14 Jul 2025
We're proud to support people through services including housing, education, skills, and wellbeing. Recently, we’ve been working collaboratively to give our housing tenants in Lower Manor, Sheffield, the chance to work together as a community through a project called ‘Lower Manor Together’. As part of this project, we're working alongside our tenants, South Yorkshire Police, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, and Sheffield City Council, with the goal of creating a Tenants and Residents Association (TARA) that can be delivered across Sheffield and beyond.
Lower Manor Together was created after we identified the need to work collaboratively with other Housing Associations in the area to give our tenants a voice, and to work together to tackle and champion community issues and successes. Our Neighbourhoods Team held an initial meeting with Nicky Jowett, Manager at Manor Training & Resource Centre, (MaTReC) and Sheffield Councillor Laura Moynahan. At this meeting everyone talked about how they could improve support for tenants in Lower Manor. With high crime rates, low employment opportunities, and a lack of facilities for children and young adults in the area, everyone agreed that the Lower Manor community needed us to come together as one to provide better tenancy support and easier access to services which we felt our tenants would benefit from.
Following further successful meetings, funding had been granted by SCC for two Community Development Workers for Lower Manor and the East Local Area Committee to support the delivery of the Lower Manor Together project. The two Community Development Workers are based at MaTRec, the place that Lower Manor Together was created. A meeting was held at MaTReC in January 2025 with local housing associations and stakeholders. South Yorkshire Housing Association, Places for People, Acis Group and Sheffield City Council all attended. At the meeting, everyone agreed that a TARA involving all housing associations, Sheffield council residents and private residents would be a great scheme, and the Lower Manor Together project was born.
The end goal of the Lower Manor Together project is to create a Lower Manor TARA which we can hand over to tenants and roll out across Sheffield and beyond. Levy funds are monies collected to support the development of affordable housing, and Acis Group will be supporting the TARA using levy funds. We will oversee the Lower Manor Together project for 12 months to identify tenants that share the same vision as us, and to share our vision with the community. After 12 months, we hope residents will take on the TARA to develop a strong community where the tenants voice can be represented fairly and without prejudice.
Our first open tenant meeting was held on 20 May 2025 at Alison Business Centre, Sheffield. Tenants from Acis Group and Places for People attended and were encouraged to spread the word about the Lower Manor Together project. Another meeting then followed on 19 June 2025 and there are plans for a big fun and exciting event during the 2025 school summer holidays for families.
Successful events have taken place already, including a litter pick where children, teachers and parents from Pipworth Community Primary School came to together on 6 Feb 2025. They made a real difference to their community. A clean-up of Castlebeck Park area followed on Thursday 12 June. The Sheffield Council Parks and Green Spaces team joined the Lower Manor Together Project for the clean-up, and they kindly covered the cost of three skips, as well as sending some of their team to help. In total, six vans and three skips full of litter were cleared, including everything from crisp packets to fridges. This team effort has inspired more work across Lower Manor. Suzanne Simons, Area Service Manager at Acis Group said, “This is just one example of what can be achieved through collaboration, and it’s just the start as we provide better tenancy support and easier access to services for our tenants.”
If you would like to get involved with Lower Manor Together and The Tenants and Residents Association, please contact Suzanne.Simons@acisgroup.co.uk