Helping each other through these unprecedented times
2020 has been a year that many of us could never have imagined.
Furlough, a word that was not part of our day-to-day vocabulary before this year. Pandemics were something we were used to seeing played out on the news far away in distant lands, or on the big screen courtesy of Hollywood entertaining us. Who amongst us could have foreseen clapping on our doorsteps for keyworkers, a shut down country adorned with children’s rainbow pictures and the emotions that this would bring out in all of us?
Amidst all of this change and uncertainty, we here at Teleshore have been proud to be part of an unsung industry and would like to take the opportunity to thank our forgotten frontline keyworkers in the Bereavement Services.
Our team has always been close knit, but they have pulled together and supported each other unfailingly throughout this pandemic. We saw an increase in the need for shoring and graveside preparation equipment which put our manufacturing teams to the test, but they shone through and we were able to support a grieving nation when it needed us most. Equally, our crematoria products and the manufacture and logistics of these was managed fantastically by our administration teams.
We’re sure the temptation was to stockpile these items in case of production difficulties, but with reassurance from our team, building in emergency back stock at locations and a fantastically organised schedule of manufacturing and deliveries, we were able to ensure that nobody was left without their essential products. Our sole aim was to ensure that you, our customers, were able to continue to offer your services with the respect and dignity that is deserved with each and every burial and cremation.
Ensuring that we could support you meant some long working hours whilst getting used to new regulations and safety measures of our own. Social distancing, new cleaning regimes and rearranging the offices to give everyone their safe space has been challenging at times but as a tactile bunch, who consider ourselves part of a very special work family, the mental health impact on us has been the most challenging. We continue to support each other in whatever ways we can but like everyone else, we hold out hope that 2021 will bring back some normality!
Every year, we try to give a little back to communities around the UK, usually around Christmas time in hope of spreading a little cheer. With the year that we have had and wanting to give back and share some love, we decided to try and help a little earlier this year.
With the help of Morrisons, we have pledged and supplied food for 100 school children and their families who were missing free school meals during their half term break in England. We have also supplied food for 100 families, including advent calendars for the children, in our home nation of Wales and also in Scotland, where a further 100 families benefitted from food and toys for gifts too.
These are very much unprecedented times where we are all in uncharted waters, but we recognise that some of us have better boats and it is our moral duty to help others keep afloat. We are not interested in the politics of who should or shouldn’t have done what, we are only interested in making a difference, however small, to the lives of people who through no fault of their own find themselves in extra difficult times.
If this message has struck a chord with you and you can manage it, why not see if you can donate to any of the many food bank schemes in your area and feed a family one good meal. It doesn’t take much, and if enough of us do it, together we can make a real difference.