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Lockdown diaries: how are housing professionals coping?
Housing professionals chart their work-related and personal changes during the coronavirus crisis. Jess McCabe reports
To help understand how the sector is getting to grips with the lockdown, Inside Housing has gathered together diaries written by people working in different jobs, from money advice to consultancy.
These diaries are taken from submissions to Inside Housing’s regular column, ‘A week in the life’. Normally this runs every week in Inside Housing – online and in print.
The column has provided a unique window on the changes we are going through. It will continue as usual from next week.
Email jess.mccabe@insidehousing.co.uk to contribute your diary.
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Angela Noble, money advisor at Longhurst Group
Monday
We had our daily income team Skype conference call. This has been a new skill for me since working from home, and is very important as I live alone, so at least I get to see my colleagues.
Next, I spent some time ringing some of the vulnerable customers to make sure they are OK and not too worried. I promised to ring them every few weeks as some cannot get out or make outgoing calls.
Tuesday
Today, I spent a lot of time putting together information about who can claim what if sick or self-isolating, and sharing information about changes to job centres.
This information is important so customers get given the correct advice and aren’t being sent to job centres when they don’t need to go. I talked someone through completing a PIP (personal independence payment) form on the phone. I’d never realised how difficult this was when you cannot observe the person to physically see how they are affected when doing things like walking and moving.
Wednesday
We had a money advisors’ conference call. We normally only meet quarterly, but we need to make sure we all understand the rapidly changing situations and are giving the same advice.
Thursday
I talked to the local job centre about a couple’s claim. Their first payment was due and they hadn’t received anything. We managed to sort out the issue.
I then worked with a local foodbank as they need us to sign up for e-referrals.
Friday
My day started with logging on to the Universal Credit portal to do the verifications for our office. These have been coming through thick and fast due to the new claimants. It is important to do these quickly so people get their money promptly.
It’s been an exhausting week, but very rewarding. All the money advisors will be back on Monday to do it all again.
Symon Patterson, deputy service manager at Centrepoint’s Bradford Foyer
Monday
I began the week by ensuring the staff put up posters, which show information on hygiene and explain the extra precautions we are all taking. We’ve found that refreshing the designs mean the young people who live here take more notice and follow guidelines.
We’d normally have face-to-face meetings and run group sessions with the young people. Due to social distancing we’ve been checking in on them with phone calls and providing information packs: for example guidance on anger management, social isolation and how to keep mentally active.
Tuesday
Today I made sure the staff were checking all the kitchens. These need to be stocked up with the right cleaning equipment – hand soap, Dettol spray and disinfectant. We’re asking the staff to clean a lot more and encouraging the young people to keep all surfaces clean, so products need to be fully accessible in all kitchens.
A fruit and vegetables delivery was donated to us and I asked the young people to help themselves. There was quite a large amount left over, so we decided to take it to another hostel nearby.
Then we had a staff catch-up, over a cup of tea, on video chat. It brought the team together and helped us see that we’re in it together and can lean on each other.
Wednesday
I spoke to staff working from home to ensure they have all the knowledge and equipment that they need. It’s important to regularly check on their well-being, too, and take care of any issues they have.
Despite the pandemic there’s still a hostel to run. We’re still continuing to assess people for residency here and even moving some people in during this period. It’s my job to ensure that we’re doing this extra carefully.
Thursday
I spent the day doing a lot of admin duties like timesheets, rent collection and approving action plans and risk assessments. I still have to continue with all the practical tasks.
The staff here managed to provide board games, which is great because the young people haven’t got a lot to do. I’ve noticed that they are starting to cook meals in groups. We love to see them working together and spending more time with one another.
Friday
One of my colleagues ordered Easter eggs online for the young people to raise spirits.
Coronavirus and the lockdown are a real challenge to our hostels but the young people still need housing and all the support we provide. We are running the hostel as smoothly as we can, just with a lot of extra care and attention.
Connie Jennings, head of health and well-being at WHG
Monday
The thought of not seeing some of our customers for weeks is difficult for me and the team.
Day one of working from home, and I am calling some of WHG’s customers over the age of 70 – we have given ourselves five days to call all 4,000. We ask about their general health, who to call in an emergency and if they have a family member or a friend who could assist them with shopping or picking up medication.
A high number of them had no one they could call on and were allocated to a colleague to provide a befriending service.
Generally the customers just want a chat. They talk about seeing no one for days and are so grateful for this basic human contact.
Tuesday
We set up a WhatsApp group for the team to talk to each other and keep each other going.
My colleague Jamie told us about a customer who was tearful and anxious. Her daughter lives in London and she had no one to rely on. She needed her prescription, but the chemist wanted to charge her £6 for delivery, which she didn’t have.
Jamie reassured her and arranged for her prescription to be sent electronically from the GP to the local chemist, which doesn’t charge for delivery. Jamie will continue to call her to keep her spirits up and help her realise she is not on her own.
Wednesday
I have just realised this is real – I’m not going into the office tomorrow, and it’s not going away. If I feel anxious and worried, how do our older vulnerable customers feel?
Generally resolute is the answer: they have a laugh with us over the phone, tell us funny stories and talk about their children and pets before asking for support.
Although this is only our third day we have now made a huge 3,400 calls. We have also referred 190 customers to the community hubs for support with shopping, prescriptions and energy top-ups.
We are also working closely with the NHS to get people discharged from hospital.
Organising a key safe for an 81-year-old customer enabled her to go back to the home she loves.
Thursday
This morning we received a call from a resident from Surrey. She was very concerned about her aunt, who lives alone and has mental health issues and no mobile phone.
Following social distancing guidelines, we went to visit the property but there was no answer. The customer was known to be difficult to engage with so we decided to knock the neighbours either side.
We learned that the customer did talk to one of her neighbours and we agreed that we would direct our support through them. This will enable us to deliver a weekly food parcel and update the family.
Friday
It’s been a completely different way to work and it enabled me to focus on a very specific group of customers who would not normally need our services. There is usually no issue with their rent account and they don’t call a lot on repairs or services.
Next week we are moving on to the customers in the 60-70 age group.
Michael McLaughlin, social insight lead for Scotland for the charity HACT, is currently based at the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations in Glasgow working on a social value toolkit
Monday
I have never had much cause to work from home before, which may seem ironic given much of the past 16 years has been spent championing the need for digital transformation.
I have been working from home while self-isolating with two young children and my wife, who is a primary school teacher and also in her first experience of distance working.
That said, I had a couple of really productive conference calls. Given that I don’t get to see the guys from HACT that often, it has been quite good spending some ‘face-to-face’ time.
Football shirt worn: Pink Juventus away 1997/98 – when Channel 4 brought ‘calcio’ to the UK masses, Juventus were the team I picked to follow.
Tuesday
I forgot to stick a video call in the diary that caused a clash with another colleague, but given the current high level of uncertainty each day, everyone has been really accommodating. Long may that continue – we’ll definitely need it. Fitting in/being forced into trampolining in the garden during a lunch break is also a really good way to clear your head and break the day up.
Football shirt worn: Argentina 1986 – in homage to the greatest footballer that has ever lived.
Wednesday
I found today quite challenging. I had multiple calls and some existing things to get finished. Almost all of it involved COVID-19 responses and ideally would be a priority for me.
Football shirt worn: Scotland 1986 remake (pictured) – I love this and the original was the first football shirt I ever owned.
Thursday
In order to keep team spirits up, HACT held a staff video call where everyone wore a fairly outrageous hat. My two boys have now become accustomed to me talking to my laptop or wearing headphones while sitting at the kitchen table, and for the first time this week failed to appear in a video call all day.
Football shirt worn: Brazil 1994 – winners of the first World Cup where I watched every round of the finals.
Friday
It’s been quite a hectic week, however the speed and decision-making in both the organisations I work with have been really impressive. I can imagine that life will likely include some of the innovative team working we have embarked on this week.
Football shirt worn: Barcelona 1994 – reminds me of my first holiday abroad.
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