Glasgow: West Scotland Covid-19
Service Overview
Update as of 1st July 2020
For information only
The Glasgow area have now entered their second phase of crisis response as food banks and other community-led food poverty organisations have begun to re-open.
As of July 1st 2020, service users that are referred to the Glasgow Red Cross team will receive a food parcel containing 3 days’ worth of non-perishable food (fresh food will no longer be provided, and toiletries will be an additional extra as above). The Glasgow Red Cross team will then contact the service user to arrange ongoing support from other community organisations and food banks. If the service user contacts the support line again, they will receive an emergency food parcel with one days’ worth of food, and contacted again to explore avenues for ongoing support.
Please note that your referral process will remain the same. If a service user contacts the support line requiring assistance, we should refer this to the Glasgow Red Cross team for them to arrange urgent provisions and ongoing support.
The service overview below is still correct as of July 1st 2020, and remains for information only
The Glasgow service is a very busy team, to which many of our callers are referred for support. The following may help you manage the expectations of service users.
Please ensure service users understand this is an emergency support line and calls for support are for a one-off food parcel. The Glasgow team don’t offer regular deliveries of food parcels.
All requests for urgent support must be referred to Glasgow Red Cross team. Please do not signpost urgent requests to the Glasgow City Council. Even if the service user has received a food parcel from us in the past, the Glasgow team will refer the service user to Glasgow City Council for ongoing food deliveries if necessary.
When you refer a case, please make it clear how many days of food the service user has left. This will determine the urgency of the request. A way to gauge this is to ask how many meals they can support themselves with. If the service user is anxious or distressed, it is also helpful to record this in the case notes.
Questions and answers
How long does a referral take?
After receiving a referral, the Glasgow team will always contact the service user to do a needs assessment before they deliver a food parcel to a them. The Glasgow team will attempt to contact the service user numerous times over three days. A same day call cannot be guaranteed, so please manage expectations. Referrals are prioritised by how much food the caller has. For example, three days of food will be a lower priority than one day.
Does the Glasgow team give the service user a delivery time?
No, the delivery is negotiated initially but no time slot is given. Deliveries are geography tasked.
If the caller can pay for their shopping, can their shopping be done for them? This is being done via local authority not the Red Cross. This area is not using Huggg.
Food parcels
What’s in the food parcels?
Food parcels contain dried or tinned food, tea, coffee and other basics.
Are special dietary requirements considered?
Dietary requirements such as allergies will be catered for, but personal preference is not. The Glasgow team will discuss these dietary requirements with the service user in more detail when they do their needs assessment.
Do parcels include special items such as dog or cat food, toiletries and sanitary products?
Please tell service users who ask for additional items they will need to ask the Glasgow team when they contact them. Please be sure to manage expectations around these extra products as their availability can vary.
Repeat callers
Service user says, “No one has been in touch.”
Ask them to confirm their telephone number and encourage them to wait for a phone call. Send this referral through as normal, and the data team will update the case and inform Glasgow of any changes.
Service user says, “I’ve missed a call from the Red Cross.”
Advise them that the Glasgow team will try to call them again. Encourage the caller to keep their phone close to them. This type of call can also be referred as normal.
Service user says, “I’m waiting for a delivery which has not arrived.”
Explain this information will be passed to the Glasgow team who will look into their case. Refer the case as normal.
Service user says, “I was receiving weekly deliveries from the Red Cross…”
Explain there is a chance their delivery was from a different service such as the Glasgow City Council as the Red Cross don’t make weekly deliveries. Refer the case as normal and the Glasgow team will deal with the referral. Encourage the service user to call the support line again if they are ever worried about running out of food.