Rural Housing Week 2021 – Supporting our communities
As part of Rural Housing Week 2021 – as well as highlighting our homes and new developments, we will also take a look at our wider support for our communities.
We caught up with our Support Worker Darren Childs to see how the pandemic has impacted on people living in our rural areas.
“I think people in rural communities can feel cut off. If you’re not in the catchment area for some of the towns or cities – you can become isolated very quickly. I know from our tenants’ experience how it’s nigh on impossible to secure things like a supermarket delivery slot. We support a lot of older residents in our rural communities – so it’s not a case that everyone can simply hop in the car and drive to their nearest shop or supermarket.
“From a support perspective – I will go anywhere to support people in need. We now do everything in a Covid-secure way, but it has been pretty much business as usual for me during the pandemic. I will pick up prescriptions for people and I often go and get people’s shopping.
“I think these issues have been heightened during the pandemic. I am often the only face that person may see that day, or even the week. Even though we are all incredibly busy, I will still make time to talk to people and make sure they are ok. I think people appreciate seeing a friendly face and having someone to chat to. Some of the people I support are completely cut off – they have no friends or family, they don’t have a community newspaper and the local shop may only be open one or two days a week.
“The good thing about people who live in a Wrekin Housing property is that they do get that support. We have been ringing people throughout the pandemic to see how they are doing – if you were a home owner or renting privately you could easily get completely cut off here. We can help with everything from filling in forms, helping with applications for aids and adaptations, tackling money and debt problems and helping people maintain both their tenancy and condition of a property.”
7th July 2021