Housing Services & Customer Support
Our retirement schemes have an entertainer planned for next week, who will be joining us to deliver a socially distant ‘set’ at each scheme, to keep our customers and communities smiling!
We are increasing our focus on income collection and support and the housing team are in the process of delivering a project called ‘Prevent’, which aims to support those affected by the impact of COVID19 to access increased wellbeing and financial advice and support, whilst encouraging those who are not affected to continue to make appropriate rent payments and stay out of arrears. Colleagues from other departments will help support the housing team to deliver this project.
Essential Repairs and Gas Servicing/ Breakdowns
We are working in close partnership with Ashley & McDonough in order to maintain operational resilience to gas safety.
We are working hard to reassure you about our gas servicing process. Our Customer Service Team and Property Services Team are working closely to identify customers who are shielding or vulnerable or if they fall into the extremely-vulnerable category and do not want an engineer to visit.
Guidance states that; “if the customer is socially distancing themselves with family members, where there are no vulnerable people in the household and no members are showing symptoms of coronavirus, we are advised to go ahead with the gas safety check.”
We are also looking to recommence communal, emergency lighting and fire equipment inspections in the near future, ensuring we follow PHE and Government guidelines.
We are in the early stages of creating a planned works customer and Contractor questionnaire, this will help identify where any customers are shielding, are vulnerable or have coronavirus symptoms. Similar questions will be asked to the contractor and their operatives prior to any works.
We are currently looking how we can effectively return to void works once the government lockdown measures are stepped down. How void works can be completed safely, again, following PHE and Government guidance.
WHiA (Warrington Home Improvement Agency)
WHiA are recommencing further works to include grab rails & stair rails, which had previously been put on hold, as this supports customers to manage at home independently.
LifeTime on-line activities continue to increase, with the number of people participating on a weekly basis going from strength to strength. Our volunteers are providing great support and over 80% of calls to members have been made by other members, showing the strength of the network.
General
Subject to the upcoming Government dates for a relaxation on the lockdown rules, we are now also starting to think about how we will facilitate a phased approach to colleagues being able to return to the office and how we would potentially carry out some home visits by exception with the use of proper PPE and strict social distancing measures. To support this, we are also developing a policy & reviewing risk assessments for our colleagues.
VE Day Celebrations!
We are hosting a VE Day Coffee morning at 11am on Thursday 7th May – there are links to various activity packs HERE
We are also holding an online Fabulous Females concert 4pm on Friday 8th May, showcasing classic songs from the 30’s and 40’s to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day & performing exclusively for WHA customers and LifeTime Members – Click HERE for more information and let Beth bethb@wha.org.uk or Andrea andrear@wha.org.uk know if you would also like to join in the fun!
