Excellence in customer service

• Project name: Financial Inclusion Team
• Lead organisation: Tai Tarian

Statement of support

Customer excellence is about consistency, compassion, and impact. The financial inclusion team embody all three. The team at Tai Tarian are a lifeline for tenants facing financial hardship. By providing expert benefits advice and early intervention, they prevent arrears from becoming crises, sustain tenancies, and change lives. 

In an increasingly challenging financial climate, they are on the front-line of prevention - supporting and empowering tenants to better manage their money, obtaining the benefits that they are entitled to prevent arrears building up, reducing stress, and strengthening their independence. 

The team have also had to navigate the workforce through the huge challenge of UC managed migration phase and over 5,000 of our tenants’ moving from legacy benefits such as tax credits, ESA, job seekers allowance and housing benefit over the last 12–18 months. The number of UC claims has increased by almost 80 per cent in the last 12 months, with around a further 700 tenants yet to transfer. This has led to increased demand, but the team has risen to the challenge with resilience and compassion. They not only manage the complexity of UC migration but also recognise the emotional toll this process has on tenants, supporting them through anxiety, confusion, and fear of losing income.

The outcomes of this work are often life changing. For one tenant, timely intervention improved his mental health so significantly that he credited the team with helping him keep going. This particularly powerful example was a tenant with vulnerabilities who had no support system in place and was left unable to make an online UC claim. Alone, anxious, and increasingly desperate, he described feeling that he “would not be here today” without the intervention of the financial inclusion team. This story reflects countless others — moments where the team step in not only as benefit specialists but as lifelines.

Working closely with the communications team, they aim to reach tenants who are traditionally hard to engage, and they collaborate with external agencies such as food banks, energy support schemes, and advice charities. Through this joined-up approach, they reach vulnerable tenants early and connect them with holistic support.

The team hold sessions across our independent living scheme, to focus on cost of living concerns such as winter fuel payments, ensuring older and more vulnerable tenants were not excluded. 

In addition to the work carried out supporting our tenants, the team have also provided support to colleagues, offering benefit and budgeting advice during our wellbeing week, workshops on cost of living as well as 121 advice sessions if needed, this allows are colleagues to access information that may help their own financial situation or a family member they may be supporting.

Testimonials from partners and tenants consistently highlight the professionalism, empathy, and dedication of the team:

• “I very much appreciate all the help you gave me with my benefits. For your patience and understating, not to mention all the hard work. It really made a very stressful and complicated process so much easier. Big thanks and best wishes.” 
• “I’ve been struggling with ill health and have had to claim universal credit. You have been a massive help, giving reassurance and being understanding of my situation.”  
• “We cannot thank you enough and appreciate your efforts immensely. You really are the person to speak to, and I will be forever thankful for your excellent support.”

Outcomes and achievements

The financial inclusion team’s impact in 2024/25 has been outstanding, with both powerful human stories and measurable outcomes.

In the past year alone, the team secured over £5.6 million in benefits for tenants, achieved an 81 per cent appeal success rate, and supported nearly 3,000 referrals — often under immense pressure from universal credit migration.

Their interventions included 570 affordability checks, 542 food bank vouchers, and 700 energy support vouchers — each one making a direct, practical difference to daily life. 

• Referrals received: 2,883 (21 per cent increase from last year)
• Successful benefit claims: 2,746
• Total money raised in benefit claims: £5,653,941.64
• Benefit appeal success rate: 81 per cent (well above the national average of 71 per cent)
• Affordability checks completed: 570
• Food bank vouchers issued: 542
• Energy support vouchers distributed: 700
• Digital support provided: 115
• Winter fuel & cost of living workshops to independent living schemes
• Staff information workshops and 121 advice session.

Despite increasing demand and immense external pressures, the financial inclusion team continue to deliver results that change lives, protect homes, and strengthen communities. They embody the values of Tai Tarian and demonstrate, every day, the difference that dedicated, specialist support can make.

• Project name: D.A.V.E - our Hafod van
• Lead organisation: Hafod

Statement of support

At Hafod, our decision to ‘go local’ as part of our new mission priorities, basics, connect and invest, emerged from the lived experiences and insights of our colleagues and customers. In a rapidly changing environment where rising costs, digital exclusion and social isolation are redefining the needs of our communities, we recognised that delivering great customer service means being more present and visible in our communities. 

During our 2024 colleague conference, a Dragon’s Den-style session invited colleagues to pitch ideas that would make a real difference. One idea stood out and gained traction, a Hafod van that would take our services directly to our customers. That idea became D.A.V.E. the van: Delivering Advice, Visits and Engagement. 

More than just a vehicle, D.A.V.E. represents a shift in how we deliver housing and community services. It’s a physical embodiment of our mission to "go local", and it brings our vision ‘to play our role in helping communities thrive by hearing people’s voices, giving support when it matters, on the terms people want’, to life. 

By embedding us deeper into the communities we serve, the van allows us to be a consistent presence, listening to customers, and creating stronger relationships across all regions we operate in: Cardiff, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Vale of Glamorgan, Torfaen, and Bridgend. 

Initially trialled on a small scale in the Vale of Glamorgan, D.A.V.E. quickly proved its value. Phase two expanded the trial across all Hafod regions over a six-month period.

The van is a space for meaningful conversation and intervention. Neighbourhood coach Tom recalls an interaction with a widowed gentleman who had been experiencing loneliness. He shared that he likely wouldn’t have spoken to anyone if the van hadn’t been there. As a result, Tom and the team out on D.A.V.E that day, connected him with the smart money team, giving him the tailored support he needed. It’s in these moments that the value of D.A.V.E. becomes clear, it’s about meeting people where they are. 

The presence of the van makes our services more agile, responsive, and relational. It allows colleagues to witness issues first-hand, such as property concerns or social challenges, and they can respond immediately. The van has strengthened cross-team collaboration, bringing together colleagues from housing, assets, and compliance to deliver a service that addresses customers’ needs in a more joined up way. 

Colleagues who are normally office or home based, such as our customer experience team, have gained new insights by engaging with customers in person. They’ve raised repairs on the spot, responded to live concerns, and deepened their understanding of the neighbourhoods they serve. The impact isn’t limited to Hafod teams, D.A.V.E. has become a hub for partnership working too, with the local police and employment support services joining us on the van. 

D.A.V.E. has visited isolated communities with limited access to services, as well as areas with higher levels of anti-social behaviour where our visible presence has made a reassuring difference. 

With a structured eight-week cycle, the van visits around eight communities per week, ensuring consistent, repeated engagement. This rhythm helps build trust and strengthens relationships over time. 

The localisation of services through this mobile model strengthens Hafod’s role as a community anchor. It enables us to offer early interventions and tailored advice, for an efficient, effective, person-centred service. 

D.A.V.E. brings the heart of our services to the heart of our communities, customers have told us that “this is a wicked idea” and “great idea this being out in the community!” Its visibility and mobility have enabled Hafod to reach isolated areas, increase trust, and proactively address community needs.

Outcomes and achievements

Since the idea of a Hafod van gained support and enthusiasm last year, colleagues have worked hard to bring their vision to life. 

D.A.V.E. first hit Hafod streets in June and has gone on to create lasting impact across our communities and within Hafod as an organisation; facilitating hundreds of face-to-face interactions with customers, many of which have led to queries being resolved effectively, including repair reporting and benefits support. 

The van is in use four days a week and follows an eight-week cycle, balancing wide reach with the opportunity to build and maintain strong relationships. 

Neighbourhood coach Sarah shares that engaging with customers via D.A.V.E. has led to enhanced job satisfaction, “It’s been great to speak to customers in their communities, leading to deeper community insight, and improved cross-team collaboration. We know we’re making a real difference.” 

Customer engagement has also improved, with Hafod’s decarb team taking D.A.V.E on the road to open conversations about sustainability projects, helping customers to better understand the implications and benefits of the work that will take place in their homes. 

For Hafod, D.A.V.E. is driving real change in our customer experience. So much so, that customers are actively contacting us about when they’ll next see D.A.V.E in their communities, so beneficial are the interactions between them and Hafod colleagues.