Resident involvement

We’re always looking for ways to engage with the people living with us to shape what we do and how we do it.

Residents are actively encouraged to get involved in any way they can and to improve the performance of our services by:

Helping to shape and improve services
Voice concerns, views and ideas
Making a difference to residents lives
Seeing real outcomes
Helping to shape policies and strategies
Gaining useful experience, developing new skills and building confidence

A chat with our Residents’ Council Chair - August 2024

Watch our video of Anchor Chief Executive, Sarah Jones, and Heather Rowell, Chair of the Residents’ Council and Environmental Forum, discussing the important work of the Residents' Council.

Heather shares how she got involved with Anchor during the COVID-19 pandemic and how Anchor’s wellbeing activities, like the Be Connected Coffee Mornings, have been really important. She talks about how the Residents’ Council works with Anchor on issues that matter most to residents and touches on hot topics like guest rooms, personal barbecues, and converting bathrooms to wet rooms.

Resident involvement groups

The Residents’ Council

The Residents' Council is made up of residents who work with us collaboratively to improve and develop services and hold Anchor to account. The group is made up of the chairs of all our other formal groups listed below.

The Scrutiny Panel

The Scrutiny Panel is made up of engaged residents whose role is to ask the questions, review the services and make recommendations to improve the services provided by Anchor.

Communications Group

The Communications Group is made up of residents who work with us to:

Improve or recommend the development and introduction of appropriate methods of communication.
Provide feedback on resident messaging to ensure resident communications are constantly improving.
Identify resident communication needs across the organisation and make suggestions for how they can be addressed.

The group is responsible for improving various areas of communication, such as newsletters, handbooks and digitally on the Anchor website.

Residents’ Complaints Group

This group meets regularly with the Head of Complaints to find out about upcoming legislative changes. Group members are given up-to-date performance figures to help ensure Anchor deals with complaints in the best / most efficient way possible.

Inclusion Forum

The Inclusion Forum helps raise awareness of different experiences and backgrounds and promotes learning within the community and the wider community. The Forum acts as a critical friend for Anchor on diversity and inclusion and encourages discussion of and participation in diversity and inclusion events. Find out more about diversity at Anchor here.

Property, Safety and Quality Group

This group works with us to improve and develop services by being a consultation body for major initiatives and inputting into internal audit work relating to property, building safety and sustainability services to residents They also monitor and challenge performance.

Environmental Forum

This is a subgroup of the Property, Building safety and Sustainabilty group. This group was established during 2023 in response to the strength of feeling expressed by residents in relation to environmental issues. The remit of the group is work with Anchor to improve or develop services by:

Being a consultation body for major initiatives relating to sustainability and the environment.
Co-creating the Sustainability strategy.
Champion and raise awareness of environmental matters across the residents’ community.
Taking part in educational campaigns to improve knowledge and understanding.
Act as advocates for sustainability

Homeownership Group

Looking at matters that relate to homeownership only such as policies and procedures, communications and engagement, legislative changes and the impact to homeowners along with monitoring progress on the homeownership strategy.

Resident involvement advisory groups and panels

LGBT+ Resident Advisory Group

Anchor’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Resident Advisory Group's (LGBT+) main aim is to work in partnership with Anchor to help make our locations safe and welcoming for everyone and tackle any concerns that moving into age-related housing or a care home as an older LGBT+ person may present.

Community Grants Panel

The Community Grants Panel is made up of Anchor residents and colleagues and reviews applications made for grant funding, looking for the ideas and initiatives that demonstrate the greatest opportunity for enhancing the quality of life for residents at our locations. Find out more about Community grants here.