associate

registered nurse

locality manager

electrician

scheme manager

Sanctuary Group

Typical day involved contacting all new tenants to ensure they were claiming the correct benefits and if applicable had completed and returned their Housing Benefits forms or provided the correct information to CWAC to ensure their rent was being paid asap. Also offering budgeting and money advice and ensuring all tenants were aware of their obligations to pay their rent as a priority and on time. I also held 'drop in' advice surgeries four mornings a week in Blacon, Lache, Centurion House and Kingsway Community Centre for tenants who required help and advice with regards benefits, rent or who were experiencing financial difficulties and identifying those requiring signposting to other service providers as applicable.  My role also involved visiting tenants in and around the Chester area as required, especially those tenants who had pending court action or were due to be evicted due to rent arears. Within this role I learned that everyone is different and has different needs.  Some tenants being more challenging than others., especially those who required my help urgently because they were due to be evicted. Due to the complexity of my job it was important that I had good time management skills, excellent communication skills and that I showed a good understanding and great empathy to everyone. Sometimes it could be difficult to contact or encourage people to 'open up' about their problems in order for me to provide the correct help and advice. However the majority of the time once I had managed to make contact and gain their trust and they became aware  that I was indeed trying to help them, most people engaged and co-operated so that I was able to help, guide and empower them and help them sort out their problems concerning their finance, benefits  etc. I would say the most enjoyable part of my job was using my excellent communication skills to help, encourage and  empower tenants so that they were able to start becoming more responsible in dealing with their issues and affairs. environment

A typical day at work -  was incredibly stuffy IE couldn't talk to staff too long because we were on Camera all shift, meaning 100% monitoring. It ended up feeling like pergatory, sitting on the worlds toughest chair they refused to replace, on verge of falling apart. I felt very trapped and under the thumb of Draconian managers. Dystopian atmosphere really begs the question, why would anyone choose to work here. I feel it was a mistake

What I learned was very interesting, albeit not useful, I learn they like to censor opinions about their company rather than fix anything, improve anything, change anything or reduce the authoritarian tension that ruined the experience.

Management is as typical as anywhere, but a bit more drunk on power than any other managers I've come across. Extra tasks expected outside the scope of the description I signed up to. I remember being told to "add value to minimum wage" by going and above and beyond for less than favourable people. No thanks, I'm good.

Workplace culture - profit maxing, no concerns for your health or wellness. Not being married with kids seen as a horror. Probing my personal life and attempted character assassination through a targeted document,. They don't like having their ego put in check by a subordinate temp employee

The hardest part of the job - feeling like I have to suffer to get paid, physically and mentally. Dealing with power hungry tyrants who are only interested in pointing out wrong doing, monitoring, logging, criticizing. Lack of flexibility which ultimately was an attitude problem on their side and not at all necessary. Coming to terms with the fact they hate the staff they employee, but never more than myself, jealous staff unable to tolerate my naturally occuring popularity among all the people I meet, in work and outside of work.

The most enjoyable part of the job was four-fold: Wages, lunch time, going home and eventually leaving voluntarily due to my quality of life being oppressed in this company. The most  enjoyable part is expressing my disappointment with them, knowing I am safe and free to do so. Re-gaining my freedom was very enjoyable indeed !



The pro's - 
The staff (excluding management) are all welcoming and kind. They work hard and really earn their salaries. Most are really customer focused and do what they can for tenants. 
They make you feel at home and part of the team as soon as you start with them (again, this only refers to CSO's and not the managers)
The pay is higher than most other jobs of this type locally
The con's - 
Too many Managers recruited with little or no experience but who are good friends with senior management. 
Management can bully staff (I witnessed bullying on many occasions), this was reported to senior management and the staff member forced to leave the business after they could not take any more.
Resourcing is poorly run with their staff who let their friends have the best hours and holidays they want, but decline those who they do not like. Then brag about it in the staff canteen.
Staff feel undervalued, managers are very critical of small errors but good work is rarely recognised.
Excellent staff overlooked for any promotion and friends selected by senior managers. 
Team managers refuse to speak to tenants when they are requesting to make complaints.
Turnover is high because of bullying managers who always seems to get away with their behaviour and no action seems to be taken.
Some senior management have only been given the role due to their length of service and they actually do not know their job, they delegate to other people and never make a decision.
It feels like a really toxic place to work, the staff deserve better but most are stuck because of the good rates of pay. 
Decisions from head office and refusals for certain works to be completed leads to a long day listening to tenants complaining at you and shouting at you, most of the time staff agree with the tenants but are told to refuse them, some managers completely refuse to take a complaint call from the tenants even though this should be policy.
Your hands are tied because most works are declined by regions, it is frustrating knowing that it will result in complaints.
I really would not recommend anyone to work here, the wages do not make the job worth it.

Things have gradually become more difficult over time, with increasing focus on KPIs and overly complicated software systems that are not practical for day-to-day frontline work. Many of the systems in use create frustration for both frontline staff and office teams alike.

The company appears to prioritise qualifications based on business demand rather than recognising employees’ wider experience and existing skillsets. Staff are encouraged onto renewable training courses, but once qualified are often expected to work independently very quickly, with limited practical support or mentoring. There were also discussions around pay progression for these additional skills which seem to have gone quiet.

There also appears to be a heavy push towards renewables training without enough long-term support afterwards. While investment in new technologies is positive, some employees are leaving training courses lacking confidence and practical experience, yet are still expected to move into these roles quickly. This creates unnecessary pressure for staff and does not always feel like the best approach for either employees or customers.

There is also a growing feeling that wider qualifications and specialist experience are only supported while they directly align with current business priorities. In some cases, employees have had to personally fund the renewal of qualifications that were no longer considered a “business need,” despite those qualifications still being valuable within the wider industry.

There are still positives. The overall employment package is decent, local managers are generally supportive, and engineers work well together and regularly help each other out.

However, there is a growing feeling that frontline experience is not always valued by senior management. Operational decisions are increasingly made by people with limited onsite understanding, which can make workloads and processes more difficult than they need to be.

Long repair times also continue to impact tenants, particularly where ageing boiler stock is not being replaced quickly enough.

I was a lone worker most of the time who worked at different schemes throughout Birmingham every day, I would take the scheme's keys from the key safe and return it in the evening, I had a work email address that I would log in to first thing every morning to check handovers, every one at work at other schemes would know that I was at work and I was also able to see them online, I would communicate with my colleagues via phone or email, we had access to skype. Scheme (property) checks was next followed by the activities marked in my electronic dairy. Other activities included making and answering phone callas, responding to any enquiries, emergencies, contacting the maintenance team for any repairs as well as liaising with other agencies such as Social services, the benefit agencies, housing, local mental health teams, the police, fire brigade, health professionals, etc. I also interacted with friends and families of service users. I improved my skills, learnt a different culture of supporting people based on the company's policies. Responding to challenging behaviour, incident reporting and safeguarding reporting was hard some times as one had to be very assertive.  I really enjoyed my interaction with service users and my satisfaction was greater when a service user managed to achieve a planned target from his/her support plan. At Sanctuary every working day was very different. I also had a work mobile phone.

The pay is decent for Hull but the job is soul crushing. The amount of abuse you get from tenants isn't worth the stress.
Management is very poor, promotion opportunities are non-existent unless you suck up to the right people or are intimidated enough to not question decisions.
It tends to be that promotions go to yes men rather than the people who are good at their job, with constant promises of progression made to the people who work hard to get them to do all the rubbish management don't want to do. 
Overly strict on any absence and hypocritical in that they preach wellness and mental health but if you have any issues you get the Spanish Inquisition. 
The handling of staff during the COVID-19 crisis has been appalling, forcing staff to return to unsafe offices while removing all facilities in the name of 'safety'. The atmosphere is extremely corporate, despite the companies constant failings in regards to its service users and there's a genuine impression that the people at the top are very out of touch in regards to the day to day goings on of the company. 
Honestly, I would look elsewhere if any of this rings alarm bells. A lot of people I know working there feel trapped due to there being few jobs that compete with the salary on offer, although there are alternatives if you look around. 

where can i start, this was a terrible place to work, they got rid of an effective hard working manager who cared and supported thier staff leading to new poor management who was constantly stressed, erratic, highly strung, and could be very hostile to the staff when things did not go thier way. staff were scare mongered on a regular basis and were also being gas lighted by being asked to do something and then being questioned why they did it.
staff were constantly being  called on day off to be asked stupid questions, the place had been short staff for years but staff were expected to pick up the slack with no incentive,
the work environment was looking unkempt.
there was no gratitude for all the extra work and also staff were expected to also take on some of the work the new manager could not do or understand.
the on call system was a joke and you were made to feel you were wasting thier time, so no support at all, leaving you feel alone.
Sanctuary does not care about your well being or home life. sanctuary is your family and home. no regards for your mental health, safety or well being 
AVOID AT ALL COSTS


I initially went for a position at Sanctuary Group in January 2020 but wasn't offered the job solely because I didn't have a car.  In March 2020, I was offered a bank support worker position and I was promised lots of shifts.

When I started I found out the manager who promised me a lot of shifts was leaving the company at the end of my first week.  When the new manager took over they told me Bank Workers are only when required and after my induction I would be no longer required unless there was illness, death or holidays.  So the previous manager had lied to me quit essentially.

I also worked at another Sanctuary Group as part of my induction which is 50 metres away from where I live.  As the role I currently did was Bank, I applied for the full time support worker job at the place which was down the road and I got told the following week "You did really good in the interview but someone just scored a little higher".

I then applied a few weeks later for the full time concierge job at the same location which is lower money and lower prestige, once again I got told "You did really good in the interview but someone just scored a little higher".  I was then getting phone calls from the manager a few days later asking for my availability for shifts in my bank worker job?.  

So I'm not good enough for the full time support worker job or the concierge job?, but then I get offered shifts for the bank role?. Strange!.

I moved back into my home town of Bridlington to work as a security guard employed by Kingdom security 
I looked the part of the security guard did my job, reported any problems etc. Infact I genuinely was interested in swapping my role to become a keyworker
Here's how I was treated.
I was called by manager to say, after the Keyworkers seemed to be friendly with me, that I was intimidating and aggressive to other members of staff, which completely surprised me , further more without provocation they even decided to call the police to ban me from the building.
This really was hurtful as I am a very friendly person and was willing to help out anywhere I could.
There has been no official action however sanctuary living support feel that anyone whose face doesn't fit will get sidelined and treated with contemptible attidudes and will stab you in the back at any moment. 
I will add that there were no checks from CCTV to give evidence and cameras are everywhere .
Management seem to think they can talk down and be obnoxious to tenants.
If your a working professional like myself who wants to get your head down and work hard and have job security then DO NOT WORK HERE !!! I cannot emphasize this enough.
It seems like my earlier warning was not posted so I hope this one is

What is the best part of working at the company?
There is flexibility to work from home. Most of my colleagues were decent & helpful. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The workload in our team has become unsustainable. Properties are not properly maintained. Training is poor quality or non existent. The problem with large housing associations is that they think they are above the law. Managers who bully & single people out get away with it, without challenge. You have ro fight your own corner.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It was great when I started a few years ago but it has gone downhill considerably. It's a top down decision making process with no consideration of the consequences. Getting information is next to impossible: no one takes accountability for anything. The values are not upheld. Reasonable adjustment process is not fit for pupose, it is being reviewed but the company have already had 16 years to get this right. More & more admin being heaped on my team with no regard to what is realistically possible and I have witnessed favouritism recently. In fact it's encouraged: managers can chose which staff members get little awards. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Exhausting, stressful and demotivating. Serious concerns do not get addressed.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Associate 267 salaries reported	£36,693 per year
Registered nurse 77 salaries reported	£22.05 per hour
Locality manager 24 salaries reported	£38,464 per year
Electrician 118 salaries reported	£42,813 per year
Scheme manager 53 salaries reported	£24,405 per year

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