As lots of the residents live with a hearing impairment and sign to each other, the scheme has become a place where residents can easily interact and form strong friendships.
At Pennard Court, all 36 customers have a learning disability and around 70% have a hearing impairment.
Zara, who has lived at her flat since 1997, reflected on the community feel. She signed: “I really like it here. I’ve got some really lovely friends. I love it here, it’s the best place.
“Some of the staff are hearing but everyone signs. We can talk to each other and that is really great.
“They (LiveWest) are really great. My support worker helps me with learning how to cook, how to clean, I can go to the shops myself now and I can follow a recipe. On Friday afternoons I like doing that, it’s fantastic.
“I have got lots of friends that I’ve met here. They’re really nice friends and we bump into each other often and we visit each other's flats. It’s really good."
Our Housing Officer, Charlotte Kenyon, has recently held several events for the residents to support them with fire safety, health and wellbeing.
At the scheme, we have hosted NHS vaccinations for the residents, an Odd Balls Cancer Prevention Day and a Fire and Safety Event with our Fire Safety team.
This was a great opportunity for our residents to ask questions and share their feedback with us.
Melonie, who has lived there for 13 years, felt reassured by our fire safety visit to all our residents. She signed: “I liked it. He told us about going outside if there’s a fire and if the alarms and the lights are flashing, we know they will help get us out.
“Anyone who’s in a wheelchair, they will help us get out and we will check on each other, and the fire brigade will check on us. It was good. It helped a lot.”
Melonie also reflects on how much she’s enjoyed living at the scheme. She signed: “I like sewing and drawing and I do that a lot. I do lots of drawing. I’m very busy with that and with painting.
“I like living here a lot. I like it, it’s good and people sign which is good. I wanted to learn some more sign language and I have learnt some more."