Get involved and have your say

Working with our incredible customer volunteer groups helps us to give the best service to customers. If you want to have your say and think you could make a difference, join one of our customer groups today. Watch the video below and take a look at the information on this page to find out more.

Join a customer volunteering group

Register your interest and start having your say! You can also call us on 01392 302200.

Register interest

Why join a group?

Joining a group means you can:

Tell us how we can improve the services that you receive as a LiveWest customer.
Work with others in your neighbourhood to make sure your community is as happy as it can be.
With different groups to join, you can pick those which suits your interests and motivations most.
You can give as much or as little time as you would like, and for many groups you can get involved from the comfort of your own home.

What support will you get?

We want to hear from as many of our customers as possible and make it easy for everyone to join in so we have lots of ways that we can support you including:

Paying for travel, childcare and care costs.
Making sure that you are able to access information for example with larger print or translation.
Provide lots of different training opportunities.
Signpost you to free training to help you get online.

We recognise that taking part in engagement activities can be challenging and appreciate that sometimes volunteers may need someone to support them to join in. We welcome and cover the expenses for friends, family or support workers to accompany volunteers.

How can you join a group?

Joining is easy - just register your interest with our short form, and the team will get back to you soon.

We are committed to representing the views of our diverse customer base. We are keen to hear from as many customers as possible, but we particularly welcome volunteers from an ethnic minority background, the LGBTQ+ community, customers under the age of 45, and shared owners.

Which groups could you join?

: InFocus is our customer scrutiny group, made up of 56 volunteers living in our homes throughout the South West.
The group:
Make sure that our customers’ priorities are heard and acted upon.
Review our performance.
Listen to and feedback on proposed changes to services and policies.
Help make sure customers get value for money.
Feedback and celebrate what is working well at LiveWest.
Since 2020, the group have completed reviews on:
Tenancies.
Complaints.
Service charges.
Our new tenant pack
How we look after neighbourhoods.
Repairs.
Empty homes.
There are three different ways that you can be a member of InFocus:
Join our Policy, Strategy and Performance group to review our policies, strategies and performance.
Join our Service Review group to take an in depth look at different services each year by reading lots of different information, interviewing our colleagues, researching best practice and gathering feedback from other customers.
Become a Friend of InFocus and share your experiences of our services through short surveys and focus groups. You can also join service reviews in topics that you are interested in.
For more information, meet some of our InFocus members.
If you have any ideas about a service that you would like InFocus to review you can contact James by email at James.Masters@livewest.co.uk, or Martin by emailing martin.grimmer@livewest.co.uk.
: Share your thoughts in quick five minute monthly surveys to help us improve groundskeeping, cleaning and fire safety where you live. Your feedback directly impacts how we maintain your living space, and is used by our Estate Services team.
: Shape the future of your shared ownership experience and join our virtual panel.
Voice your opinions and give feedback to help us make improvements to the services shared owners receive at a virtual meeting every six months.
: Do you want a say in who carries out your grounds maintenance, supplies kitchen products, or plays a part in many of the other services you receive?
We believe it is important for customers to have their say on procurement decision making, which you can as part of our procurement projects, including getting involved with interviewing potential suppliers.
: Help us review the communications we send to customers with quick surveys. We use the feedback we get to make sure communications are relevant, engaging, accessible and easy to read. The group have already completed lots of reviews on our letters, newsletter articles, website pages and more. There is no need to leave the comfort of your own home, with the surveys sent to you by email.
: Our Customer Complaints Panel currently consists of nine volunteers living in our homes throughout the South West. We still have places for a few more members.
The panel works with us to scrutinise the way we handle complaints at LiveWest. This includes:
Ensuring the way we handle complaints is simple, accessible and publicised.
Reviewing customer satisfaction and customer feedback on the complaints process.
Recommending improvements to the complaints process.
Ensuring that LiveWest uses learning from complaints to improve services.
It is not the purpose of the panel to look at individual complaints.
Meetings are quarterly, mainly online, for one to two hours. We will hold one face-to-face meeting each year, which will have the option to join virtually if that is more convenient. Members are supported by the Customer Engagement team.
: Contact us
Code of conduct
Meeting tips and guidance
Expenses guidance for customers attending events
Our customer engagement commitments

Latest news from our customer volunteer groups

InFocus have completed reviews on repairs and our empty homes service. You can read their review reports below.

In the last 12 months, InFocus have: Completed 7 reviews, made 141 recommendations, 95% of these have been accepted.

They have also worked with us on our:

Corporate Strategy.
Sustainability Strategy.
Vulnerability Policy.
Domestic Abuse Policy.
Mutual Exchange Policy.
Repairs Service Standard.
Guidance on how we work in our customers homes for our teams and external contractors.
Reviewing and challenging us on how we are performing against the Tenant Satisfaction Measures.

At the moment the group are finalising their latest review where they are looking at our lettings service and will make their recommendations to the business soon. In early 2025 they will be starting a review looking at how we maintain communal areas. If you would like to get involved, register your interest.