Delivering activities and services

Contents

Planning for the roadmap out of national lockdown 

• On 22 February 2021 the government set out a road map to gradually ease national lockdown restrictions in England.
• Here are some questions to ask yourself in preparation for possible future changes:
• Which services or activities might you be able to resume or deliver in person and when? You will need to follow covid-secure guidance. Risk assessments will need to be updated. Read our managing covid risk guidance to help you prepare.  
• Are there opportunities for blended service delivery - some in person and some online? Do your staff and volunteers have the skills to do this effectively? Read our digital and technology content to find out how you can develop the digital skills of your team. 
• Do you have the human capacity to support any changes to service delivery?  Preparing for change will require additional capacity. Policies and procedures might need to be updated.  Staff and volunteers will have to adapt to new ways of working.  
• Are there activities or services you no longer need to deliver?  Does the easing of lockdown have implications for your organisation’s strategy? 
• How will you continue to support staff, volunteers and beneficiaries that are clinically vulnerable or extremely vulnerable? If people are required to work from home for a lot longer is there additional support you need to put in place? Read our guidance on supporting your beneficiaries. 
• Do you know how staff and volunteers are feeling about any planned changes? It will be important to address any anxieties about returning to a workplace in advance. Read our guidance on working with staff.
• How will you maintain the involvement of volunteers?  What additional support might volunteers in particular roles need?  Those resuming roles in person may need additional support and training. Read our involving volunteers section. 
• What plans do you have to support the mental wellbeing of staff and volunteers during this period of change? Levels of anxiety may increase particularly for those who are themselves more vulnerable and or have caring responsibilities. Read our guidance on supporting staff wellbeing.
• How are you going to effectively communicate changes to services with your beneficiaries/service users? Consider how you will tailor communication to the needs of your beneficiaries.  
• Can you work with other charities and local stakeholders to address changing needs?

• For further practical and legal considerations when stopping or restarting a service, watch our webinar on The easing of lockdown: Legal and practical considerations for returning to work (broadcast on 24 June 2020) 

Moving your services online 

Here we outline some steps to take for moving your services online:

Understand your users’ needs

• Before designing or building any digital services, consider your users’ needs.
• Who are your service users?
• What services do they use?
• Have their needs changed due to lockdown restrictions? If yes, how have their needs changed? 
• Do you need to amend your services to reflect any changes in needs?
• How do you engage and communicate with your users already? Is there potential to build upon these platforms?
• It is important to begin with these considerations as any digital services should meet the users’ preferences and behaviours as well as social needs.
• If the time and capacity is available, it would be helpful to conduct some user research to develop a deeper understanding of your users’ behaviours and preferences.
• For more information on user testing see our guidance on how to carry out effective user research.

Explore options and talk to others 

• After identifying user needs, examine the digital tools and platforms that are available.
• Consider existing internal resources. What tools and platforms are you currently using and can they be developed further, used in another way or are they already satisfying user needs?
• Are there other organisations addressing or looking to address similar user needs? Reach out to them to discuss ideas, gain inspiration and explore new partnerships.
• Look for inspiration beyond the sector. Are there organisations within the private sector that have designed digital services to address similar user needs?
• Assess the risks involved in using certain digital tools. SCVO’s blog New world, same rules: safeguarding and privacy offers guidance on adapting safeguarding practices. This includes topics such as privacy, keeping personal data safe, confidentiality, and safeguarding vulnerable groups.
• Consider how you can be inclusive when designing your digital services.  You need to ensure that your service will work for users who have different needs. The government has developed some detailed guidance on making your digital services accessible.

Develop your service and seek feedback 

• Building digital services takes time, so start with small and incremental steps.
• Start small so you can test your approach. Build on your ideas if they prove successful and learn from your failures.
• Be willing to change your digital services over time. Listen to our users about what works and what doesn’t work.
• When developing digital services, it is important to remember that not everyone has the same access to digital tools or technological literacy. Where possible, traditional forms of communication should be maintained to support service users unable to access digital services.
• Be inclusive when designing your digital services. Ensure that your service will work for users who have different needs. The government has developed some detailed guidance on making your digital services accessible.

Helpful resources

There are many resources available to learn more about delivering services online.

• Catalyst has practical guidance on how to use different platforms including Zoom and Google Hangouts.
• Catalyst has also compiled practical guides to charities reuse and learn from one another’s service.
• Read our guidance on designing services, products and activities to help you understand how to move your services and training online. SCVO has developed a how to guide on digital services to help organisations deliver services using digital tools.
• Digital Candle is offering one free hour of expert digital advice for charities.

Cybersecurity during coronavirus

• If your services and activities have moved online as a result of the pandemic, you should consider the cyber security measures you have in place. 
• As a starting point, think about what risks working online presents. Some potential risks are mentioned below. 
• An increased reliance on digital technology such as web hosting, credit card processing and productivity tools such as email, video and chat.
• Changes to resourcing requirements which means updating existing service level agreements.
• Staff using their own devices to access services and data meaning you may be more exposed to malware attacks.
• You can assess your organisation’s security status by answering the National Cyber Security Centre baseline questions.
• You should talk to your IT service providers to check that you are happy with the cyber security measures you have in place. The National Cyber Security Centre has developed a series of questions for you to ask your IT service providers.
• For more information about how to improve cyber security within your charity, read our guidance on five steps to cybersecurity.
  

Data protection during coronavirus

• Data protection rules will not stop people from helping others during the coronavirus outbreak but should be considered if you are asking for personal data.
• Personal data is information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual – this could be a volunteer, or someone being helped by a volunteer.
• The law contains standards to help you handle peoples’ information. Whether you are a small community group or an established charity, you need to know who is handling data and that they are doing it in a responsible way.
• The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has set out six data protection steps that organisations need to consider during covid-19.
• The ICO understands that organisations may struggle to maintain data protection standards at this time. They have said they will not penalise organisations where they have had to divert efforts away from activities such as responding to subject access requests. You can find out more information about the ICO's approach, in their blog post outlining what you need to know during coronavirus.
• The ICO has developed guidance for organisations on data protection in relation to: 
• the collection and processing of covid testing data of employees
• the surveillance of staff and individuals’ behaviours during covid-19
• the maintaining of records of staff, customers and visitors for contact tracing purposes
• collecting and sharing employees vaccination status.