Today is the #BigHousingThankYou, a day dedicated to celebrating frontline housing workers who have been the invisible heroes of the country’s Covid-19 battle. We have helped to launch the national campaign, which is supported by the Chartered Institute of Housing, the National Housing Federation, and the National Federation of ALMOs.
Throughout the day, picture stories from the NFA will feature among scores of #BigHousingThankyou tributes to frontline housing staff on the campaign’s Twitter account, @OurBHTY. Housing providers will be sharing their own stories, including @NPH_news.
The day began with the launch of a two-minute video on the website of the housing sector’s top news publication, Inside Housing. The film features 22 residents and leading figures from organisations across the housing sector, including our chief executive, Mike Kay. They read a specially commissioned poem against a backdrop of housing staff from more than 30 housing associations, councils and ALMOs, all pictured on the Covid-19 frontline.
Mike Kay told us: “We are really proud to be a part of this campaign and have the chance to share our gratitude with the nation. Housing colleagues do a tremendous job all year round and the response to the Covid-19 crisis has been outstanding. I know first-hand how hard my team is working to maintain services, whether that’s calling vulnerable tenants to check on their welfare, delivering food parcels, picking up essential medicine, carrying out essential repairs or keeping building sites running so that we can provide new homes for those in need. This day is also a chance to say thank you to our residents for doing their bit. We’ve received lots of messages of support and thanks from residents, which have given my team a real boost.”
Staff at NPH have still been working to keep communities safe and well-cared for: they’ve provided over 1,000 care packages for residents, undertaken emergency repairs, and called hundreds of vulnerable residents weekly to provide a friendly ear at the end of the phone. They’ve kept new-build works and adaptations going, at a safe distance, to keep providing value to Northampton. Call centre staff and rent officers have been there to reassure and advise residents, at a time when so many have feared for their livelihoods and even their homes.
To prepare for the #BigHousingThankYou, we spoke to some of our frontline workers, helping provide care packages and keeping the work on new builds going. Read the what they had to say below:
This gorgeous poem will be read by some of housing's leading figures and published on Wednesday 20th May.
We've decided to share it now so that you can make local versions if you would like to. Please don't publish the contents until the big day!
Thanks Are Due
Here we make a house a home,
here we make a flat your own...
and this work we don't do alone.
There's hundreds out there every day
working hard to keep at bay
the wear and tear, the "come what may" -
To you we owe our gratitude
for your bravery, your aptitude:
caretakers take the time to care, empty bins, clean the stairs,
make a difference everywhere;
care workers lend a helping hand: medication, dignity,
a ray of hope - they're the key;
sparkies, plumbers conduct repairs, keep the lights on, keep prepared
every home, every space we share;
and those who run our refuge spaces, who provide the safest places
to go when things are at their worst;
and residents, now well versed in social distance, staying in
who keep things calm, inspiring;
and everyone who works with us, delivers, fixes, and in doing thus
makes us proud, keeps our chins up.
To our workers: we depend on you -
your bravery, your fortitude,
for every single thing you do
a million times, our thanks are due.
All the artwork you will need to join us for the #BigHousingThankYou is available to copy and save, we hope you like it. Just right click on the image and save to your device.
If you have any issues accessing the resources, please email hbensusan@nph.org.uk