Welcome back!

With lockdown now easing at Lench’s Trust I am sure you would like to know how we have been dealing with Covid-19 over the last few months and what our plans are in order to keep the Lench’s Trust as safe as possible. For both residents and staff alike!

Protecting the residents and staff at Lench's Trust.

First, it is extremely important that we enforced the ‘Social Distancing’ rule within the Lench’s Trust; this means every resident and staff member has to make sure he or she are at least 2-metres away from each other in order to prevent the transfer of any symptoms. Furthermore, all staff members had equipped themselves with PPE this included: A facemask, face shield, apron, gloves and hand sanitiser. Finally, around the building all surfaces (walls, doors, handrails etc.) get cleaned constantly throughout the day.

As Covid-19 became more serious and the UK applied a tough and stricter lockdown, the Lench’s Trust made adjustments to follow suit. Each of our sites asked residents to remain within their apartments to limit the risk of them contracting the virus; this also came with the hard decision to prevent visitors from coming and going within our sites at the Lench’s Trust. To further enforce the lockdown at William Lench Court it was decided that the facilities (the Gym, Hairdressers, Library and activity rooms) would be closed until further notice. The shop and café was still up and running but provided a limited service to make sure the residents get want they needed.

The café took calls from residents that wanted meals, and then said meals would be delivered to the apartments of those that wanted them. For the shops, it was crucial that the residents still got their daily necessities so food parcels were made up ready for the residents. All this was done to keep the residents from congregating together and risking the heath of both residents and staff.

To keep the residents safe a system was set-up to collect the residents’ dirty laundry and bin bags. This was very effective as it meant keeping the apartments clean and pleasant for those living at William Lench Court. In addition to this, we also dealt with the post to prevent someone from the outside coming in and walking around the premises.

End of May through June

Through the later side of the lockdown (End of May through June) as the UK eased its lockdown; so did Lench’s Trust! While facilities remained closed we allowed residents to leave there apartments if they wanted to go shopping for essentials or go out and get some exercise… of course they had to be wearing the correct PPE (facemask, gloves and hand sanitiser).The especially vulnerable residents still had the food parcels and café service delivering to them. With the residents allowed to leave, it also gave the all green for the sites at Lench’s Trust to allow visitors. This was still restricted and permission had to be booked in advance to stop a huge influx of people coming in. It was great to see morale high and happy faces of the residents seeing their families/friends once again!

Going into July

We are now at the beginning of July and the UK has slowly been pushing the country out of lockdown through different phases allowing for ‘infinite travel’ (though mandatory facemasks for public travel) and ‘unlimited exercise’. It was even encouraged by the Prime Minister himself to go back to work if you cannot work from home. Even from the 4^th July, plans to open Pubs, restaurants and hairdressers will come into effect. So how will the Lench’s Trust begin to ease its lockdown?

First things first ‘Social Distancing’ will be enforced more than ever at the different sites (Lench’s Close, Tanner’s Close and William Lench Court) as more visitors (and residents) being able to come and go it will be of the utmost importance to make sure the risk of Covid-19 stay as low as possible.

The lockdown at Lench’s Trust planned to end Monday 6^th July this means that:

1. Visitors will be allowed back in the schemes, including families, cleaners, hairdressers, deliveries etc. We will however advise (that is all we can do unfortunately) that they wear a mask as a minimum in communal areas – corridors & reception;
2. As families will be visiting (and residents are going out) we will no longer do the shopping or delivery of shopping to the individual apartments – only to those who cannot go and who do not have families or friends able to do so (if a resident and their family decide to continue the lockdown for health reasons we will accommodate);
3. We will no longer dispose of the rubbish on behalf of the residents;

We will no longer distribute the post at William Lench Court – the arriving post will be placed on the tables at reception and residents will have to come and collect (distribution only for those who are housebound).

The above does not affect the communal areas (including the laundries), which will remain closed until September at least, and the restaurant at William Lench Court.

We hope that you remain safe and stay alert, with the lockdown ending within the UK it is important that you are still cautious of Covid-19.