Housing For Women | Older Women

Older Residents' Officer

Around a quarter of Housing for Women’s general needs residents are aged over 60. Our Older Residents’ Officer delivers community-based support working closely with a network of support services to meet residents’ needs. We focus on assisting our older residents in their existing homes through providing aids and adaptations and combating social isolation by organising regular social activities.

We help our older residents with:

accessing new technology, such as computers and the internet
sign-posting tenants to external services and voluntary agencies
arranging for the provision of minor aids and adaptations to the home
liaising with occupational therapy, health and social services
providing benefits and financial inclusion support
combating social isolation by organising a range of social activities including lunch gatherings, afternoon teas and Christmas parties
a telephone befriending service, offering free friendship calls for residents aged over 60
support with buying household items
applications for sheltered housing
concerns about neighbours and anti-social behaviour

If you would like to discuss your support needs, or if you would like some general information, please contact out Older Residents' Officer on 020 3794 4812 or email Nadine.Hughes@h4w.co.uk

Telephone befriending

Our telephone befriending service is a free telephone friendship service for our residents aged 60 and over.

The service is delivered by volunteers who phone residents at agreed times for a chat, providing friendly conversation and companionship on a regular basis to help prevent isolation and promote emotional wellbeing.

Not having someone to talk to regularly can be lonely, particularly if you're used to sharing your home and time with others. A regular, friendly chat on the phone can make all the difference. Due to the success of the pilot service, we are now recruiting for further befrienders.

All Housing for Women residents aged 60 or over can opt-in for this service. To find out more or to opt-in, please contact Nadine Hughes, Older Residents’ Officer, by calling 020 3794 4812 or emailing Nadine.Hughes@h4w.co.uk

Older Women’s Co-Housing

We worked with the Older Women’s Co-Housing (OWCH) group during the development of New Ground – a pioneering women's co-housing scheme of 25 flats in High Barnet purpose-built for women over 50.

The first co-housing project of its kind in the UK, the scheme was delivered in partnership with OWCH and the Hanover Housing Association. The acquisition of the eight rented units for Housing for Women's residents was made possible by a grant from the Tudor Trust. Eight of Housing for Women’s older residents took up residency in their new homes in early 2017.

If you are using a shared computer, or simply do not want other people to see that you have visited the Housing for Women website, you may want to hide your internet viewing history.

Internet Explorer

When InPrivate Browsing is turned on, you will see this indicator in the address bar

InPrivate Browsing helps prevent Internet Explorer from storing data about your browsing session. This includes cookies, temporary Internet files, history, and other data. Toolbars and extensions are disabled by default

Browsers store some info—like your search history—to help improve your experience on the web. When you use InPrivate Browsing, info like passwords, search history, and page history is deleted once you close the tab.

To open an InPrivate Browsing session, right–select the Internet Explorer icon on the taskbar, and select Start InPrivate Browsing. Or if you have already opened Internet Explorer select the Settings icon to the extreme right side of the address bar. Doing so will present a list of options, one of which reads Safety. Selecting this option presents another set of options, one of which is InPrivate Browsing. Clicking this option will open a new window allowing private browsing, and which can be closed with a single click.

Firefox

As you browse the web, Firefox remembers lots of information for you - like the sites you've visited. There may be times, however, when you don't want people with access to your computer to see this information. Private Browsing allows you to browse the Internet without saving any information about which sites and pages you’ve visited.

There are two ways to open a new Private Window.

Open a new, blank Private Window
Click the menu button and then click "New Private Window".
Open a link in a new Private Window
Right-click on any link and choose "Open Link in New Private Window" from the context menu.

Safari

When you use Private Browsing windows, Safari doesn’t save your browsing history, and it asks websites you visit not to track you.

To use Private Browsing: Choose File > New Private Window, or switch to a Safari window that’s already using Private Browsing. A window that’s using Private Browsing has a dark Smart Search field with white text.

Chrome

If you don’t want Google Chrome to save a record of what you visit and download, you can browse the web privately in Incognito mode.

The method for starting Incognito may very depening on the PC you are using. The default method in Chrome is to click on the 3 dots to the extreme right side of the address bar. Doing so will present a list of options, one of which is New Incognito Window. Clicking this option will open a new window allowing private browsing, and which can be closed with a single click.

How Incognito mode works
Incognito mode opens a new window where you can browse the Internet in private without Chrome saving the sites you visit. You can switch between an Incognito window and any regular Chrome browsing windows you have open. You'll only be in Incognito mode when you're using the Incognito window.

Others can see some information
Incognito mode only prevents Chrome from saving your site visit activity. It won't stop other sources from seeing what sites you’ve visited, including:

Your Internet service provider
Your employer (if you're using a work computer)
The websites you visit themselves

Downloads are saved to your computer
Chrome won’t save a record of the files you download in Incognito mode. However, the downloaded files will be saved to your computer’s Downloads folder, even after you close your Incognito tabs. You and anyone who uses your computer can see and open the files.

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