Posted on April 27th, 2020 by Elaine Davies
Our Director of Care and Supported Housing Martyn Hale has written a comment piece for Inside Housing about getting our residents involved in celebrations that mark the 75th anniversary and still adhere to lockdown rules.
We have teamed up with Royal British Legion and the National Memorial Arboretum to create activity packs which celebrate the important anniversary.
Inside Housing is a publication that covers news in the housing sector.
Read Martyn’s comment piece here:
Tackling social isolation is a huge challenge for housing organisations everywhere and in lockdown this situation has been worsened dramatically.
Some of our customers who are most vulnerable to loneliness have been isolated from the already limited contact they had prior to lockdown for weeks now, and this looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.
In this unprecedented situation housing organisations must do all they can to reach out and offer help, and lockdown is an opportunity to think about new ways of doing this.
Like many housing organisations, at Citizen we’re communicating regularly with our customers in our care and supported housing schemes during lockdown to offer all the help that we can. We’ve also been keeping our customers informed of the Government’s advice and the implications of this for the services that we provide.
But supporting our customers through lockdown in more interesting and engaging ways is important too.
We’re delighted to be partnering with the Royal British Legion and the National Memorial Arboretum on a project we hope will do exactly this and allow people to mark an extremely important occasion in the process.
The 8th May is the 75th anniversary of VE Day. In a world without lockdown this would have been a very significant occasion and the May bank holiday was moved to recognise this. There would have been large gatherings and street parties to recognise one of the most significant days in our history but now the occasion will have to be marked from afar.
We want to do all we can to contribute to that. We’ve worked with the Royal British Legion and the National Memorial Arboretum on a downloadable pack which anyone can access ahead of 8th May to mark this hugely significant occasion from lockdown. It includes easy recipes for popular war-time dishes and cakes, suggestions of films to watch on streaming services, books to read online, a speech by Churchill and puzzles and activities.
We expect older tenants in our housing with care and sheltered schemes to be where we see the biggest take up for this – for those with a close affinity to the Second World War and remembrance, not being able to mark this hugely significant anniversary would represent a very real hardship. But the pack could be used by anyone who is at home in lockdown and wants to mark the occasion.
We hope that housing organisations will help us to get this out to their customers by either sharing the link with them or printing some of the packs and distributing them where this is possible.
We know that it’s likely our more vulnerable customers will be in some from of lockdown for many weeks to come and this is a challenge we all need to think about.
Perhaps a positive legacy of lockdown can be that we think of new and interesting ways to engage people we work with who face isolation and loneliness on a daily basis and will still face it long after lockdown is over.
Are you a customer and want to download the packs? Visit the National Memorial Arboretum website and download them now here.
Are you a housing association looking to get this our to your customers and staff? A pack with everything you need to do this can be downloaded by clicking here.
Posted in Uncategorized |
No Comments
Posted on April 24th, 2020 by Elaine Davies
We have teamed up with the Royal British Legion and the National Memorial Arboretum to create a special pack which helps our customers mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
The landmark anniversary of Victory in Europe Day is on the 8th May and the first May Bank Holiday was moved by the Government to this day to allow people to celebrate the occasion.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic people will have to mark the occasion from home and we have helped create these activity packs to help them do just that.
They include Second World War recipes, extracts from famous speeches, Dame Vera Lynn song lyrics and activities and puzzles. There is also a family pack for activities to engage children.
Our Director of Care and Supported Housing Martyn Hale said: “We’re delighted to be able to team up with the Royal British Legion and the National Memorial Arboretum on this hugely important piece of work.
“The 75th anniversary of VE Day is a significant occasion which I know many of our customers – particularly our older residents who have wartime experiences but also individuals and families everywhere – will want to mark.
“These engaging packs allow people to mark the anniversary from their homes in their own special way by taking part in activities and giving them the chance to feel part of VE Day celebrations which it is really important still take place.
“We are extremely proud to be able to partner with these great organisations to get this piece of work out into the social housing world where I’m sure it will be really well-received.”
Chris Ansell, Head of Participation and Learning at the National Memorial Arboretum, said: “During these challenging times it is more important than ever that we continue to explore new routes for people to engage with Remembrance. This collaborative project will allow a huge number of people to mark this landmark national occasion in a wide variety of ways.
“The pack includes activities inspired by the events that took place on VE-Day and creates an opportunity for people to learn, remember and feel part of a community in the safety of their own homes.”
Gail Walters, Assistant Director for Operations at The Royal British Legion, adds: “As we face some of the most challenging times since the end of the Second World War, now more than ever it is important to find ways for individuals and communities, across all generations, to come together and unite, just as people did 75 years ago.
“With members of the public unable to attend VE Day events, we are encouraging as many people as possible to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day from home. The activity pack is a great way for people to explore and commemorate VE Day and pay tribute to the entire Second World War generation and all those since, both military and civilian, who have served and sacrificed on our behalf.”
The packs have already been downloaded by 100 housing associations across the UK.
Are you a customer and want to download the packs? Visit the National Memorial Arboretum website and download them now here.
Are you a housing association looking to get this our to your customers and staff? A pack with everything you need to do this can be downloaded by clicking here.
Posted in Uncategorized |
No Comments
Posted on April 7th, 2020 by Elaine Davies
A former housing with care scheme has been transformed into new supported housing accommodation in Hillfields, Coventry.
Refurbishment works started at the accommodation on November 1, 2019, and the new supported housing service opened its doors for the first time on Monday, April 6.
Laker Building Management Solutions completed the work and Coventry City Council invested £280,000 to enable the building work to be completed.
Alongside the council, we will be providing 44 flats for individuals with support needs in the short term.
The new accommodation will be used to accommodate people in Coventry who, until recently, were living in night shelters or on the streets with underlying health conditions.
We will also be working closely with support providers to help prepare and equip these people to live independently within the city.
In the long term, the accommodation will be used to accommodate families with support needs in the city.
Citizen’s Chief Executive, Kevin Rodgers, said: “It’s fantastic that our new supported housing facility is open.
“We are opening this service in the coronavirus pandemic because people in Coventry desperately need this accommodation.
“Temporary accommodation in Coventry is in short supply so I’m certain this new accommodation will be very well received.
“We have a clear social purpose here at Citizen, which is to provide homes that are a foundation for life.
“There are some fundamental challenges people in our communities are facing, and they continue to face during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are committed to working to solve some of the most pressing issues around housing in Coventry alongside the Council.”
Cllr David Welsh, Deputy Cabinet Member Housing and Communities, at Coventry City Council, added: “Citizen’s new supported housing facility will provide much needed self-contained accommodation and will help reduce overall costs for the Council.
“The money we save will be used to support residents of the city in other ways.
“It’s great to see the new accommodation open, supporting the city during this particularly challenging time.”
Posted in Uncategorized |
No Comments
