Blogspot

Working in partnership with the University of York to strengthen our environmental work

At Thirteen, we’re committed to reducing our carbon footprint and reaching net zero on our direct business emissions by 2035. However, we recognise that our own targets are part of a much larger picture, which Teesside is at the heart of.
 

Supporting neurodiverse customers by training our staff

Every day, our customers' needs change and grow. The Employability Team, at Thirteen, do a fantastic job of helping customers move into work or education, but it's not always easy. Barriers can feel overwhelming and daunting, especially for people living with neurodiverse conditions.
 

Thirteen has been awarded the We Invest in People – Gold Accreditation from Investors in People

This award shows that we’re serious about supporting our people. It means we’ve got the right things in place to help everyone grow, and that across the whole business, people are making it happen. Only 28% of organisations reach the gold standard, so we’re chuffed to be one of them.
 

Celebrating Women in Construction Week 2025

At Thirteen, we do more than build and rent homes. We care for our customers and invest in our community and people. With around 100,000 customers relying on us, our services must reflect the diversity of the people we serve. This is why Thirteen is celebrating Women in Construction Week, and we will keep working for change all year round.
 

Over 400 Dementia Friends Supporting Our Communities

At Thirteen, we’re proud that over 400 of our staff members are now Dementia Friends, thanks to the fantastic training provided by Dementia Awareness Teesside. John Rafferty, Thirteen’s Safeguarding and Inclusion Business Partner provides an insight of what this means for our customers and colleagues.
 

Hassan Bahrani joins The Social Housing Podcast to explore AI in Social Housing

Hassan Bahrani, Director of IT, Cyber, and Data Security at Thirteen, recently featured in an episode of The Social Housing Podcast. Where discussions tackled some of the most pressing questions about the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in social housing.
 

Building a more inclusive future

As a housing association with over 36,000 properties across the North East, Yorkshire, and Humber, Thirteen is committed to more than just providing homes. Our work extends beyond bricks and mortar, focusing on improving lives and creating a more inclusive community for all.
 

Hear from environmental advisor Sammie Bradley: National Tree Week – so what’s the big deal?

It’s National Tree Week, the UK’s largest annual celebration of trees and the start of the winter tree planting season. As we continue to make further improvements to the environment where our customers live, environmental advisor Sammie Bradley talks about the importance of trees and the benefits they have on our estates.
 

Building Homes of Tomorrow, brick by LEGO brick!

Hear from our Innovation Manager, Michelle Dawson, on how LEGO can be used to tell stories and prototype new ideas.
 

Hear from involved customer, Val Scollen

Val Scollen, chair of Thirteen’s customer involvement framework, explains what it’s like to be an involved customer and the opportunities to influence services…
 

Hear from environmental advisor Catherine Cannell

Raising awareness of nature conservation is starting to increase but there’s still a long way to go. Today, a world-wide campaign highlights the need to make a positive impact and preserve biodiversity. As part of Thirteen’s Take Control campaign, environmental advisor Catherine Cannell talks about the recent work carried out with environmental champions, customers and volunteers to make a difference.
 

The Living Well Exhibition Round Up

Michelle Dawson, Innovation Manager, reveals the key findings from our recent Living Well exhibition
 

Lessons Learned in Innovation

Our Head of Innovation and Marketing, Jayne Lawson, reflects on some of the lessons learned in Innovation at Thirteen as she moves on to a new venture.
 

Ideation, Ideation, Ideation

Michelle Dawson, Innovation Manager at Thirteen explores 'ideation' in her most recent blog.
 

Spreading the living well message

Our executive director of business growth, Chris Smith updates us about Thirteen's work on its Living Well project.
 

“Those personas are way too far-fetched, no one’s life is that difficult”

Michelle Dawson gives us her take on using personas to support the design of new services.
 

Sowing the seeds of innovation in 2021

Get all the latest about innovation from our innovation manager, Michelle Dawson.
 

A day in the life of a flytipping investigator

At Thirteen our estates team take great pride in creating neighbourhoods where our customers are proud to live. We're highlighting how Thirteen is taking action to crack down on flytipping and is working with partner organisations to ensure those dumping rubbish are prosecuted. Lead estates technician and flytipping investigator Dave Fielden has a very unique job role. We take a look behind the scenes, as he shares a glimpse of a typical day in his life at work.
 

A day in the life of a recycling centre operative

Take a look behind the scenes, as Stephen shares a glimpse of a typical day in his life at work at Thirteen's Recycling Centre.
 

Countdown to COP26: Hear from Samantha Granger

We’re all seeing the devastating impact of climate change and with COP26, the United Nations Climate talks in Glasgow just days away, Thirteen’s head of environmental sustainability Samantha Granger highlights achievements, challenges and why a collaborative approach is vital to drive positive change in the sector.
 

How can we support our customers to live well for longer?

Our head of innovation and marketing, Jayne Lawson brings you details about a major project for Thirteen:
 

Keeping our customers gas safe: hear from gas engineer Chris Cass

Gas Safety Week is just around the corner and I’ll be working with my colleagues in the gas team to remind customers about the importance of gas safety checks and why it’s a legal requirement that we carry them our every year.
 

Women across Thirteen #ChooseToChallenge by becoming mentors

Thirteen has partnered with charity, The Girls’ Network, to take part in its award-winning mentoring programme. Over 50 women from a wide range of roles across Thirteen have signed up to become mentors for girls across the Tees Valley. One of the Thirteen colleagues that’s signed up to be a mentor is learning and organisational development advisor, Rachel. To celebrate International Women’s Day and the work of The Girl’s Network, Rachel writes about why she’s so keen to take part.
 

Celebrating Chinese New Year at Mascot House in Newcastle

Kin Chuen Kwok is the housing for older and vulnerable persons co-ordinator at Mascot House, Thirteen’s Chinese elders sheltered scheme in Newcastle. The scheme, based near China Town in the city centre, supports Chinese older people who speak Cantonese and/or Hakka.
 

Opinion: Improving customer experience...

...Would you treat your granny like that? David Ripley, executive director of customer services at Thirteen, shares his thoughts on what makes a customer experience a truly great one for the customer and for an organisation in the first of a series of pieces.
 

Engaging youth action: best-laid plans

Understanding the next generation and helping them to have a say about how their world is shaped is a hot topic at the moment.
 

Research into our neighbourhood model

An external organisation is carrying out some vital research into how the changes we made to the way we manage our neighbourhoods have had an impact on staff and stakeholders.
 

Universal Credit - a customer story

In the last blog in the series, we spoke to one of our customers who recently claimed Universal Credit (UC) with support from the Thirteen team. Her name has been changed for privacy reasons.
 

Universal Credit - partnerships

At Thirteen we have a long history of working in partnership with other organisations to co-deliver services to help everyone in the wider community, as well as our customers. In delivering support for Universal Credit (UC), we teamed up with Middlesbrough Council and the Financial Inclusion Group to extend our offer of help to all Middlesbrough residents and their landlords.
 

A day in the life of a Universal Credit coordinator

As our last blog showed, we’re really proud of the Universal Credit (UC) support we provide at Thirteen. It makes a huge difference to customers’ lives and makes sure that they have back-up when they need it.
 

Universal Credit - Introducing the team

Universal Credit (UC) has been with us at Thirteen for a few years now. Hartlepool was the first of our local authority areas to move completely onto the new benefit in 2016, and we’ve since helped thousands of customers through the process of claiming UC for the first time.
 

Universal Credit blog series

Universal Credit (UC) has been with us at Thirteen for a few years now. Hartlepool was the first of our local authority areas to move onto the new benefit, and we’ve since helped thousands of customers through the process of claiming UC for the first time.
 

Thirteen e-bulletin April 2019

Ian Wardle, Thirteen Chief Executive e-bulletin

Local Housing Allowance – Part 2

For the majority of our tenants, provided they aren’t under-occupying, the difference will be negligible – Thirteen’s average rent is around £85 per week, so LHA rates for Teesside will still cover most of our properties.
 

Local Housing Allowance – Part 1

The housing world is no stranger to fast-paced change. Despite housing associations (arguably) being private businesses, we are heavily influenced by government direction and currently, that direction is focussed on measures which will reduce the welfare bill. Here, Ian Wardle, Chief Executive at Thirteen, gives some more information about the issue, and in particular the Local Housing Allowance:
 

Supported housing

In the Tees Valley, the proportion of our population aged over 65 is above average , and the number of people with limiting long term illnesses is significantly so. This makes supported and sheltered accommodation a vital part of our region’s housing portfolio. Here, Gemma Stockdale, Project Support Officer, gives some more details:
 

Rent freedom

Recently, the National Housing Federation launched a member consultation around their intention to propose that the government should pass the job of rent setting in the social housing sector to the sector itself. Here, Gemma Stockdale, Project Support Officer, gives some more details: