Customer Voice: Creative meetings for tenants in Leeds

Getting creative in the tenant meetings

The recent tenant meeting in Leeds involved tenants spending time creating artwork and chatting about RWP’s new tenant committee with Annette, Operations Director at RWP . “It was great to see how Natalie uses art and creativity to make sure meetings are fun and productive. Whilst creating some artwork for our Leeds office, we spoke about the new tenant committee we are setting up at RWP.

I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting. I can see that using arts and crafts in meetings is a great way to get to know others and to create a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. It’s fun, too!  Everyone made me feel very welcome,” says Annette.

Natalie, Customer Voice officer, includes artwork in tenant meetings to help tenants relax during discussions. “It is great to see our tenants enjoying themselves, meeting people and making friends. I think it is important to this group that we maintain a fun and creative environment. Moving away from a more traditional meeting format seems to help people to relax and feel more comfortable in giving feedback. This feedback helps us to improve the service we deliver to them,” says Natalie.

Suggestions for tenant committee meetings

Tenants Sandra, Fiona, and John shared their thoughts on what a successful committee looks like for them. They explained that they enjoy art and having an activity to engage with whilst they are talking and listening in meetings.

They also said that in meetings we should avoid using long words that are hard to understand as this can be off-putting. They also suggested that meetings could take place online and that tenants can be supported in the meetings by RWP colleagues. It was also acknowledged that some tenants cannot attend meetings if their support worker is unavailable to attend with them.

Tenant Sandra shares positive feedback

Sandra enjoys attending the meetings and taking part in the creative activities. “I enjoy coming to the meetings at RWP  because I like to hear about other people’s properties and experiences because they are different to mine. I also like the activities that we do as well. It is nice to bring new people in and meet old friends, too. I like to share my feedback, especially on the repairs service,” says Sandra.