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A week in the life… of a redeployed tenant participation worker

Rab Clark normally works in tenant participation at Fife Council. During the lockdown he has been redeployed to work with older people. He keeps a week-long diary for Inside Housing showing how his role has changed

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Rab is currently redeployed with Fife’s older people’s housing service due to COVID-19. He’s pictured delivering meals
Rab is currently redeployed with Fife’s older people’s housing service due to COVID-19. He’s pictured delivering meals
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What is it like to be redeployed from tenant participation work for @FifeCouncil to helping the older people’s service respond to COVID-19? Rab Clark tells @insidehousing

Rab Clark says redeployment due to COVID-19 is going well. “I feel like I’m making a difference to the quality of life of the people that I’m helping” @FifeCouncil #ukhousing

Monday

My role in tenant participation is on hold during the pandemic, so I’ve volunteered to be placed in Fife’s older persons’ housing service.

I started today with a phone call to the GP surgery to see if a repeat prescription had been sent to the chemist as a tenant’s medication runs out today. It had been approved.

“I organised 17 free hot meals (potato and leek soup and haggis, neeps and tatties) from volunteers in the local community”

I collected and delivered shopping for some tenants, then phoned the local shop with orders for shopping.

Afterwards, I organised 17 free hot meals (potato and leek soup and haggis, neeps and tatties) from volunteers in the local community.

I fitted a light bulb for a tenant who is suffering from mental health issues due to being stuck inside – they’re keeping busy by doing a jigsaw and couldn’t see it properly with the bulb being out – then delivered a microwave to a tenant. I discovered they’d had an outbreak of ants, so I applied ant powder to the affected areas.


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Tuesday

I went to the chemist for another urgent prescription. The medication, which ran out yesterday, hadn’t been delivered due to a backlog.

Then I collected and delivered shopping and meals. I also helped a tenant who was worried about paying their council tax as they can’t go out. I arranged for the council to phone him and take payment.

Wednesday

I received a delivery of porridge through the volunteers.

I then phoned the GP for a tenant who can’t stand up without feeling dizzy and nauseous.

Some tenants had notified us that it was difficult to push their rollators over a ramp when accessing the rear garden area in their development, so I visited the area and scraped off and swept up moss from the slabs.

Thursday

I learned how to test a fire alarm at one of our schemes.

I collected and delivered more shopping and meals, although I couldn’t get everything some tenants needed, so I went to my local supermarket after work.

“I feel like I’m making a difference to the quality of life of the people that I’m helping. Even tenants who don’t need help have said they feel reassured that there is a cheery voice at the end of the phone if they need anything”

Friday

I received great feedback from the tenants about the free hot meals that have been provided by the volunteers this week.

I hung up some washing for a tenant who has mobility issues and helped another who was worried about his rent account. He didn’t know when he was last paid and didn’t want to get into arrears, so I arranged for someone to check. They were actually in credit, so the tenant was very relieved.

I’m enjoying my redeployment. I feel like I’m making a difference to the quality of life of the people that I’m helping. Even tenants who don’t need help have said they feel reassured that there is a cheery voice at the end of the phone if they need anything. Many are worried about catching coronavirus and the consequences, so they see the role I’m doing as a safety net.

A week in the life series

A week in the life series

Our ‘A week in the life’ series features housing professionals talking through what they do in their job on a day-to-day basis.

Find out about the different challenges housing workers in a variety of roles face in a given week. 

We aim to feature staff from housing associations, ALMOs, local authorities and more.

Click here to nominate yourself or a colleague for inclusion

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