More of us are now working from home and vital community centres in the most disadvantaged communities have had to close.

For those still working we’ve had to adapt to home working and working with volunteers and groups has become challenging. This week I’ve started to use Zoom and Houseparty, which means Upstart Enterprise can continue the projects we are running in some of Newcastle’s communities.

Self-isolating and staying at home can be a lonely place so it is really important that we continue to communicate with our volunteers on a regular basis.

On Friday the Charabang volunteer group from the Carnegie Building in Benwell are doing our first Houseparty virtual meeting. Instead of working together in the same room on the tasks, we’re using the meetings as team talks. We then assign ourselves tasks which we work on independently and then report back in our virtual meetings.

It’s not business as normal. We’ve had to embrace technology and so far it is working.

For events like jobs fairs, the exhibitors and attendees have been superb and very flexible as we move dates on to the late Summer / Autumn. There is going to be even more need for jobs and skills once the Pandemic is over.

Planning and regular contact is proving vital for us now and in the up and coming months.

Keep checking back on our news section and social channels to see how we’re getting on.

Stay safe

Vicki – Upstart Enterprise