“It was a real team effort. People wanted to be useful and they were
happy to help” Elaine Scott
QUICK FACTS
The diff erent needs of each individual household had to be taken into account, including allergies and special diets. Trolleys were borrowed from a local supermarket to help move the goods around and school kitchens were used to produce the thousands of meals sent out to vulnerable people. And delivery routes were carefully
worked out with GPS information to ensure the most eff ective way to reach all the people in need.
Renfrewshire Council
BASED: Paisley PHONE:
0300 300 0330 WEBSITE: renfrewshire.
gov.uk
crisis when the deliveries had been done for the day, then we had an emergency fridge and freezer system. The guys on call who would normally go out and do emergencies would be able to collect the bags and take it to the people if they didn’t have any other emergency work on. We never stopped. There was an emergency electrician on every night, as there is 365 days of the year.” Organising the support project was a massive logistical task, made even trickier by the demands of
Elaine Scott
physical distancing. Huge amounts of supplies had to be collected, allocated and distributed, and the scheme produced piles of packaging which had to be responsibly dealt with.
Some of the Building Services workers
The skills and expertise of the electricians and the other trades meant they could adapt well to the change in their daily routine and already had the health and safety awareness that was vital to keeping everyone safe. Elaine joked: “The biggest challenge
was getting the tradesmen to tidy up their vans so there was room for the deliveries! “They adapted really well. They helped out with whatever needed to be done and they came up with ideas about better ways to do things. “It was a huge operation. There was so much to organise and arrange, plus we had to deal with physical distancing as well. We had to set up safety signage overnight and cone off areas so it could be one in, one out.” As the weeks of lockdown continued, the team found ways to keep each other’s spirits up. Elaine said: “We took turns in making dinners for the guys because the catering staff were all busy preparing food for the households – I did a beef massaman curry for everyone one day. It was like a family and I got to meet so many people I wouldn’t normally get
Continued on page 16 >>> CABLEtalk OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2020 15
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