Coronavirus (Covid-19) 30 day Action Plan with effect from 17th March 2020
In response to the stringent new measures announced by the Government on 16th March, Circles South West has drawn up a 30 day action plan that with immediate effect applies the principles of social distancing across all aspects of our work. Primarily this means avoiding non-essential contact with other people and avoiding unnecessary travel.
In drawing up our action plan, the health and well-being of our service users, volunteers and staff are paramount whilst we retain a practical commitment to alternative, creative service provision. We are mindful that the new measures will exacerbate feelings of social isolation and loneliness already experienced by core members and we will therefore provide a virtual service where at all possible, thereby also continuing to provide an additional layer of risk management.
With this in mind the following actions plan are in place for an initial period of 30 days (until 16th April):
Circles of Support & Accountability: face-to-face (direct) Circle meetings are suspended. Where possible Circle meetings will instead be held virtually via teleconferencing, video-calling, Skype and Zoom. Where this is not possible we will increase core member telephone contact with their Circle Coordinator and Volunteers. We will continue to share relevant intelligence with statutory agencies.
New Circles of Support & Accountability: where possible we will continue to establish new Circles of Support & Accountability by setting up ‘Virtual Circles’ i.e. teleconferencing, video-calling, Skype and Zoom. Where this is not possible we will postpone new starts to such time that social distancing measures are relaxed.
Referrals for new Circles of Support & Accountability: New referrals are welcomed at this time and we can assess potential new core members remotely. There may be some delay in starting new Circles as above.
Group-work and 1:1 intervention programmes: All group-work and 1:1 intervention programmes scheduled up until 16th April are postponed.
Internal volunteer training: All volunteer training scheduled up until 16th April is postponed.
External training and consultancy: All training and consultancy scheduled up until 16th April is postponed.
Staff: All staff designated home workers and set up as such. They are required to solely work from home for this interim period. They can be contacted as usual via telephone, email and video calling/conferencing.
Governance: Our Board of Trustees has called an Extraordinary Board meeting and will continue to oversee the charity’s response to the current crisis.
Communications: Our action plan is being communicated with all stakeholders including volunteers, core members, other service users, purchasers, commissioners and funders, referrers and partners
Please contact us with your queries and concerns at info@circlessw.org.uk or on 07717 442413.
We thank you sincerely for your ongoing support for our work at this challenging time and hope that you and yours stay as well as possible.
Staff and Trustees of Circles South West
