Awards and Accreditation

Customer Service Excellence (CSE)

We have been accredited with the Customer Excellence Standard, improving our results year on year and we are in the top 2% of organisations in the country.

The Government wants services for all that are efficient, effective, excellent, equitable and empowering. Customer Service Excellence ® was developed to offer services a practical tool for driving customer-focused change within their organisations.

The ‘Customer Service Excellence ® standard’ tests the areas that research suggests are a priority for customers:

  • Delivery
  • Timeliness
  • Information
  • Professionalism
  • Staff attitude.
Also: developing customer insight, understanding the user’s experience and measurement of service satisfaction.

The standard is:

  • A driver of continuous improvement
  • A skills development tool
  • An independent validation of achievement

Arawak Walton has continued to achieve high scores in the standard. In 2016, our assessor noted that we are continuously making progress and he made particular mention of how we are listening to customer and working in line with our mission and not just making cutbacks in these challenging times.

G1V1

We are pleased to announce that after the Regulators annual review, Arawak Walton has retained its G1/V1 grading – the best that can be achieved!!

Following continued growth, Arawak Walton moved into mainstream regulation in 2016 due to owning over 1,000 homes.

After completing an in depth assessment (IDA), earlier this year, the Homes and Communities Agency awarded Arawak Walton Housing Association a rating of G1/V1. This rating is the highest grading achievable and confirms that Arawak Walton benefits from robust governance and are financially viable respectively.

As a Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) specialist housing association, we are delighted to be able to evidence that an association born out of the community has grown and flourished and has now achieved the highest regulatory grading possible.

Time to Change Pledge

Arawak Walton are ‘Passionate about People’ and our People Strategy outlines our approach and commitment to all people involved with our organisation.

The association’s roots are in the African-Caribbean community, however, we have grown and prospered over the years by offering an excellent, culturally sensitive and personal service to a very diverse customer base. We have continued the work of our founder members in contributing to local regeneration activities and tackling social deprivation and we pride ourselves on delivering excellent customer service and on making a positive difference to people’s lives.

Arawak Walton have signed the pledge because we are committed to creating a workplace free of stigma and discrimination surrounding Mental Health Issues. We care about our colleagues and we aim to support and improve the health and wellbeing of all.

The Time to Change pledge complements our existing work and supports our commitment to our people and our aim to encourage and embed a culture that fosters and promotes our values, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing amongst all staff, tenants and stakeholders. Our agreed action plan highlights several positive steps which we will take to ensure our workplace remains free of stigma and discrimination. We will have dedicated Mental Health First Aiders who will be the first point of contact for colleagues experiencing crisis as well as Champions who will ensure the association keeps mental health on the agenda, via policies, sharing stories, signposting and raising awareness by supporting national and global mental health campaigns.