As we leave the winter behind and start to enjoy the spring of 2021 the new shoots of nature reawakening feel that little bit more special this year as the sense of ‘normal life’ starts to return. The past 13 months have been an unbelievable rollercoaster that we’ve been forced to ride and probably something we would have never imagined possible, had it not just happened.

On reflection Cambridge Cyrenians and the local homeless population have managed to survive this unwanted ride without too much direct impact from the coronavirus pandemic. We have been very lucky, with infection rates much lower that anyone would expect and within Cambridge Cyrenians almost no cases and no serious infections as a result.

Although we have been lucky avoiding an outbreak or serious illness within our accommodation, we have noticed an impact on our resident’s health and well-being. Our ability to provide the support we expect has been hampered by the lockdown restrictions, and while we have managed to maintain face to face support; 2 meters apart in a park in the middle of winter are not ideal when you’re trying to help someone through a difficult time.

External support to our residents has been even more impacted with almost all support being delivered remotely. While this suited a few, the majority of our residents missed the face to face support and suffered as a result. In our recent residents’ survey the impact of COVID was made clear with 41% reporting that they had experienced increased stress throughout the pandemic. Thankfully, 89% felt that staff at Cambridge Cyrenians have been extra supportive throughout, one resident commented “For me, I feel that the staff have supported me through COVID and in every aspect for which I am grateful.”

Now we are moving out of lockdown we are well placed to help our residents move-on from COVID, over 95% of our staff team and 100% of our frontline workers are fully vaccinated thanks to the NHS and the County Councils efficient mass vaccination programme. Throughout the pandemic we have continued to successfully move residents on from our accommodation and into homes of their own, something we intend to continue throughout the summer and beyond.

I am looking forward to spending less time sat at my dining room table and more time in the office seeing actual people rather than a video of people’s faces on a screen. While I’ll miss the extra time working from home has allowed with my son Benjamin and our newest arrival Penny, I won’t miss the distractions and shrieking in the background.