“Yvonne’s positive approach made our Mock Inspection a very easy and enjoyable process!  Yvonne and John engaged well with staff and residents to gain feedback on our services.  Their findings provided clear and helpful recommendations that were firm, but fair, helping us to get an accurate picture of where we are now and what we need to do next on our journey to get to 3 stars.  We would highly recommend YCChange.”

1 Newfoundland Court, St Paul Street, Bristol, BS2 8AN

Telephone: 0117 9244071

http://www.solonswha.co.uk 

 

“YCChange supported us in developing and finalising our action plan in response to our Short Notice Inspection, from the Audit Commission. We wanted to make sure the action plan and statement would stand up to the Audit Commission’s scrutiny and clearly evidence our  track record, how residents influenced the plan  and prospects for improvement; YCChange advised us and acted as a critical friend. We really appreciated their objectivity and openness.  Karen, from the YCChange who worked with us  was really flexible too, which meant we were able to meet all our milestones. We then went on to achieve our overall objective to achieve promising prospects for improvement.  We’d be pleased to recommend them to other people, too.”

 

"We have just completed a full mock inspection with YC Change and it has been one of the best investments we have ever made. Whether we get inspected in the near future or not, this was money well spent.  The inspection team were experienced professionals who were thorough and challenging and clearly knew their areas of expertise. It was conducted as a real inspection and certainly felt like the real thing for all involved! The results were a balanced, fair and honest assessment of our current performance. This was a great external reality check for us. It highlighted weaker areas of service, practice and policies which we certainly would not have identified so quickly and in such detail, if at all, through other means. The inspection process was a learning experience for the staff involved and we welcomed the positive feedback in areas of good practice as well as the feedback on where we need to do better. We now have a detailed improvement plan which we know will drive us towards excellence for ourselves and our customers as well as a motivated workforce who are up for the challenge."

 

"Yvonne supported myself and my colleagues through inspection - and not only did she provide excellent skills, capacity and approach in the areas of work specifically appointed for, but supported the inspection through her general challenge, planning and organisation, evidence collection, preparing and motivating the staff being interviewed to help them put their best foot forward.  Yvonne has range and depth of skills that we could draw upon-cross cutting services such as equalities and diversity, value for money and access and customer focus - as well as front line service skills around income, asset management and repairs.  Yvonne has great people skills and has worked very well with our Board, our managers and staff and our partners.  I would have no hesitation in recommending her for a wide range of housing improvement support assignments."

Chippenham Road, Harold Hill, Essex, RM3 8YQ

Telephone: 01708 434015

 

“We have worked with YC Change during our first year as a housing association.  This work involved undertaking a series of short notice inspections so that the organisation could get used to the process and to help gauge where our improvement resources need to be focused going forward.  Having completed that work YC Change are now assisting us by running service improvement planning master classes for managers.  We have found all the consultants used by YC Change to be absolutely first class with a wider range of expertise in the field. On top of that they are a very warm and friendly organisation to work with. YC Change has added significant value to our propriety planning processes.”

Bowes Offices, Lambton Park, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, DH3 4AN

Telephone: 0191 3851902

 

“Yvonne Castle and YC Change have carried out a number of projects with Wandle HA to help us on our journey towards Service Excellence and getting “inspection ready”. Recently this has included a series of coaching sessions for staff and board members to help them prepare for inspection. Yvonne has developed trust and rapport with everyone she has worked with. She brought to the sessions excellent coaching   skills, an eye for detail and hands on experience of inspection. This made a real difference to everyone’s confidence  in getting inspection ready. Staff particularly valued the feedback from their sessions which was provided verbally and sent on to them after.”

15 Abbeville Road, London, SW4 9LA

Telephone: 020 682 7472

 

“Wandle Housing Association worked with YC Change Consultants in December 2008 on three service assessments in preparing us for housing inspection within our service excellence framework.  This was the second occasion that we have employed YC Change.  We feel that YC Change has understood our business position very quickly and has been fair in recognising our strengths but also has offered constructive points about our areas for development and improvement. Yvonne and her team have a strong knowledge of service excellence and standards for housing organisations and this clearly comes across in their work.  This has been a very good working relationship and we are sure that we will emerge much stronger as a housing service in our key areas through this assignment.”

15 Abbeville Road, London, SW4 9LA

Telephone: 020 8682 7435

 

"YC Change Consultants carried out a full service Mock Inspection for the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust in November 2006 and have recently carried out a series of Health Checks on specific housing services.  Yvonne and her team were comprehensive in their approach bringing a degree of rigour to the process that would be expected from external inspection.  They remained approachable and informative throughout and both our employees on an individual basis and the trust collectively have gained much from the process.  Deadlines were always met and the comprehensive reports produced afterwards have greatly helped develop our service improvement planning.  In particular their best practice advice has helped us learn from others and achieve the quick wins they identified."

Fairfax House, 69 Buckingham Street, Aylesbury, Bucks, HP20 2NJ

Telephone: 01296 732635

 

“Just a note to say thank you for the excellent work you carried out for Corby Borough Council as part of our preparation for our Housing Inspection.  Your comments on the self assessment and key documentation for the inspection process were first rate.  Your external expertise was clear and focused and has helped us in our preparation.  I have attached the final version of the self assessment for your information, once again thank you for your expertise, regards.” 

Corby Borough Council

Grosvenor House, George Street, Corby, Northants, NN17 1QB

Telephone: 01536 464003