The situation surrounding coronavirus is changing fast and we’re working as hard as we can to adapt to changing needs and new guidelines, whilst ensuring we are doing as much as possible to protect Crisis members, the people we support, and our staff.
This week’s update includes:
Delivering services
We’re keeping our Skylight centres across England, Scotland and Wales open for as long as possible, to provide emergency advice and support to people who are homeless. For this group of people we want to ensure we are there for them to provide:
- Basic information, advice and guidance on where to go and what to do to access accommodation
- Mobile phones with credit, so we can keep in touch and offer support, and so they can access other essential services such as Job Centres and health services
- Food vouchers, and food and wellbeing packages
We are ensuring we’re taking measures to operate as safely as possible including having a maximum number of members in the building at any one time, creating safe distances between staff and members and having reduced opening hours.
Where possible, we’re providing our services by phone, over email and through other online approaches, for both the safety of members and staff, and also to be in line with Government guidance.
As we provide care and support to some people who are very vulnerable and at risk, some of our services need to continue to be face-to-face, in person. We want to continue this for as long as we possibly can.
Wellbeing and food packs
Teams from our Skylight centres across England, Scotland and Wales are putting together packages of essentials for Crisis members/people we support. These include basic foods, tissues and hand sanitisers. Teams are also putting together emotional wellbeing packages.
Crisis staff who have cars are arranging to drop off packages to members directly, wherever they are staying. This may be in temporary accommodation or on the street.
In Birmingham, for example, on 19 March 26 essentials packs and 22 wellbeing packs were delivered to Crisis members living in temporary accommodation, including hostels. Essentials packs including fresh fruit and veg, tinned goods, rice, fruit juice, long life milk and personal hygiene products. Wellbeing packs included adult colouring books, fiction books and tips on what to do when self-isolating.
One message from a Crisis member to the team in Birmingham read “Never ever in my life have I known of a better, more caring charity than Crisis. I love you all guys x.”
Article date 25.03.20