Defective Crieff building results in race against time to find and furnish alternative accommodation for four vulnerable residents

A chimney at risk of collapse in Crieff resulted in a race against time recently to move four people with learning disabilities from their supported accommodation into alternative lodgings, with a number of businesses stepping in to help.

Hillcrest Homes, which owns the building housing the Hillcrest Futures supported accommodation, received notice about the chimney on a neighbouring building, and immediate action was taken to rehouse the four residents.

The alert triggered a speedy response from the business community, with the town’s Murraypark Hotel stepping in to offer accommodation until longer term housing could be arranged by Hillcrest Homes.

Edinburgh based firm, The Furnishing Service was also quick to offer help, donating a range of furniture items for the new supported living accommodation and enabling the new homes to be ready to welcome the four residents much sooner.

The joint effort and fast response meant that the individuals were settling into their new supported accommodation only three days after the alert was issued resulting in minimal disruption to their support.

Joy Dunlop, managing director of Hillcrest Futures, said: “Having worked tirelessly through the pandemic to make sure that there has been very little disruption to services, this emergency is another great example of how well staff have co-ordinated their response and communicated to the people we support to ensure a positive outcome – indeed it has been such a positive experience that the people directly affected report that they have loved the experience!

“Our staff commented in particular about how helpful the hotel staff were, and that the contribution from The Furnishing Service was invaluable. This joint effort between Hillcrest, Murraypark Hotel and The Furnishing Service meant that a potential disaster was very quickly averted and importantly resulted in a positive experience for the four of the people directly affected.”

Olivia Geragthy, customer liaison manager at The Furnishing Service, added: “We received a call from Hillcrest Homes asking if we would be able to complete two full decants by that weekend. Our dedicated team made this a priority and made all arrangements efficiently to complete the task.”