The Wellbeing service for people age 60+ helps around 425 older people in North-West Glasgow manage their Association tenancy, keeping in regular contact with them and, in normal times, putting on a lot of social events, groups and clubs.

It also supports older people when they’re ill, whether they are tenants of the Association or not, ensuring they have their medication and working alongside hospital discharge teams and Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership so that people can stay safely in their own home.

Gillian Harkins, wellbeing service manager, who runs the service, said: “I can’t praise staff and our service users enough in dealing with the huge impact that COVID-19 has had on their lives. Our staff have completely stepped up to the mark, changing the way they work, and now taking on personal care as part of the service we offer.

“We have more than sixty people on our most vulnerable list who need regular contact. Isolation is a huge issue as most of our customers live alone. Staff are going out shopping, picking up prescriptions and organising food deliveries.

“I can’t express how proud we are of the Wellbeing team. We’re also pleased our service users have adapted so quickly to this new situation. They are so appreciative of everything we do for them.”

The Association has recently stepped up its support for older residents having achieved a ‘care at home’ registration with the Care Inspectorate.

This means its Wellbeing workers can now provide service users with personal care like bathing, showering, dressing and toileting.

It is also working closely with social care services to identify and support people whose care packages have been reduced or changed due to the pandemic.

• Read all of our articles relating to COVID-19 here.