Edinburgh-headquartered housing and care charity Bield Housing and Care is hosting an engagement session in June and an annual general meeting in September to get feedback from its tenants.

Bield provides housing and care services for more than 5,000 older people across 23 local authority areas in Scotland.

Approximately 15 customers will take part in the first event, a summit in Hamilton on 21 June, which will be attended by Bield’s directors and the chief executive, along with a further 20 staff from across the business.

It will be the first such event in almost three years following the Covid pandemic and the first opportunity for Bield customers to meet the current management team,

Zhan McIntyre, Bield’s head of policy and customer standards said: “The timing feels absolutely essential. Our last few annual engagement events were halted by the pandemic – a period when both Bield and the rest of society were dealing with profound change. There are so many big issues on the horizon, and it couldn’t be a more important time to listen to our customers as we set out our strategy for the next five years.”

The event in Hamilton will begin with tenants from Bield developments across Scotland giving accounts of their experiences during the pandemic and explaining how they feel the housing provider could improve in future.

Bield’s Dr Lynne Douglas will talk about the challenges of steering the organisation through the pandemic, including rebuilding the senior management team. This will be followed by a discussion on Bield’s new five-year strategy, which is due to commence next March. 

Tracey Howatt, director of customer experience; Val Hunter, director of business development; Paula Rice, director of finance and resources; and Nikki Ritchie, director of people and organisational development will answer questions from customers and ensure that their views are captured to help shape the direction of the organisation.

Topics on the agenda include how Bield will introduce modern technology to help people live independently for as long as possible and how they will tackle the rising cost of energy, while tackling climate change.

The afternoon will conclude with a tour of the BE-ST Innovation Factory (formerly the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre), giving attendees an insight into the latest technology being used to help transform housing and the built environment.

Douglas said: “There is no better way for us to hear from our customers than finally being able to meet with them like this. This is a hugely important event for us. Engagement with customers and staff is vital to us to ensure that we continue to develop innovative ideas that support all of the Bield community, now and in the future. As an organisation, we must be ready to adapt and change to meet the demand both now and in the future and take our services to new levels. Events like this help us to keep our customers at the very forefront of what we do, even in these most challenging of times.”