Coronavirus Update from Almond HA

Statement from the Chief Executive:

ALMOND HOUSING ASSOCIATION OPERATIONS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we have decided to close our office from Friday, 20^th March for the foreseeable future. This decision has been made following the government recommendation to stop all non-essential contact with others, and to protect our staff, our tenants, and our services.

The government has advised people to avoid all non-essential contact to prevent the spreading of the Coronavirus. This means that although we do not have any known cases of Coronavirus throughout our staff, we must take the precautionary measure of closing the office to prevent our staff and our tenants and our contractors from catching the virus where possible.

From Monday 23rd March all of our staff will be working from home. This will be the first stage of our business continuity plan and we hope it will allow us to continue to run as normally as we possibly can – simply call our office on 01506 439291 and you will be directed to the most appropriate member of staff. Please note that while we are doing all we can to avoid disruption to our service, these calls and transfers may take slightly longer with our staff working from different locations. We are working extremely hard to keep the service running smoothly but please bear with us as we make these changes.

We hope that we will be able to continue with this first stage for as long as possible, however that will depend on the spread of infection amongst our staff, our tenants and our contractors. In the event that any of these groups are affected to a point where it becomes difficult to maintain this level of service, we will move to Stage 2 of our business continuity plan.

Stage 2 will mean that we provide a restricted service, so there may be a halt to Capital Works Projects, less allocations, no mutual exchanges or transfers. When we move to Stage 2 we will notify all tenants via our website and on social media.

In the event that we are not able to deliver services at Stage 2, we will move to Stage 3. Stage 3 is the final stage of our business continuity plan and it will mean that we move to an emergency only repairs service provided by our third party call handlers and our reactive repairs contractors. We hope that we will be able to avoid Stage 3, but we want to be clear with all of our tenants about what steps we’ve taken to ensure the delivery of key services throughout the duration of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Almond HA will continue to follow the latest government advice and we will adapt our strategy to fit with the guidelines provided. Please see our website and social media channels for regular updates.

If you have any of the symptoms outlined by the government, please begin the self-isolation process and remember to let us know. You can get in touch with us by calling 01506 439291 or emailing enquiries@almondha.org.uk.

We understand that this is an uncertain time for many people and we are here to help in any way we can. In the event that you feel you may have difficulty paying your rent, please contact your Housing Officer to discuss your situation.

We wish you all the best during this difficult time and look forward to resuming our face-to-face services as soon as possible. Please see our Frequently Asked Questions below for more information.

George Webster,

Chief Executive