Delivering Good Relations activities with tenants during the Coronavirus lockdown

Radius Housing Association continues to deliver HAIP good relations activities throughout the Covid - 19 health crisis in line with public health guidelines. The Housing Associations Integration Project (HAIP) is a €1.1m project funded by the EU’s Peace IV Programme which is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). Match-funding for the project has been provided by the Executive Office in Northern Ireland and the Department of Rural and Community Development in Ireland

Radius had a unique opportunity to help deliver this successful partnership project bringing lasting benefits to communities across Northern Ireland and the border regions.  Covid 19 has presented us with challenges in delivery of the final stages for the project. The tenants and staff have pulled together to ensure the project delivery continued, while ensuring the health and safety of all participants was prioritised.

In line with government guidance, the project moved to digital and remote engagement only, we provided tenants with the opportunity to attend online Zoom and OCN training. This helped build confidence and resilience and enabled the tenants to keep in touch with family and friends, participate in training and education and helped prevent social isolation during lockdown.

We hosted virtual coffee mornings, a neighbourhood Art Competition and group meetings via Zoom. Eventually we were able to get to the stage were tenants were able to participate in socially distanced activities outdoors such as gardening projects, planting  hanging baskets  and writing to Pen Pals from Choice Housing Association who they met during a HAIP twinning  project.

In Radius communities and neighbourhoods tenants have been encouraged to build sustainable relationships with tenants from other housing associations through out NI.  They have made friends from all parts of the community in which they live, they realised how easy it is to for divisions to remain if people from different religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds do not work and pull together to bring barriers down.