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Salford housing company supports community-spirited car servicing






Posted by Tony Flynn on 11th February 2010 at 03:34 PM
Salford housing company supports community-spirited car servicing
By: Mark Bright

Staff at Salix Homes are combining their car service with doing their bit for the community.

The company, which manages 10,600 homes on behalf of Salford City Council, has joined forces with SMaRT, a Salford garage service centre, set up by charity First Step Trust to provide work opportunities for people with mental health problems and other disabilities or disadvantages.

FST SMaRT Service Centre, based at Unit 2 Oakwood Trading Estate, Mode Wheel Road, Salford, provides MOT’s servicing and repairs.

It operates as a social enterprise providing the long-term unemployed and others disadvantaged within the job market with an opportunity to develop skills in the automotive trade, customer services and office administration.

Its funders include Salford City Council, Salford Primary Care Trust, the Community, Health and Social Care Directorate and Big Lottery Fund.

Salix Homes encourages its staff to use the garage and regularly negotiates discounts for them to act as an incentive. It also helps promote the garage to its business partners.

“Salix Homes employees have been using the SMaRT Service Centre for the past two years,” explained Tony Smith Salix Homes' neighbourhood champion.

“In that time we have been proactively trying to achieve additional community benefits through our procurement policy. But as a public sector organisation we also have to show value for money for any services we procure.

“SMaRT has a clearly competitive pricing structure, it completes repairs in a timely manner so that the vehicles are off the road for minimum amount of time and its staff are always courteous and professional.”

Jackson Lloyd, Salix Homes' construction partners are supporting the organisation in tackling worklessness and inequalities in Central Salford and are also signposting people to the garage.


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