How one local mental health charity is supporting service users and employees in lockdown

How have they been affected by COVID-19?

Like many charities that work directly to provide face-to-face support to service users, Scunthorpe and District Mind were faced with the challenge of rapidly moving service delivery online. This was complicated by the nature of their work, and the importance of helping to support those whose lives and routines had suddenly and dramatically changed.

COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted those with underlying mental health conditions and has led to health and financial stress, as well as isolation, in many people who may have had little experience of mental health issues in the past. It was therefore vital to keep service delivery running as smoothly as possible so that their service users were not without support when they needed it most.

How did Office 365 help the charity to work through COVID-19?

‘The initial problem was finding a way to store our documents, however, our subscription has really helped us step up and continue to provide a safe, effective service during the current pandemic.

 

I think long term it will be a big asset to us as now we are using it effectively we have a lot more flexibility both for staff and service users.’

 

- Claire Chapman, Executive Director

Scunthorpe and District Mind found Office 365 useful in solving the problem of remote file-sharing. When working remotely, charities need the ability to quickly and easily share documents and other assets and collaborate in real-time. Scunthorpe and District Mind accessed a combination of SharePoint and Microsoft Teams to solve this problem.

One of the unique challenges they had been facing was extending their support to hard to reach groups such as those living in rural areas. Using Microsoft Teams, the charity is able to run video support sessions with these service users. This allows them to support a number of people, including those who have caring responsibilities, shift workers and people with transport problems.

‘We are a very small team and our skills lie in mental health rather than IT so I have to confess that for a good while we didn’t make the most of our subscription at all. We now use MS Teams as a central part of our work. Staff are all currently working from home so Teams means that we can work effectively and communicate easily on each shift.’

 

- Claire Chapman, Executive Director

 

Microsoft Teams also helped to bring their remote team together. Providing telephone support to people in crisis can be extremely stressful. So charities that work in that area need to make sure that the same support is provided to their staff. Microsoft Teams has allowed Scunthorpe and District Mind to provide peer support from colleague to colleague, allowing them to feel supported and to stay well in such difficult times.

They also attribute Office 365 with allowing them to keep vital funding. In the midst of COVID-19, charities have had to prove they can still deliver services. By digitising their service delivery using Office 365, Scunthorpe and District Mind have been able to continue operating.

‘We have had to evidence that we can continue to deliver services safely and effectively so this [Office 365] has definitely helped us to keep our current funding at a time when many charities are struggling.’

 

- Claire Chapman, Executive Director

CHARITIES CAN GET SUPPORT WITH MIGRATION AND SET-UP

The Charity Digital Exchange team offer a Cloud Manager Service to help with implementing your charity’s new Office 365 plan, helping you take the hassle out of set up and configuration. Contact our customer service team to find out more.