Category: Tenant Involvement

By The Tenant Involvement Team

As part of our contract with RMBC, Rotherfed has to deliver two pop-up events across the brough, this year’s areas chosen for us were Dinnington and Masbrough. We agreed on summer events for both areas, the first one took place in Dinnington, and the Masbrough event will take place on Thursday 13 August at Bradgate Park. As well as the events having family activities, we agreed we would have a mixture of stalls too. 

Prior to the event we sourced permission to use the green space next to the Dinnington Resource Centre and also booked the hall at the Resource Centre as a backup in case the weather wasn’t good, produced and delivered over 300 leaflets to houses and shops around the area, as well as advertising in the library, RMBC ebulletin, Facebook pages and sending the leaflets to two local schools. RMBC also send a targeted text to 280 Dinnington council tenants. 

Our event took place on Thursday 30 July from 11am until 2pm, luckily the weather stayed dry, and the sun broke through the clouds. DB Entertainment provided the inflatable Helter Skelter, bouncy castle and music, Beth kept both the children and adults happy with face painting and Chantelle had games for the children. Councillor Clarke kindly had a stall giving away sweet bags, juice and some seed pots, which were very well received. Weston Park Purple Bus was on site offering free cancer checks and spoke to 12 people who were attending the event. There were also arts and crafts and biscuit decorating which the children enjoyed. Rotherfed’s Energy team provided energy support and other stalls included MESMAC Sexual Health, RMBC tenant involvement, Ripple Effect, Citizens Advice, Biffa Waste, Love Where You Live, Library services and Early Years Help. All children received a free ice cream from Paul’s Mr Softee van; the ice creams were kindly part funded by the local Cllrs and went down a treat. It was a fantastic event which everyone enjoyed, it was also a great turnout. 

We had 105 people attend the event, 37 adults and 68 children. Roughly 40% of the people attending were council tenants. We also advertised the connectors pool and will email the tenants who attended to see if they are interested in signing up to the local newsletter. RMBC Neighbourhoods staff also supported on the day. It was a great event and hopefully the start more activities to happen in this area.   

Few quotes from tenants and children who attended.   

“What a lovely event it has been, can you please make it a regular thing”. 

“Lovely to see people getting out and enjoying themselves, great event and even better being a free one”. 

“I had an amazing time, thank you from Harry”. 

“A fun event and encourages the community to get together, thank you from Evie”. 

“I loved it thank you very much, from Arther”. 

By The Tenant Involvement Team

Dinnington Creative meet every Friday afternoon in the Dinnington Library which is inside the Resource Centre. It is a small group of people who enjoy getting together to share their ideas on crafts and try making different craft items. As well as meeting at the library the group also enjoy going out for meals for special occasions and the members birthdays.  

We first met this group back in March when we went to visit them to see if Rotherfed could offer any support. Sam had previously been supporting this group and had recently done all the necessary paperwork with them that Rotherfed requires. The group were busy making craft items which they are hoping to sell at a craft fair, we discussed the possibility of them having a stall at the Dinnington Reindeer Event at the Resource Centre in November. 

The group asked if there was any funding available as unfortunately, they had just previously missed out on some. We had a chat about some CLF funding, and we agreed to support the group with this if they could make a list of the items they would like.  A CLF funding bid was submitted in April for £695.98 which including aprons, a guillotine, printer ink, several different crafts items and an additional storage unit for the library. 

This month we found out that the bid had been successful and the monies were deposited into the group’s bank account. They are very grateful for the funding, and they were discussing what craft items to buy and what they would like to make.

By The Tenant Involvement Team

We have been holding our Volunteer Get Togethers every 3 months for over a year now.  The main panels are the Housing Involvement Panel, Screen Team, Tenant Scrutiny and the newest panel, Learning from Complaints Panel. The get togethers are an opportunity for volunteers from each panel to meet each other, find out what each panel consists of and are an appreciation from us for the work they do for us on a voluntary basis.

Our volunteer numbers continue to grow, and we now have more than 40 tenants who are actively involved with either one or two of the panels or trialing the panels. This number has grown significantly over the past year which has been amazing to see. Our last get together was held at the Rotherham Hospice Café on the Parkgate Retail Park. We had 14 tenants who were able to join us, and everyone enjoyed catching up and having some lunch together, some even had a browse around the store before they left.  These get togethers are important to our volunteers as they get to find out about other panels, meet other volunteers and they all look forward to them. They also look forward to the social side of just general chatting too to new people. Our next one is booked for September at Springwell Gardens, where we will be serving pie and peas and having a Rotherham based quiz. 

As the Learning from Complaints panel only meets quarterly, we decided to get together with the panel members separately in between the meetings as this will enable the panel members to see each other more frequently and to get to know each other.  We held our first panel get together in April at the Coffee Pot in Rawmarsh. At this session we discussed the changes to the meeting structure which started from May’s meeting. Existing panel members completed some surveys about the proposed changes, and we spoke to new panel members who haven’t yet attended a meeting, about the format of the meetings and what to expect.

By The Tenant Involvement Team

What began as a simple idea to bring residents together to watch the World Cup has grown into something much bigger for the Dawson Croft community.

Earlier this month, RotherFed staff worked alongside local residents to support a project aimed at improving facilities within the community centre and creating more opportunities for people to come together.

Recognising the importance of having a shared space where residents could enjoy community events, the group, with support from RotherFed staff, submitted an application to RMBC for a TV licence for the community room. The hope was to create a welcoming environment where neighbours could gather to watch major sporting events and socialise.

The response exceeded all expectations. Not only did RMBC approve the TV licence application, but council staff also generously offered a brand-new television for the community centre.

The new TV has now been installed and is already helping to bring residents together. Inspired by the positive response and eager to make the most of this fantastic addition, the Dawson Croft residents are now exploring new activities for the community, including a weekly horror movie night.

This project demonstrates how a small community idea can develop into something that benefits many people. Through partnership working, local support, and resident enthusiasm, the community centre now has a valuable new resource that will help reduce social isolation, encourage participation, and create opportunities for residents to connect with one another.

RotherFed is proud to have supported the group throughout the process and looks forward to seeing the community continue to grow and thrive around this new initiative.

By The Tenant Involvement Team

Ali first expressed an interest in becoming a Digital Champion with Rotherfed in October 2025. By January this year, he had begun supporting learners at the Thursday drop-in sessions at Riverside Library. He brought with him a lifetime of IT knowledge after a career that saw him deliver IT projects both at home and abroad. He also brought experience of supporting and delivering community activities and projects, along with a genuine willingness to help and support everyone he met.

As well as supporting learners, Ali was always happy to support other Digital Volunteers and Rotherfed as a whole. He attended focus groups where his knowledge and experience could be put to good use and was always happy to meet new people.

Ali applied for the Rotherfed vacancy with Open Arms, and we are delighted to say he got the job. While we are sorry to lose him from the Digital Project, we know he will be a real asset in his new role. His calm and empathetic approach to learners will be very much missed.

By The Tenant Involvement Team, Rachel Cole, Rob Gooding and Sandra Lonnia

This month marks the start of an exciting new chapter for Kimberworth Park TARA’s community-run charity shop and café.

Thanks to a welcome boost in funding, plans are now underway to completely refresh and revitalise the centre. The first major phase of the project will see the replacement of the ageing furniture with modern, practical furnishings designed to create a more welcoming and comfortable environment for everyone who uses the facility.

The improvements are about much more than appearance. By rethinking how the space is used, the new layout will help the team make the most of the available floor space and improve the overall flow of the centre.

One of the biggest benefits will be within the charity shop. The redesigned layout will allow for additional display areas, enabling the team to showcase a wider range of donated items. This increased capacity means more opportunities for local residents to find great bargains while helping to support a worthwhile cause.

Every item sold generates valuable income that is reinvested directly back into community activities and services. The expansion of the shop will therefore play an important role in helping Kimberworth Park TARA continue to support local people and deliver positive outcomes across the community.

The team is looking forward to sharing updates as the project progresses and to welcoming visitors into the newly transformed space in the months ahead.

By The Tenant Involvement Team, Rob Gooding & Rachel Cole

After four years of supporting creativity, connection, and community spirit in Canklow, The Community Tree has officially closed its doors at Canklow Pavilion.

While the closure marks the end of an era, the group’s legacy will continue through a generous handover of crafting equipment and resources to the Crafty Talk group in Brinsworth.

The transfer ensures that the tools and materials used to inspire the creative sessions over the past four years will continue to benefit local residents, helping to spark new projects, conversations, and friendships within another grassroots community initiative.

The Community Tree became much more than a creative space during its time in Canklow, offering residents opportunities to learn new skills, build confidence, and connect with others.

While the group’s closure is undoubtedly a loss for Canklow, there is reassurance in knowing that the resources and community spirit fostered by The Community Tree will live on through Crafty Talk and the people it supports.

By The Tenant Involvement Team, Debra Gill

Mark first contacted us in January 2026. Accompanied by a support worker, he shared that he has Asperger’s syndrome and felt understandably anxious about attending and what to expect. 

Following conversations with Mark’s employment specialist, it became clear that his long-term goal was to find a job and build his digital skills. With this in mind, Mark was matched with our newest digital volunteer, Ali, for one-to-one support. 

Ali gave consideration as to where it was most comfortable for Mark to learn in Riverside Library. Mark chose to learn based at a desktop computer and attended sessions consistently whilst been supported weekly by Ali.

Mark wanted to learn skills to help him apply for jobs online, including how to upload documents for perspective employers. And after the first two weeks he felt more confident and had surprised himself at what he had learned.  

Last week Mark couldn’t attend the usual Thursday session as he had an interview! We are keeping our fingers crossed that Mark is successful, and we hope he continues to use his newfound skills.  

By The Tenant Involvement Team, Rob Gooding & Rachel Cole

We often talk about the importance of our community engagement sessions, but a recent success story from the Deaf Futures session perfectly illustrates why our presence on the ground matters so much.

During this session we met a resident whose quality of life was being significantly hindered by a health issue. Due to chronic knee pain, she was struggling with basic mobility at home—specifically, getting on and off the toilet.

Using Rotherham Councils online reporting tools, we assisted the resident in submitting a request for home aids and adaptations.

At the following engagement session, the resident returned with a smile and a major update. The council had processed the request and successfully installed a raised toilet seat.

Despite what seems like a small adaptation, it has restored her independence. She expressed her gratitude for listening and taking action.