Spotlight blog - April

Disclaimer-This is the independent Spotlight view. It does not necessarily represent the views of Origin management

Hello. Kirsten from Spotlight here. April has arrived. The month that starts with a day where we’re all supposed to make each other look like numpties with our super clever April Fool’s pranks.

This year sawAnt and Dec telling their followers they are in talks to join the cast of the new Bond movie, and B&Q flogging a perfume range of scents including 'Powder of Cement', 'Fresh Saw Dust', and 'Freshly Cut Grass'.

Eleswhere, Babybelfans were alarmed at the news that their favourite cheesy munch was changing to "a new, more 'mature' square shape". It was just too much fun. There was Meghan the musical with Ed Sheeran as Harry and McDonald’snew Big McNugget Boot, “the most flavoursome shoe of SS23”. Oh yes.

This is the first year since 2019, when the Covid pandemic hit, that pranksters have even gone there. Unless that Prankster-in-Chief Boris Johnson meant it as a prank when he chose April 1, 2022 to announce that the Government will:

• Remove the current guidance on voluntary COVID-status certification in domestic settings
• No longer provide free testing for the general public in England.
• Remove the COVID health and safety requirement for every employer

So that was it. All that pain and suffering we’d all endured, locked down in our homes, relatives dying alone, businesses going bust counted for nothing. It was April Fool’s Day and time for some good news, Taa Daaa! Little wonder that we’ve lost all trust in the people, who are supposed to look after the welfare of our nation.

But what’s that got to do with Origin and social housing, you say. Well, quite a lot actually. During the entire long period of lockdown, Origin did actually step up and mounted a formidable program of all kinds of support for the rest of us. Staff were phoning vulnerable residents, running food parcels, collecting prescriptions, handing out cash vouchers, suspending rents for those, who were just skint and simply keeping a constant ear to the ground for that cry for help.

And, you know, that was one helluva comfort for so many of us. It almost made the whole Covid debacle bearable. Almost.

But what a difference a year makes. We’re slowly grinding our lives back to a new reality of hanging on the phone, waiting for Origin ‘enquiries’ to pick up or staying in for the Gilmartin plumber, who never arrives, or arrives too early, before we get home.

Trust in our housing provider wasn’t great before Covid and it’s still not brilliant. But wait, we need to give the system a chance to get back on the horse. The new ways of working take some getting used to.

Later this month, members of Spotlight are attending an all-day brainstorming session at Origin HQ.
Let us know if you have any issues you think we should raise. Hop over to our Residents of Origin Housing  facebook page HERE and tell us what’s on your mind.

Until next time, enjoy the Daffodils.

Kirsten de Keyser