I’m still working today but it’s less manic so I have a bit of time for reflection. What have I learned over the last three weeks?

1. Councillors play an extraordinary role in their communities. All of them @SouthCambs have been fundamental to our response. 1/12

We have 106 villages and 1 small town, and within a week our councillors had led or supported their communities to establish complex and intricate systems, to make sure every vulnerable individual is contacted to see what help they need and put plans in place to deliver it. 2/12

Innovation has been at the forefront. One village ‘hijacked’ their annual fun run website to turn the payment mechanism into a way that vulnerable people could set up a personal kitty to be used by volunteer shoppers. 3/12

Villages have been divided into streets and zones with military precision, each one with its own particular flavour depending on what will work best in each place. Where councillors have come up against problems 4/12

...they’ve asked me or my colleagues to help. We’re talking to the Co-op at a national level about how to establish a system of payment in advance by phone (for the villages who don’t have a website to hack!). Will it work? Not sure, but we’ll have a bloody good go at it. 5/12

2. My colleagues (whom I already knew were amazing have been - well - AMAZING. We moved 400+ people out of the office and within 24 hours they were all working from home. Challenges? Yes. But a staff survey ten days in (We were worried not everyone would cope) showed.... 6/12

....impressive results. We offered flexibility (it’s virtually impossible working with
toddlers or young kids at home for example) and people have risen to the challenge. Split shifts (one parent starts very early, one finishes very late) are now normal practice. 7/12

Who knew that ‘show and tell’ virtual lunches would become a mainstay of my colleagues’ coping mechanisms?! And pictures of pets on keyboards... we have a complete @SouthCambs pet album 8/12

Not forgetting my colleagues who can’t work from home. Our waste operatives and street scene folk have been the unsung heroes of the public sector. I clap for them every Thursday 9/12

And many colleagues have volunteered to work where we need them most. Supporting communities and our businesses. There are too many to shout out, but they are all fabulous. 10/12

3. Working with partners has been essential and I’m grateful to the support from my CEO colleagues across Cambridgeshire. Thanks for your forebearance (I’m a relative newcomer to #Cambridgeshire) 11/12

That’s it. Thought it was worth sharing. I’m as proud as ever to work in the public sector. And eternally grateful that as a team we can do our bit to help people in our little part of the world. 12/12