After a year-long safety campaign, more than 11,000 free carbon monoxide detectors have been fitted in the homes that we manage.
In 2013 we committed to installing carbon monoxide detectors in tenanted and leaseholder homes, so that all of our customers could benefit from this life-saving piece of equipment... and today (Wednesday 26th November) we finished the programme when the last detector was fitted.
The campaign was inspired by Stacey Rodgers, the founder of the Dominic Rodgers Trust, set up after Stacey lost her only son Dominic in 2004. Dominic died at the age of 10 after poisonous fumes from a neighbour’s boiler seeped into his bedroom. Since then, Stacey has campaigned to highlight the dangers of carbon monoxide in confined spaces, including tents at campsites.
Stacey marked the start of our programme by fitting the very first carbon monoxide detector in 2013, and then came back to fit the last in November 2014.
In a statement to us, Stacey told us:
"What Red Kite has done is a first in the UK and I hope other housing associations take note of how important it is to make sure their tenants are safe and fit a carbon monoxide alarm to ensure we have no deaths from the silent killer!"
Red Kite was one of the first housing associations in the country to deliver a campaign such as this and we are really proud to have worked with Stacey to achieve it. We have also made sure that at all new leases make provision for servicing and testing in leasehold homes and introduced a new CO activation procedure to investigate potential incidents.
"Doing what we can to keep our customers safe and protected from this poisonous gas has always been a priority but Stacey’s story highlights even further how it is everyone’s responsibility to play their part", said Alan Keers, Director of Operations. "In Dominic’s case, carbon monoxide originated in a neighbour’s home so we would urge everyone to remember how important it is to have appliances regularly serviced."