SELECT MEMBER CORONAVIRUS
Local heroes
When lockdown stopped them carrying out their usual work, the team of electricians at SELECT Member Renfrewshire Council joined the eff orts to help their community by providing vulnerable households with vital supplies
T
he coronavirus lockdown brought non-emergency work to a standstill for many electricians across the country – but not for the team at Renfrewshire Council.
While their normal tasks were put on hold because of the strict guidelines, they joined the local authority’s huge eff ort to support vulnerable people across their community. Instead of rewiring and repairs, up to 30 electricians helped put together vital support packages for people forced to stay at home and shield from the virus. They used their vans to deliver parcels of food and other essentials to struggling individuals and families in the area. And they even pitched by working in
the kitchen – helping catering staff prepare thousands of fresh meals to support up to 2,200 households at the peak of the crisis.
The electricians were part of a team of around 85 workers from a wide variety of trades – including joiners, painters, plasterers, blacksmiths, plumbers and GMOs– who joined the incredible eff ort to help the community. Elaine Scott, Building Services Operations Manager at Renfrewshire Council, said: “They went above and beyond. When some of them made deliveries to houses with kids they’d take a bucket of sweets in their van and would throw in a handful of them for the children. We also delivered Easter eggs to every child at Easter.
“In one house, one of our electricians put in £10 of his own money to help an elderly lady top up her electricity. “It was a real team eff ort. People
wanted to be useful and they were happy to play their part.”
A wide range of trades was involved in helping vulnerable households
The team also included apprentice electricians, who were particularly keen to do whatever they could to help out. “They really got stuck in, right from the beginning to the end,” said Elaine. “They were brilliant, they did just about anything – typifying the spirit of Renfrewshire Council staff . We had
14 CABLEtalk OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2020
Organising the support package deliveries was a huge team eff ort
to open the school kitchens and our catering team had limited staff so our guys did the grafting for them. They did whatever they had to do – opening the huge tins of beans, mixing food, packing and unpacking. “Some of them really loved it and some have now become really good friends with the catering staff who they would never normally have met.” At the start of the project, the team
worked a range of shift patterns, seven days a week, to deliver fresh meals and other essentials through deliveries to more than 2,000 households. Elaine said: “We also provided an out of hours service and the electricians were part of that. If someone was in
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