Customer and Community Voice groups
The groups are a forum to help us make business decisions and improve our services, so we always help customers, leaseholders and residents.
Purpose of the groups
We have 5 Customer and Community Voice groups for the Gentoo areas of:
- Central Sunderland
- Houghton and Hetton
- North Sunderland
- South Sunderland
- Washington
Each group is led by a chairperson who is a Gentoo customer or resident.
The groups work together to:
- give feedback on changes to our service
- decide how to spend the local area budget
- identify what needs improving in the local areas
Group meetings
The groups meet every 3 months with our Customer Voice Team at our offices or in the local community.
The meetings are 2 hours long. The first hour of the meeting is to discuss local matters affecting customers and the second hour is for funding applications and important business decisions.
Dates for 2025 meetings:
North:
- Thursday 13 February 2025 – 13:00pm – 15:00pm – Austin Place, Salvation Army (SR5 2JX)
- Thursday 15 May 2025 – 14:00pm – 16:00pm – Location TBD
- Thursday 14 August 2025 –14:00pm – 16:00pm - Location TBD
- Thursday 13 November 2025 – 14:00pm – 16:00pm – Location TBD
South:
- Friday 7 February 2025 – 10:00am – 12:00pm – Akeler House, Doxford International Business Park, (SR3 3XR)
- Friday 9 May 2025 – 10:00am – 12:00pm – Location TBD
- Friday 8 August 2025 –10:00am – 12:00pm – Location TBD
- Friday 7 November 2025 – 10:00am – 12:00pm – Location TBD
Central:
- Tuesday 20 February 2025 – 10:00am – 12:00pm – City Hall, Planter Way, (SR1 3AA)
- Tuesday 20 May 2025 – 10:00am – 12:00pm – Location TBD
- Tuesday 19 August 2025 –10:00am – 12:00pm – Location TBD
- Tuesday 18 November 2025 – 10:00am – 12:00pm – Location TBD
Houghton and Hetton:
- Friday 14 February 2025 – 10:00am – 12:00pm – Easington Lane Community Access Point, DH5 0LE
- Friday 16 May 2025 – 10:00am – 12:00pm – Location TBD
- Friday 15 August 2025 –10:00am – 12:00pm – Location TBD
- Friday 14 November 2025 – 10:00am – 12:00pm – Location TBD
Washington:
- Thursday 6 February 2025 - 1:00pm - 3:00pm at The Millennium Centre, Concord (NE37 2QD)
- Thursday 8 May 2025 - 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm at Location TBD
- Thursday 7 August 2025 - 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm at Location TBD
- Thursday 6 November 2025 - 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm at Location TBD
How to get involved
To volunteer and be part of the group, you must be a customer, a leaseholder or live in a Gentoo neighbourhood.
If you would like to get involved, fill in the Customer and Community Voice groups application form or email customerinvolvement@gentoogroup.com