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Jumping in at the deep end, new CEO Howard Toplis took over his role at Tai Calon Community Housing last year in the middle of the pandemic crisis.
As employees made welfare calls to their vulnerable tenants, making sure people had food deliveries, Blaenau Gwent's largest social landlord rose to the challenge to help local people. Four staff members were seconded to help the local Covid-19 Track and Trace effort and six went to help run food banks serving 450 families. Staff also helped with community projects including upgrading a local memorial garden with new shrubs.
Tai Calon, created in 2010 after a stock transfer from the local authority, provides 6,000 homes to those in need in the South Wales valleys. Its next project will be to build 23 energy-efficient homes in Ebbw Vale. The organisation surveyed its 260 staff during the pandemic to understand how people were feeling in such a difficult time.
When the agile working survey, which had a 96% response rate, showed that many team members were struggling with their mental health, Tai Calon ran a unique Coffee Switch event to connect isolated colleagues and held webinars to support team members working from home. At Christmas, the social housing provider surprised all its employees with a personalised gift box.
