Welsh Government’s £10million fund, enabled local authorities to engage with all those sleeping rough and ensure that they had access to safe and suitable accommodation to meet the pandemic restrictions. Within the first two weeks of lockdown, local authorities had accommodated, or re-accommodated, over 500 households who had either been sleeping rough or were in accommodation unsuitable for social distancing, this figure has risen to over 1000 households since the pandemic began.

Local authorities reconfigured teams and redeployed staff to ensure effective provision of services and also to find new ways of working with partners. The mechanism of a centralised coordination cell within each council brought together partners such as health, registered social landlords, police & probation, third sector organisations etc to collectively plan and deliver services.

These experiences have helped to shape and plan for current and future provision of homelessness and housing related support services.

Continuing to support homeless people during the coronavirus pandemic: local authority guidance | GOV.WALES

During the pandemic the West Wales Friend in Need initiative was introduced with the help of funding from Age Cymru. The projects aim was to improve the ability for formal and informal volunteers to digitally connect with people across West Wales, in doing so reducing social isolation and loneliness. A regional project group was established for organisations to work together, the membership of the group consisting of Age Cymru Dyfed, Pembrokeshire County Council, Ceredigion County Council, Carmarthenshire County Council, Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services, Carmarthenshire Association of Voluntary Services and Ceredigion Association of Voluntary Organisations. A total of eleven community and voluntary groups received funding from the grant resulting in over 1,100 individuals benefitting from the initiative with 155 volunteers spending 1,975 hours working within their communities. 

The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) and the National Procurement Service (NPS) have received a “Commended” certificate for the 'School Procurement Award' from the Education Business Awards for their collaboration in providing school children with face coverings. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the NPS worked with Lyreco, the WLGA and RotoMedical, the medical and protective equipment division of the Rototherm Group, based in Margam, South Wales, to manufacture and distribute a 3 layer face covering to Wales’ schoolchildren via the NPS framework for personal protective equipment. The WLGA highlighted a need to provide face coverings, to Welsh schools to the NPS following the issuing of a Welsh Government grant to Welsh local authorities to purchase these items. There was also a desire to have the face covering manufactured in Wales. Subsequently, the NPS and WLGA worked with RotoMedical to understand how they could help service the Welsh public sector in the fight against the virus. Lyreco purchased the products from RotoMedical on behalf of NPS and distributed them to customers utilising their own nationwide logistics network. Lyreco service their South Wales customers from their own distribution centre in Bridgend and North Wales customers from just over the border in Warrington.

Galw Gofal was established by Conwy County Borough Council’s Social Care and Education, Community Wellbeing Team to provide support in the home through telephone systems to improve peoples’ quality of life and independence. During the pandemic Galw Gofal services were extended to include those in the community who were shielding. In order to respond quickly to the growing need for support during the pandemic, Galw Gofal built on existing partnerships with organisations including Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Age Connects North Wales Central and Community & Voluntary Support Conwy. From March to August 2020 10,789 daily telephone check calls were made with staff responding to a range of enquiries from assistance with delivery of food and prescriptions to signposting to Community Wellbeing Teams for support to get online.