It’s not how it used to be, but today was the first time we had a significant staff presence in our office since March 2020. Everyone in our team is self testing twice weekly – Sundays and Wednesdays – and mask wearing is Mandatory as well as ventilation of windows. (Double vaccinations is also helpful).
Being a grassroots BME, refugee and migrants charity it’s important that we can speak to people face to face – safely – as well as use the new ways of working remotely. Furthermore, it’s even more important that we can reach those individuals who don’t have digital access or skills, compounded by literacy or language differences. They are the ones who have most missed out and unfortunately, Zoom and phone calls does not always cut it.
We have ordered in more desk and full length screens too. Next week we will have our first hybrid board meeting, with seven trustees coming in for a special lunch and meeting, and to meet new staff members. It’s an important step forward and the next stage is to bed in safe working practices before risk assessing how we deal with clients inside our office.
Of course, there continues to be a real and significant threat from new variants of the virus so we all need to be mindful and observe long standing advice and guidance on social distancing and, where appropriate, the wearing of masks. All of this is a process of bedding in safe working practices. It’s great to be able to ask someone a random question or brainstorm new ideas inside the office.
Onwards and upwards!
Robina Qureshi