Newydd achieves QED accreditation
Cardiff-based housing provider, Newydd Housing Association, has been successful in achieving a prestigious and nationally-recognised equality and diversity mark for social landlords.
The QED Award, developed by Welsh housing charity, Tai Pawb, provides a comprehensive framework for improving the equality and diversity impact of an organisation. Awarded by an independent panel, it considers strategic areas such as governance, leadership and culture as well as customer-facing service provision, including access and tenant involvement.
Staff and board members from across the organisation, as well tenants, contractors and partner organisations engaged in the 12-month accreditation process which included staff surveys, engagement with tenants, on-site visits, a review of policies and procedures and the production of an action plan. The award includes an annual check-up over three years where Tai Pawb will monitor progress on Newydd’s action plan and offer or refer to support to meet challenges.
Newydd – which manages around 3,000 homes across south and mid Wales – joins Melin Homes, Merthyr Valleys Homes, Cynon Taff Community Housing, Merthyr Tydfil Housing Association and Cadwyn as the sixth social landlord recipient of the award in Wales.
Commenting on its success, Chief Executive of Newydd Housing Association, Jason Wroe, said:
“We were ecstatic when we found out that we had gained this award. We started the QED journey just as lockdown started in 2020, but Tai Pawb and our staff moved the process online very smoothly.
“Our staff have worked incredibly hard, over and above their day to day roles to ensure that we instil the ethos of this quality mark around the organisation. We needed to do more than just ‘tick a box’ when considering equality, it had to be integral in everything we do.
“We thought we may have just improved on our achievements this year, but to gain this award is a fantastic result and reflects the distance we have travelled since starting the process.
“Our work doesn’t stop here however, we will continue to work with Tai Pawb to improve the impact of our organisation.”
Alicja Zalesinska, Chief Executive of Tai Pawb, added:
“We are thrilled to see another housing association in Wales receiving the QED award.
“Newydd deserves hearty congratulations – from staff through to management and board members – for having demonstrated a clear commitment to improvement and evidencing innovative thinking throughout the review process.
Ceri Meloy, Tai Pawb Head of Business, added:
“Specific feedback from our independent awarding panel recognised a positive approach in particular to co-production and the tenacity with which Newydd has taken on QED, more especially given the additional challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We’re looking forward to working with Newydd as the organisation continues to embed and espouse the values and benefits of equality, diversity and inclusion in everything it does”.