On Friday 19 January 2024, Glasgow woke up to some dangerous black ice conditions. This made it harder for staff and volunteers to arrive at the Advice Centre. It even stopped one of our Advice Workers from being able to safely leave their home. However, there was still a steady queue of people who braved the ice and needed advice. We didn’t want to have to turn people away because we were short staffed, so we needed to think outside the box.
Thinking of all the digital skills we learned during the height of the Covid Pandemic, we were able to set up a video session between the advisor stuck at home and the client in the advice centre. The office staff set up comupter with video link and speakers in a private consultation room while the advisor had all the technology they required at home. All the client needed to do was sit and speak. It’s not the same as in person advice but it worked! It’s good to know that in certain situations something like this is an option.