We’re proud to have achieved national recognition at the TPAS Cymru National Good Practice Awards 2026. Our transformative initiative – ‘Our Garden, Our Choice”, was awarded second place in the ‘Tenants Influencing Decision Making’ category.
It was great to celebrate this milestone alongside some of our customers, Jennifer and Colin, who joined us at the awards ceremony in Cardiff last month.
Creating gardens our customers can be proud of
When our external grounds maintenance contract was up for review in 2025, our Estates Team saw a chance to give customers a better service.
Early conversations revealed that those with limited mobility couldn’t enjoy their own gardens. After listening closely to feedback, we moved away from a ‘one-size-fits-all’ external contract and brought grounds maintenance in-house for our seven community living schemes. This allowed us to get stuck in and give their gardens a makeover ourselves.
As one customer, Colin, put it: “Valleys to Coast has transformed our garden by removing overgrown trees, shrubs and bushes and refurbishing paved areas!”
More than just a mow
We’ll also be planting flower beds and maintaining outdoor storage areas across our sheltered schemes to make sure our customers are getting more for their service charges.
This initiative has proven that grounds maintenance is about building trust by putting customer feedback into action.
By spending more time in their gardens, customers have formed new friendships as they soak up the warm weather together.
We’ve even successfully reduced weekly service charges by an average of £1 per week for our customers.
A garden party to remember
While only a small number of colleagues and customers could attend the awards ceremony, we held a summer party at our Llys Ton Extra Care Scheme.
The afternoon was jam-packed with activities, including:
- Garden games with the surprise hit of the day being axe throwing!
- The Choral Coasters, who kept spirits high with their singing.
- We were also joined by a visiting tortoise, who became the unofficial mascot of the afternoon!
A big thank you to our customers for sharing their honest experiences with us, and to our Estates Team for making sure these were reflected in the garden improvements.
