Hello! And welcome to your email newsletter from Cairn! Scroll down to find out what's been happening.

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Under customer services sits housing, income, welfare benefits and the contact centre. So it is very likely you have spoken to lots of different people in my team.

So far, I have travelled the length and breadth of Scotland gaining an understanding of what works well and looking at areas that might need some improvement. We have some exciting plans for 2025. We particularly want to improve tenant engagement. What I have heard from you so far is a desire to engage with us more and to have more face-to-face contact. This is positive as we can make sure that the services we are delivering reflect what you need and want. We also want to improve the ways you can interact with us, ensuring that there are a range of options for you to get in touch at a time you want, and improve the options for you to influence our priorities.

I do hope you have had an opportunity to respond to the rent consultation exercise as we really want to hear your views. We will be holding meetings in our sheltered and retirement courts early in the New Year to discuss service charges. This will be a great opportunity for members of the team to have conversations with those of you living in our courts.

I'd just like to sign off by wishing you all the very best for the festive season and to say that I hope to get an opportunity to meet you in 2025. If you want to contact me in the meantime the best place to start is by emailing customerservices@cairnha.com or by calling 0800 990 3405 and asking to speak to me.

Join our Christmas Rent Competition to win a prize of £100!

Competition 1: Tenants who set up a direct debit (payment date must be on 1st of the month) by Tuesday 24th December will be entered into a prize draw to win £100.

Competition 2: Any tenant with a clear rent account by Friday 13th December will be entered into a prize draw to win £100.

Winners will be contacted after the Christmas holidays. Good luck!

Our Welfare Benefits team do amazing work for our tenants every day.

Last month they helped 43 tenants gain over £88,000 in additional income, which will make a considerable difference to their lives.

Get in touch to see how they might be able to help you...

Tenants at our courts have been keeping busy! Residents at Lochbrae, Wimberley and Aitkin Court had fun celebrating Halloween and tenants at Devlin Court have been connecting with each other regularly to improve their wellbeing.

Most social homes in Scotland are of good quality. However, damp is a big issue for many households thanks to the nation’s climate, where we experience wetter and colder weather for a lot of the year.

As we enter winter, where this issue can be exacerbated, here is some useful information about what you can do. You can find more information on our website.

We know that managing your energy bills can be worrying and, at times, confusing. The service aims to help you stay affordably warm at home and includes:

• Access to their online advice library
• Regular emails or letters over the coming months around energy advice
• Access to telephone advice for more in-depth support
• Tailored one-to-one support if you have more complicated problems such as energy billing issues or debt

If you would like help or advice, you can self-refer by:

• Calling 0800 870 8800, Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm
• Visiting here

We've created a video with the highlights from our annual performance.

If you'd like to see our performance in more detail then you can by going to our website.

We have worked in partnership with Harbour Homes to create 306 new affordable homes at Granton Harbour in Edinburgh. The new tenants and their families had a fantastic time celebrating their new neighbourhood with a street party! You can read more about the new development and see more photos from the day by clicking the image below.

As technology becomes more sophisticated, so do the techniques used by criminals. They now use a wide variety of methods to trick people, so here’s a rundown of the most common to keep an eye out for.

On Stress Awareness Day we shared the transformative impact that consistent, small positive actions can have on your overall wellbeing.

Take a look at the handy guide below from the Stress Management Society to see what small changes you could make to your daily life to reduce your stress levels.