People First is proud to announce that it has achieved the Gold award for Investors In People. Not only that, but we achieved every single one of their 196 standards.

Of the thousands of organisations with Investors In People in the Northwest, only three have managed to do this! Kulbinder Kang, Chief Executive of People First said, "Achieving IIP gold status with 100% of all standards being met is a rare achievement and a great testament to our staff, of their commitment to ensuring that People First is an exemplar organisation to work for. I am proud of their achievement."

The Investors In People award looks at how well our staff understand the business, how well they are managed, how well they are engaged in decision-making and planning, how fairly they feel they are treated and how well we handle their talent. Four awards are available: standard, bronze, silver and gold

We are extremely proud of this award: It helps us attract and retain good staff and recognises the hard work they put in every day. We would like to thank every single one of them.

As a community-based, tenant-led housing association, we have been appalled by the criminal behaviour of a small minority of unruly Manchester residents recently. We are currently working with Greater Manchester Police and the Council to help identify those responsible.

If any of those involved in the recent looting are found to be living in People First properties, we will work with our colleagues in the Police and Council to make sure everything possible is done to hold them to account for their actions. This may include perpetrators losing their home.

Greater Manchester Police have released CCTV images of individuals they wish to speak to here. If you can identify any of them please contact the Police on their hotline number 0800 092 0410

Our annual community Support Speakout event was held on 24th June, at Portland Basin boat museum. It was a great success with service users and support workers all enjoying a leisurely boat trip on a narrow boat and then a fish and chip lunch.

Everyone joined in the ‘guess who’ competition and general knowledge quiz, and everyone went away with a raffle prize. A big thank you goes to all those who attended and gave us feedback on how we can improve our support service. Another big thank you goes to Thahmina, Ade, Danielle and Rob for organising the event and not forgetting the volunteers at the boat museum who made sure everyone had a good time.

If you were unable to attend on the day but would still like to give us some feedback on our support service then please contact Claire Bates on (0161) 235 6905.

Following an Open House event on 24 March, People First has now published a set of local offers for tenants.

The offers set out the standards of service tenants can expect to receive. They have been developed in partnership with tenants to ensure they reflect the standards people want.

We monitor our services against these local offers constantly, reporting to Board quarterly and to tenants through the tenants annual report. You can find the local offers (and the results of our Big Question tenant survey) here in our tenants zone.

We are currently recruiting tenants for a scrutiny panel, which will review our performance before the next tenants' annual report is published. If you are a tenant and would be interested in joining the panel, please contact Melanie Merchant on (0161) 235 6904.

People First were delighted to welcome residents to an Open House event at their new offices on 24 March.  It was great to see so many residents turning up.

Residents turned up throughout the day, with a particularly strong crowd at lunch time.  As well as enjoying a hot buffet lunch, residents had the opportunity to visit our Big Brother room, play computer games on a large screen television and enter our helium balloon prize draw.

The day also gave us the opportunity to seek people's views on the way we run their estate.  Those that turned up had the chance to catch up with staff and let them know what would most improve their neighbourhood.  Keep your eye on the website for further updates from the day.

People First is working in partnership with other landlords, Manchester City Council and Jobcentre Plus to help people back into work.  Find out about the latest opportunities through the new job zone section of our website.  Don't forget to keep coming back to find out the latest news.

People First has published its 2010 annual report. You can download a copy here.

The report marks our 15th anniversary.  Our values and ethos remain the same - we are in business to deliver services that will improve the lives of as many people as possible - and the review celebrates the triumphs of the people we work with and who work with us through their moving stories.

We are sure you will agree with us that they provide hope and optimism for the future.