Freebridge has ambitious plans for the future. As west Norfolk’s largest housing provider, we have already taken great strides in improving local homes and communities, but now we are ready to take this even further. We want to drive our business forward to become a leader in our field, an excellent landlord and an exemplary employer.
This last year has proven how much homes matter and how where you live can determine your health, aspirations and wellbeing. We want to increase social mobility through better housing choices and standards, more balanced communities with a mix of tenure, greater educational opportunities and regenerated local spaces. Crucially, we want to empower our residents and work with them more closely to ensure we understand their ideals, align our ambitions to theirs, and in doing so create an inclusive culture from the Board, to our colleages and to our customers.
We are a values-led organisation with strong integrity, enthusiasm and a keen customer emphasis. We have learnt we need to be flexible. We need to be progressive. We need to be even more customer-focused.
Over the last 15 years, we have achieved many things. We have kept our promises to our tenants and brought their homes up to the Decent Homes Standard and transformed much of a tired 1960s estate in King’s Lynn into a vibrant community which has won numerous national awards for regeneration. We have provided vital facilities for local communities to help improve residents’ quality of life and we have injected thousands of pounds into local projects and good causes through our Freebridge Community Fund.
We are proud of what we have achieved so far, and in maintaining the highest ratings possible from the Regulator of Social Housing, but now we are ready to hone our business strategies, improve the way we work, and increase our efficiency and accountability to become a top performer in our field. Our residents and our employees will always be at the heart of what we do but over the next five years we want to take our services to the next level.
This five-year strategy will drive us towards our long-term ambitions for the next 10-20 years and these first five years will be critical in laying the groundwork, investing in properties and people, hitting new targets and really making a difference.
We will work together with our partners to tackle stigma, deprivation, low aspiration and poor health outputs and help west Norfolk residents access the quality homes and opportunities they deserve.
Our current strategy, ‘Building Better Futures’ sets out one of our key objectives in relation to ‘creating Homes, Communities and local Spaces to be Proud Of’.
We have made a commitment to invest in our homes and communities, in order to tackle disadvantage and health inequalities across the Borough. However, we recognise that we cannot do this in isolation, and are committed to working with our local communities, key partners and stakeholders on projects and initiatives that will bring real change for local residents.
Our Placeshaping activities continue to support our local communities to thrive. When we truly listen to understand the needs of our residents, we are then able to adapt and develop our services to meet those local needs. Over the next 12 months we are committed to continuing this approach, this time with the development of a second Community Plan for our Fairstead and Gaywood residents, supported by a range of opportunities and activities for residents across the borough.
For more information see this years Placeshaping Report here.
Here you will find Service Standards performance reports, and our Statutory Accounts.
