You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
I am the CEO of ClwydAlyn; a Housing Association working across North Wales with a bold mission “Together to beat poverty”. ClwydAlyn ...more
Why we’re supporting staff with free meals this winter
Clare Budden explains why ClwydAlyn has started to offer staff a free hot meal
The cost-of-living crisis is hitting everyone. One in five people in Wales currently live in poverty, including more than a third of all children.
A difficult winter lies ahead. Energy bills have gone up by a quarter, with no guaranteed protection beyond April. Wages and benefits are unlikely to keep up with inflation, which is predicted to hit 18% next year.
Once again, as in the pandemic, housing will be turning to our front-line workers to support tenants facing increasingly complex and desperate situations.
“We can’t have a big goal around addressing poverty in our communities across Wales and then ignore our staff who may be struggling with the cost of living themselves”
But the reality is we will be asking teams to dig deeper and work harder to support households at a time when they are trying to balance budgets at home.
We can’t have a big goal around addressing poverty in our communities across Wales and then ignore our staff who may be struggling with the cost of living themselves.
READ MORE
Many people work in housing to make a difference to people’s lives. But what happens when they run out of options to support people? How do staff continue to bring their whole selves to work if they are struggling at home?
Unless we are there for our people, there is a real danger of staff walking away from jobs and a sector they love.
“By April, we could already see inflation was starting to make an impact on real-terms pay. Staff were asking for more overtime and an advance on their salaries. We also noticed some staff limiting themselves to one meal a day”
We’ve always tried to be a fair employer. We benchmark salaries at a medium market rate for their roles, and we’re a Living Wage employer.
We’ve undertaken an organisation-wide review of terms and conditions to ensure equality for all staff, including the executive team. We have a range of services to support well-being and recently committed to paying expenses more frequently, so staff aren’t out of pocket.
Our salaries are linked to rent increases, with the latest pay review carried out in January this year.
However, by April we could already see inflation was starting to make an impact on real-terms pay. Staff were asking for more overtime and an advance on their salaries. We also noticed some staff limiting themselves to one meal a day.
We knew we had to act.
In May, we launched our Eating Well pilot, offering a free hot meal each day for any of our 750 staff who want one.
We agreed that by offering free lunches to everyone, staff could eat healthily and use the money that they would’ve spent on lunch on other things.
It’s a very tricky balance. Like all landlords, we had to find a way to fund the right level of support, while considering increasing pressures on our finances and the continued delivery of front-line services.
It’s been a huge success. Working with Well-Fed, ClwydAlyn’s healthy-food partner and social enterprise, more than 14,000 meals have been ordered by staff. We’ve now decided to continue the project until at least April 2023.
But the project has done so much more than just feed people.
It has brought colleagues together who would not normally meet. Our dining spaces are now bubbling with staff enjoying lunch with each other around the table; they share ideas and personal stories.
It’s breaking down barriers between teams and building connections between individuals.
For that reason alone, we already feel like it’s money well spent.
Clare Budden, chief executive, ClwydAlyn
