I live in a Lewisham Family Co-op property and have been a tenant for 13 years.  We are a self-help Co-op, which, in a nutshell means that ‘us’ the residents of the Co-op are all members, some of which are elected to form the Committee.  The Committee along with members are involved in key decisions on all aspects of housing management including allocating properties, finance and repairs.

With the help of CDS we applied and were successful in getting a grant from the Housing Corporation [now the Homes and Communities Agency]  to fund the renewal of kitchens in our properties.  CDS’ development department managed the programme and expertly guided us through the whole process from:

• arranging for a technical inspector to measure the kitchens and our appliances
• inviting companies to bid for the contract
• managing the successful contractor

CDS ensured that ‘we’ were involved from the start; we each chose from a selection - kitchen units we wanted, handles, worktop, wall tiles, taps and flooring.  We were each sent a plan of our own kitchens confirming our individual requests.

I was sent a letter a few weeks prior to the start of the works, which enabled me to clear everything out of the kitchen and arrange access to our home.  The workman arrived promptly with a ‘fitter’ who removed the old units and flooring and an electrician who moved some sockets and fitted some safety switches for my appliances.

The quality of the units and the standard of workmanship were second to none – they even made some adjustments to the original plan to keep me happy!  They completed all the work in one week ensuring that they cleaned up every day and left me with running water and cooking facilities.

I can honestly say that I was not looking forward to the disruption, but the whole experience was made so much easier by CDS, they organised and supervised the standard of work very closely.  They kept us informed by letter, telephone, newsletter and a few personal visits.

Well done CDS and Lewisham Family Co-op – a good example of successful ‘partnership working’!

“We love our new kitchen – thank you!”

Nina Morris, Lewisham Family Co-operative Association