Residents at a care home in Crieff had to be evacuated after fears a chimney stack on an adjoining building was about to collapse.
An emergency response got under way earlier this month after the crumbling chimney was discovered on a building next to the Milnab Street care facility, which is run by Hillcrest Futures.
Concerns the stack could collapse at any moment triggered a race against time to move four people with learning disabilities from their supported accommodation into alternative lodgings.
Emergency response
The speedy response drew some much-welcomed support from the local business community.
The town’s Murraypark Hotel stepped in to offer temporary accommodation until longer term housing could be arranged.
Edinburgh-based firm The Furnishing Service was also quick to offer help.
The firm donated a range of furniture items for the new supported living accommodation and enabled the new homes to be ready to welcome the four residents without delay.
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.
Safely rehoused
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.
“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 for four of the people directly affected.”
Evacuation of care home residents
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.”
A spokesman for Hillcrest confirmed that the residents had now been resettled in alternative temporary accommodation where it is anticipated they will remain for the coming weeks until it’s safe to return.