Keeping you up-to-date during the COVID-19 situation

Message from John McLean, Chief Executive

We welcome the excellent progress in the roll out of Coronavirus vaccinations and reports that infection rates are reducing.  We know that a large number of the people who live in our homes, especially those who are vulnerable and may be shielding, have had at least one vaccination.

As restrictions ease the safety of our customers and staff remains our top priority and we continue to follow Public Health Agency (PHA) guidelines and encourage the hands, face, space and fresh air campaign. 

We aim to provide the best housing, care and support in all our communities and neighbourhoods, especially protecting our most vulnerable residents.  In recent weeks we have been delighted to welcome back visits by family and friends to our housing with care schemes, in line with Independent Health Care Provider guidelines.  We have also re-opened communal rooms in sheltered schemes in line with the latest social distancing guidelines allowing small groups of tenants, families and friends to meet safely inside. We are grateful for the co-operation of the people living in our homes and their visitors, for respecting one another’s safety.

We have reinstated the majority of our maintenance and housing support services and where a home visit is required, they only proceed with the permission of the tenant and where it is safe to do so.  In all such instances both Radius staff and our contractors follow PHA safety guidelines.   

We recognise that it is a difficult time for many of our customers with concerns over finances, employment and guidance around social distancing. To ease some of the stress we have introduced several initiatives aimed at promoting positive mental health in partnership with our nominated charity Aware NI. 

We are also supporting tenants facing financial hardship and our Welfare Advice Officers have helped 650 people access over 1.6 million pounds of entitlements.  We are also trialling a financial hardship fund for those in the most challenging of circumstances.

We thank all our customers and business partners for their patience and partnership over the last year, in respecting and upholding the safety of our communities.  While aspects of social distancing are likely to continue for some time, we are moving in the right direction towards more normalised living and working arrangements.  Let’s all continue to work together to protect the gains we have made.

Yours sincerely

John McLean

Resident wellbeing

Our priority is to provide support to those Radius residents who need it most, in the most effective way possible. Our Communities staff have access to a range of information to signpost you to relevant support networks including those that are helping to deliver essential food, supplies and medicine and coordinating local services. We are contacting those who are older and vulnerable and may need assistance during these challenging times. We’ve developed a COVID-19 Support section on our website at radiushousing.org You can find information on all of these services, wellbeing resources, homeschooling tips and links to government updates. We know there is a lot of information being issued on a daily basis and we aim to help you find a way through this to get to what you need.

Please remember, If you need help or are concerned about a neighbour you can get in touch with us through our website by completing the online form in the COVID-19 Support ‘How can we help’ section or by contacting us on 0300 123 0888

Keeping you safe

We are maintaining our cleaning services as normal and are concentrating cleaning on high use areas, wiping down key touchpoints such as door handles, push plates, lift buttons and handrails. Even so, please wash your hands for at least 20 seconds whenever you enter your home. Please also work with us to help keep your home safe. Keep all fire exits clear, do not use BBQs on balconies and take care, not to overload plug sockets. If you have any concerns about fire safety then please call us.

Building safety

We are continuing with important building safety work as far as is possible. Any building safety work to the outside of your home will continue where possible, including compliance checks such as gas safety.

Paying your rent

We know that many people may be facing financial difficulties during this period. Our housing team and dedicated Welfare Advice Officers can provide you with 1-2-1 advice and guidance on how to manage this. We also have useful information on our COVID-19 support on the website radiushousing.org This includes details on the benefits you may be entitled to, information on new government packages you may be eligible for, or creating money management plans. 

If you are worried about paying your rent please contact us by calling 0300 123 0888. Please get in touch with us as soon as you think you may have difficulties. 

We know that it is very likely that many people will need to access financial support from the government in these challenging times.

Our repairs service

We want to continue to offer a safe and effective repairs service, however, we also need to protect our residents and our staff by minimising nonessential contact and travel. This means we are providing a service that prioritises compliance, emergency repairs and urgent works of a health and safety nature. If you call to log a routine repair you will be asked to call back in a months time. 

Our staff and contractors will need to ask additional questions about whether anyone in your home is self-isolating. If this is the case, we will need to discuss this with you to make sure we can carry out the repair in a way that keeps you and your family safe, as well as the member of staff that visits your home. Please do not be offended by this, our staff and residents health is of paramount importance to us. 

Please bear with us, as inevitably, some essential repairs will take much longer to complete than in ordinary circumstances. We will of course continue to monitor the situation daily and make changes when we need to.

Protect yourself and your community

Everyone must stay at home to help stop the spread of coronavirus. Government advice is that you can only leave your home: 

• to shop for basic essentials
• to do one form of exercise a day
• for any medical need
• to travel to and from essential work.

We all have a role in helping to limit the spread of the virus. The most important thing is to follow the advice of the Public Health Agency and the NHS. 

Wash your hands more regularly and for longer. If you do have to go out, please keep to social distancing guidelines. This will help to keep our communities safe.