FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD DO IMMEDIATELY
the day after you've had your formation meeting
(and one other....)

The first thing you must do is get a communal Notice Board in place. Don't settle for the 'locked one' with the offer of a key, which Camden Council will suggest (take it, but have your communal one as well). You need a community board, accessible to all, in a well-lit space, so that everyone can contribute. Even if it is a large piece of white cardboard, put up with blu-tack - get it up as quickly as possible, so that people can start to voice their complaints and share their opinions.  We put ours in the Main Entrance lobby and left it for a trial period of a month. When it was obvious that no one was going to misuse it, we put up a permanent Notice Board (you'll need a drill and to know where the electrical points are, so you can plug it in, if no one has a cordless drill or a hand drill).

The second thing to do is put up a Maintenance Concerns List on the Notice Board. This is just a piece of paper, with the name of your building, the date, the words Maintenance List and then your floors listed as well as other problem areas: your lift, your main entrance, your garden, with blank spaces on the page so that people can list things that are wrong. You need a volunteer to keep track of the list. This person will volunteer to send the list in to Holborn Repairs, with a copy to your District Housing Manager, keep the old list in a safe place, and put up a new blank list (with the starting date) so that people can list new problems. Do this weekly, for a bit, then monthly. Always keep a Maintenance List on your Notice Board, for people to list their complaints and concerns. These do not have to be signed (a dirty floor is a dirty floor). Also, post a small notice of responsibility on your notice board, listing the names of the people on your residents' association executive).

The third thing you should do, if you live in a Camden Council building,  is make yourself a pot of tea, settle down with a pen and paper,  and a friend, and call Camden Council one morning or afternoon. You will want names (with the correct spellings) direct telephone numbers and e-mail addresses for the following:

Who is (or are) your local ward councillors?
Who is your District Housing Manager?
Who is your Patch worker?
Who is your site supervisor of the caretaker?
Who is your caretaker?
Who is in charge of large maintenance ?
Who is in charge of strutural maintenance?
Who is in charge of small maintenance?
Who is in charge of the lift?
Who repairs the lift?
Who would you call if the main entrance lock isn't working?
Who is the estate agent (responsible for the inside of Council Tenants flats)?
Who is responsible for giving the funds and grants to Tenants' Associations and Residents Associations (circa 2001, they will also be able to tell you how to apply for other things, (we applied for a computer and a calling card) as well as give you start-up money and details of arts grants.

Keep asking until you have all the names, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses. When you have completed this list, make several copies and put one up on the Notice Board. If you live near a cheap, reliable photo-copy place (circa 2001, we lived near Mailboxes, etc. on Store Street) donate the 4p a copy and run off enough copies for everyone in the building, so everyone knows who to contact if they want to complain. Community Centres like the Fitzrovia Centre will often provide free photo-copying, or someone may have a printer and be willing to print the notices (remember to print in large font, so that people who are visually disabled can read the notice as well)..

The fourth thing is to find a box to create a Book Exchange box. This can be as simple as just a plain cardboard box (painted, if you like) on a stand or on the floor, in a communal area, with the Book Exchange Notice above it, so that people can exchange books. If you feel everyone in your building  except you is an unfeeling lout,  a Book Exchange is the quickest way for you to start to appreciate the taste, wit, compassion and humour of your neighbours. If there are terrible things that happen, then by all means take the exchange down - I think you will find that people respect and enjoy the Book Exchange, and, as in our building, nothing terrible happens at all (aside from a few Jeffrey Archer books being put into the box).

The fifth  thing is to buy a large living plant in a heavy pot for your Main Entrance lobby. Go round and ask for donations for the plant, or sell raffle tickets, or donate it - whatever it takes. The plant will make everyone feel better about their building (even if the floors are still filthy abd the lift doesn't work with any regularity). Don't let Camden Council tell you that an artificial plant would be better; if you do, then , like us , A) you'll wait for a few months for them to bring round the catalogue  B) by the time they bring around the catalogue and you choose your very expensive fake plant, they'll tell you you've missed the deadline, and you'll have to wait until next year for the new budget C) fake plants, unless you really have a main entrance which can't sustain a live one, drain the soul.

You'll need a large ceramic pot, a saucer or tray so it doesn't mark the floor, several bags of gravel to fill the pot to anchor the plant, and a large plant. We find the Kentia palm we bought from Columbia Road market is hardy and at £20 a plant, very affordable.

and another .....

Write your District Housing Manager and request what is called a Walk-about to be scheduled for your building at the earliest possible date.  This is a formal inspection of the building, with residents and Camden Council employees and a ward councillor, if  invited. (Send this letter by e-mail, if possible,  and send copies to everyone on the list below the District Manager as well as your local councillor. Keep copies of all your letters to the Council, and all correspondence. You may need them (or if you don't, you can always give them to someone doing research into their sitcom about Council Flats). Remember, they are obliged to respond to you within a certain amount of time (currently ten days) so put a date on all your letters (e-mails do this automatically).

If you are using e-mail, throw away the 'blind copy' option - if you have a problem, everyone has a problem, and you want everything to be sent to the people on the list, so they know other people are getting the same letter.

If you have people who have lived in the building for a long time, or people who are builders, or painters, or caretakers themselves, go round the building with them, so that you can get a complete list the things that are wrong. This will give you a good basis for your Maintenance List (once you have the initial list, it's simply a matter of going round once a month, to see what has changed). 

Send these complaints in regularly to the District Manager in writing (either by recorded delivery, or by e-mail, with more than one address in the 'SEND' box). Don't be tempted to take your Patch worker's advice and just telephone; if you just telephone, they aren't counted as complaints. If you find people are not responding to your letters, complain upwards. The first week, send the Maintenance Concerns list to the District Manager, and also give a copy of the first list to your caretaker; the second  week , give a copy to the site supervisor of the caretaker, the third week to the Patch worker responsible for the building and to the mamagers concerned, the fourth  week to the District Housing Manager, and the fifth week, if you still haven't had any improvements or a date set for the Walkabout,  to your Ward Councillor.   By that time, if no one has given you a proper response, you will at least know who isn't sympathetic and they'll be over the limit set for addressing letters of complaint. You can also complain to the District Housing Manager's boss, but if you've reached an impasse, or the problems are serious, consider writing a letter to the editor  of the Camden New Journal. The paper is passed out free at various locations on a Thursday (including the Marchmont Community Centre on Marchmont Street, just north of the Brunswick Centre).  Have a look at the paper to see who you should approach with your story, if you feel it deserves more than a letter, and then ring them up, the journalists are friendly and approachable, and always interested in what you have to say.(Ther is a high turn-over of staff at the paper. Circa 2003, Jane Wright writes intelligently and compassionately about conservation, heritage buildings and things that go bump in the night (like buildings on Chenies Street being taken down  by RADA to build high-rise luxury apartments) .