My journey of discovery - Part Two

In my role as Places for People’s Group Chief Operating Officer, my mission is to make it as easy as it can possibly be for our teams to help our Customers, and for our Communities to thrive. Just before Christmas I started a journey of discovery in our Communities because there’s only so much you can learn about the job from an office or a train.

As I shared in my last update my journey began with a visit to Mill Bank Wellbeing Centre, a community that Places for People owns and operates in central Preston, which provides temporary accommodation for homeless families who often have multiple and complex needs. It was an incredible experience and something I will always remember. What I learned there was the importance of the wrap-around support given to the families who pass through, by a wonderful and dedicated team who know that community matters and can change the lives of people who need some help.

I was keen to continue my journey in January and so, accompanied by my partner in crime Dani Robertson , I set out to spend a day with colleagues in one of our ‘Voids’ teams, kindly organised by our colleague James Hall.

As the UK’s leading social enterprise there are many People in our organisation who are supporting some of the most vulnerable members of society, and our colleagues in the Voids teams are one of our most vital groups. It’s their job to make sure that our properties are brought back up to scratch for a new Customer after someone leaves, and sometimes that can mean a less-than-ideal condition. If and when this happens, it sometimes can take days just to clear a property before the hard work of turning it back into a home for another Customer can begin.

Our first task was to assist (I use the term loosely as we might have been more hindrance than help) James McCay – our boss for the day – with some property repairs. This involved removing a seemingly unending number of very large nails from the walls and a bedroom carpet before getting onto the main task of lifting the flooring in the living room. We started off with a specialist tool, but the flooring was so well stuck that I managed to break said tool. They say a good worker never blames their tools but since I don’t profess to be a good worker, on this occasion, it was all the fault of the tool.?Without the proper tools, the task became much more difficult. But as tiring as it was, it was very satisfying to lift the final tile. With the job done Dani and I helped James to load the rubbish onto the van, wondering how he would have been able to manage this work alone, which he does, every day.

James kindly dropped us off at our next location before heading off to unload the rubbish from his van. We had asked to make sure the properties we visited represented the full range of situations our Voids colleagues can face, and the next property we visited was at the ‘tough’ end of the spectrum. As soon as we walked into the property it was obvious that it had not been heated or ventilated properly for some time and our guess was that the former resident hadn’t been able to afford home energy costs. It’s a situation that sadly we are finding to be more common, and we are determined to do as much as we can to provide support so that Customers do not go without heating. One of the things we’re doing, for example, is providing heating vouchers to Customers and we’ve got a big campaign underway to ensure they know about the support we can offer.

So aside from experiencing, for a brief time, the amazing and hard work our Voids teams undertake, this visit put in stark relief just how much some of our Customers need our support. The cost-of-living crisis is taking a severe toll but there are ways we can help, including helping with energy costs where People are struggling to heat their home.

I left the day with a renewed determination to make it easier for our Customer-facing teams – those out in our Communities and supporting Customers every day – to do the right thing. And all that remains for me to say is a sincere thank you to everyone who made this visit possible and welcomed us for the day.