Salix Homes Newsletter
July 2025
Welcome to the July 2025 edition of our customer newsletter, aiming to keep you updated with the latest news from Salix Homes.
In this edition:
• Salford Youth Zone opens its doors
• Open the door to keep your home safe and secure
• Summer safety
• Tell us what you think of our monthly newsletter
• School uniform help when you need it – Free uniform exchange scheme
• Sky Gardening Challenge workshop
• Winter Fuel Payment update – act now
• Warm Homes Discount updates – act by 24 August 2025
• Neighbourhood clean up day
• Love Parks Week
• Check out Salford Health Improvement Service’s upcoming events
Salford Youth Zone opens its doors
Salford Youth Zone (SYZ) is officially open, bringing life-changing opportunities to young people across the city.
As a proud Founder Patron, Salix Homes has helped support the creation of Salford Youth Zone (SYZ), which promises to be a safe, inspiring and inclusive space for young people to learn, grow and thrive.
The brand-new, purpose-built youth zone on Belvedere Road in Pendleton was officially opened with a grand launch on Saturday, 5 July, creating somewhere safe to go, something positive to do and someone trusted to talk to for thousands of young people.
Salford Youth Zone already has 2500 members registered and will be open seven days a week, offering more than 20 activities per session for young people aged 8-19, or up to 25 for those with additional needs.
Membership is free, and facilities include an outdoor football pitch, fully equipped gym, climbing wall, dance studio, music and recording studio, training kitchen, art workshop and much more – all for just 50p per visit. SYZ will also give young people access to free meals, employability skills workshops, and trusted adults to talk to.
As a patron, Salix Homes is proud to have pledged £100,000 over four years as part of our commitment to support the early growth and long-term success of SYZ.
Members of the Salix Homes Executive Team attended the launch event alongside partners, donors, local leaders and young people.
Open the door to keep your home safe and secure
At Salix Homes, your safety is our priority, so we want you to help us keep your home safe by allowing us to carry out essential safety checks, home visits and repairs. These checks are important and include gas and electrical inspections that are legally required to ensure you and your family are safe in your home.
Over the past year, we’ve invested significant resources in pursuing legal action to obtain warrants for homes where access for these critical safety checks has been denied. This is money that could be better spent on improving our homes and communities.
As a reminder, gas safety inspections are carried out annually for all properties with a gas boiler, fire, or cooker, and electrical inspections are conducted every five years. Throughout 24/25, we spent £146k on legal costs to obtain access warrants for residential gas servicing. Generally, a gas check takes about an hour, while an electrical check may take up to four hours.
We also carry out regular home check-ins, which are routine visits to check in with our customers and make sure everything is okay with your home and tenancy.
These visits help us:
• Make sure you’re living safely and comfortably
• Update any contact or household details
• Offer support if you need it, whether it’s with your tenancy, the property or other services
• Spot any repairs or issues early before they become bigger problems.
It’s also a chance for you to ask us questions or raise any concerns you might have.
You’ll receive a letter in advance when it’s time for your home check-in, or gas and electrical inspection so you can easily arrange an appointment that works for you.
If you’d like more information or helpful tips to maintain a safe environment for you and your family, please check out our Home Safety Guide by clicking the button below.
Summer safety
As the weather gets warmer, you may be spending more time outdoors and enjoying the sunshine. It’s important to stay safe while doing so.
Click the button below for some essential tips to help keep you and your family safe this summer.
Tell us what you think of our monthly newsletter
We want to make sure this newsletter is something you want to read. That means sharing the kind of updates, tips, and news that matter to you.
Do you have a minute? It’s been a year since we launched our refreshed newsletter and we’d love to hear what you like, what you don’t, and what you’d like to see more of. Your feedback helps us make the newsletter better for you.
Click the button below to share your thoughts.
School uniform help when you need it – Free uniform exchange scheme
Did you know that Salford City Council have a free school uniform exchange scheme that is available all year round?
You can donate unwanted school uniforms and find items that your child needs for the upcoming school year.
Click the button below to find out more:
Sky Gardening Challenge workshop
Join us for our upcoming Wild About Wildlife workshop as part of National Trust Sky Gardening Challenge::
Wednesday 23 July, 6pm-8pm
Artifex, 71 Blackfriars Rd, Salford M3 7GQ
You can expect:
• Advice on bringing nature into your balconies.
• Demonstrations of how to make Hoverfly lagoons and earwig hotels.
• Advice on other low cost techniques to ensure your gardens thrive with wildlife, regardless of size.
See you there!
Also don’t forget the Sky Gardening Challenge competition is now open – click the button below to find out more:
Winter Fuel Payment updates – act now
The Government’s Winter Fuel Payment will now be granted to everyone over the state pension age in England and Wales, with an income of, or below, £35,000 a year. This should mean that 9 million pension-age households will receive the payment.
You can read the full update here and find out more about your eligibility on the gov.uk website:
Warm Homes Discount updates – act by 24 August 2025
The Government’s Warm Home Discount is being extended this winter to include all households that get means-tested benefits. This means more than 6 million households will now be eligible. The government says that to qualify, the person who gets the benefit, or their partner or legal representative, must be named on the energy bill by 24 August.
Find out more:
Neighbourhood clean up day
Our teams were out and about in the community during our latest WIN (Working in Neighbourhood) Day in June.
With litter pickers in hand, our teams got to work on a warm summer’s day to clear bags full of litter and rubbish from some of our neighbourhoods across Salford.
We also helped customers to clear their large and bulky waste in skips to tackle fly-tipping incidents around our neighbourhoods. The skips were full to the brim with unwanted items and taken away to be disposed of responsibly.
Love Parks Week
It’s Love Parks Week 25 July – 3 August!
Did you know that Salford has over 60 parks and open spaces to explore? You can enjoy the great outdoors with activities like outdoor gyms and more!
Take advantage of all these beautiful spaces. Click the button below to find a park, event, activity, or walk near you.
Check out Salford Health Improvement Service’s upcoming events
Salford Health Improvement Service is available to help you improve your overall health and wellbeing. From bike rides to stopping smoking support, they have lots going on from now until September.
Check out their timetable here:
Get involved
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