To really prioritise the safety of our customers and colleagues it was essential that we, like the rest of the sector, temporarily paused some of our services at the start of the pandemic. Where possible, we adapted services and utilised phone and video to carry out appointments. We continued to carry out critical repairs, and then brought the rest of our services – such as grounds maintenance and planned works – back in stages as we eased out of lockdown.
An incredible commitment from our colleagues and dedicated support from our partners meant we could continue to make a positive difference to our customers’ lives during the pandemic. Our focus on health and safety also meant we managed to keep our customers in supported housing safe and had a limited number of Covid-19 cases across our shared schemes. This is testament to our team who put welfare first.
The last year has been dominated by challenges caused by Covid-19. And in this report you’ll find information about what we’ve done to support communities through those challenges. This includes our promise to take no eviction action against customers in Covid-19-related arrears (and more generally, as it is always the very last resort); the provision of substantial funding to community groups, giving much-needed relief to their neighbourhood; our approach to food provision; how we’re helping customers with employment support and training; and steps we’ve taken to tackle homelessness.
