Today is Scottish Housing Day and we are celebrating its theme of the value of social housing
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented many challenges to East Lothian Council’s housing teams. We’ve had to adapt to delivering more services remotely and putting extra safety measures in place for dealing with cases where we needed urgent access to properties, for example urgent repairs.
But it was perhaps the human impact of lockdown that proved the most challenging for staff who work closely with our tenants. They really were on the frontline at times.
One of our Community Housing Officers told us of a conversation he had with a tenant during lockdown. The tenant had phoned the CHO on a completely different matter but the conversation took an upsetting turn…
It became clear that the CHO was talking to an extremely vulnerable individual who admitted to feeling very low. They then hung up on the CHO and he was unable to get back in touch. Very quickly, the CHO alerted Police colleagues. The outcome was that the tenant got the support so urgently needed and, potentially, a life was saved.
If you need any support with your tenancy, visit the housing pages on our website or call us on 01620 827827.
If you have been affected by the story we’ve told here, please get in touch straight away. There is always someone who can help.
You can also call The Samaritans on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
In an emergency, always dial 999.
There are more useful services to be aware of:
- East Lothian CWIC Mental Health phone line
- 1st Response
- Eastspace (online guide to all mental health and wellbeing support in East Lothian)
- Breathing Space
- NHS 24
- SAMH