This month we’ve supported a national campaign to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB). From November 18-24, ASB Awareness Week highlighted how to report concerns about ASB, and the actions we can take along with our partners to tackle it.
Anti-social behaviour is behaviour that causes harassment, alarm, or distress to other people living in your neighbourhood. Our dedicated ASB team work closely in partnership with the council’s Safer Neighbourhood Service and South Yorkshire Police to deal with ASB effectively across the borough.
Throughout the week, we ran activities and shared information all about ASB. We set up an online survey where tenants could submit their questions or raise concerns about ASB in their local area and the ASB team took over our Instagram page to provide their expert advice and support.
Throughout the week members of the ASB team, customer engagement team, and Tenants First team supported a range of activities and events. We attended an event at Barnsley Market to share information with shoppers, visited local schools to speak to young people about ASB and the impact it can have on communities, supported the police during Operation Duxford, worked together with residents to improve the area on the Summer Lane estate as part of our Can Do Crew employer supported volunteering, and spoke to tenants about their experiences with ASB and the support available to them. It’s been a real team effort and we’re already looking forward to next year.
During the week, 23 people completed our ASB week survey, asking questions, sharing feedback about our work and reporting new issues to us. Our ASB manager worked through these and spoke to 4 residents who requested a phone call. Information has been passed on to South Yorkshire Police, and Berneslai Homes neighbourhood officers have been assigned to investigate further. A further 3 people requested email contact and the ASB team answered questions on our Instagram channel.
It was really nice to hear from one of our tenants who wanted to pay the team a compliment, saying: “Credit where credit is due, the ASB team listened to me at the community event a few weeks ago and issued action on the anti-social people on my street, which seems to have worked. And if not, I know I can reach out and won’t be starting the process again. Thank you for all you’ve done to date.”
You can report ASB by:
10th floor, Gateway Plaza, off Sackville St, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2RD
Berneslai Homes Limited is a company controlled by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales, number 4548803