on your team meetings, and lets catch up at the next all BITMO team meeting.

Fit for the Future

Our Five Year Plan “Fit for the Future” remains highly relevant and we have made good progress in pushing it forward to strengthen our organisation and continue to make a sustainable difference in our community.

Getting The Basics Right has never been more important. Our singular commitment to simplicity and continuous improvement has in some ways been propelled by the circumstances of the pandemic. We have by necessity, streamlined what we do to focus on the things that have impact.

We have become almost entirely paperless, and developed investment programmes and work streams around tree planting, insulation and solar energy in support of our Green Agenda. Home working has been a necessity, and we will continue to work with agility to reduce our carbon foot print and support colleague work/life balance.

Our focus on being Digitally Enabled has gathered pace, as we have rolled out digital devices and tools to digitally excluded members of our community. We will focus over the next year upon providing access to training and becoming a leader in digital health in our community.

We are involved in supporting 50 households to understand their health priorities, and provide tablets that are pre-loaded with useful and individually relevant health apps and other software to enable them to engage with their healthconcerns and access services digitally. 

Meeting Community Needs is about much more than bricks and mortar. This year, providing a community space, and community projects has proved very difficult indeed. We have used this time to rethink how we can do more for our community and have developed a programme call LIFT OFF to help young people achieve success in school, college, university or work.  It focuses on self-development, personal agency and setting and achieving goals.  We are offering the programme to our community, and local schools and colleges.

Developing our Organisation has been so important this year.The novelist Proust observed that the true voyage of discovery in life lies not so much in encountering new landscapes but in discovering new eyes. Everyone at BITMO has seen their world, their work and BITMO with new eyes. We have seen that we are capable of far more than we knew and we are determined to maintain that focus and continue to develop our services, our organisation and ourselves to continue to focus on our 3 key aims:

• Providing high quality services
• Building a stronger safer belle isle
• Being a well-run TMO

Kind regards

Deborah

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy new year.

As we enter a period of national lockdown, we are all being told to stay at home. Further stay at home guidance on what you can and can’t do can be found on the government’s website here :

www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home

Belle Isle TMO will continue to operate a telephone based service and we will be prioritising the following services:

• Repairs, we do not expect this service to be disrupted at this time but if it is we will keep you informed.
• Letting homes, which includes carrying out work on empty properties, new sign-ups and viewings; and
• Adaptations that make homes more accessible, such as ramps, stair lifts and wet floor showers.

The housing office and GATE will remain closed to be public. Lots of the services previously available at the GATE can now be accessed online or via telephone, and we’ve included links and contact information further down this email.

If you receive a letter to advise you to shield due to being clinically extremely vulnerable, and you need assistance to do so, such as with food provision and medication collection, please contact the Leeds COVID Helpline on 0113 376 0330.

Wellbeing support is available to everyone during this period of national lockdown by contacting 0113 222 4444.

For the latest health advice, please visit the NHS website www.nhs.uk/coronavirus

If you’d like some help to tackle debt, the Money Advice Service offer free and impartial advice to help you get your finances back in order, visit: www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/categories/taking-control-of-debt

If you’re becoming concerned about making your rent payments as result of debt, or if your financial situation has changed as a result of COVID-19 or otherwise, please contact our Rents and Tenancy Team on 0113 378 2187 who will talk through your options with you.

Loneliness

Loneliness can have as much an impact on poor health as a long term illness, and it’s not something that can be treated with medication or that can be referred for hospital treatment.

During December we ran a campaign on our Facebook page to help keep people connected. We posted lots of useful links to charities and organisations there to support those experiencing loneliness, one of which was Mind’s online community Side by Side, which is a safe place to connect with others who understand how loneliness feels. If you’re experiencing loneliness you may like to visit or look at https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/loneliness/about-loneliness/ or other information relating to loneliness by visiting www.facebook.com/belleisletmo .

If you short of food or money for electricity or gas and your home is managed by BITMO, please contact us on 0113 378 2188. We may be able to help you directly or refer you for help.

You don’t need me to tell you that Christmas is going to be a very different end to this extra ordinary year. BITMO remain open to help customers over Christmas apart from Christmas Day and the Bank Holidays on 28 December and New Year’s Day, and we have a 24-hour responsive repair service should some genuine emergency befall you that needs an immediate response. Fingers crossed you won’t need to call anyone out to fix your heating or deal with uncontrollable gushing water, or anything like that. But if you do, we will help. Most people won’t be having the Christmas they want but will trying very hard to make it special somehow.

Christmas is a financial pressure, and if you need help with your finances, get in touch with us. We can help you to organise your debts, claim help you may be entitled to, or get you on the right track with your rent.

For a lot of people Christmas is always the worst possible time of the year, and it can’t be over soon enough. That might be because they are isolated, and isolation has been a massive issue for people this year. At BITMO we have tried to maintain contact and support with folk who are vulnerable or lonely, and we hope we’ve brought a smile to some amid the difficulties they have experienced.

Too many people dread Christmas because they are unhappy or frightened at home. If you are frightened at home, if you are being hurt, in any way, get in touch with us or one of the organisations listed here: https://www.belleisletmo.co.uk/help-support/domestic-abuse/

There is help for you. You are not alone.

Whatever your circumstances this Christmas, the BITMO team want to thank you for your patience this year, and wish you the very best. Whatever your plans are, and whatever circumstances you are in, we all want you to stay safe and get in touch with us if you need us.