Peterborough teacher thanks key worker charity for helping fund night away

The initiative was set up soon after the start of lockdown in March by online booking specialists eviivo. They noticed that thousands of key workers across the UK were being forced to relocate or isolate away from their families in order to do their jobs.

In response, they decided to create a new website to bring together all of the available rooms in one central location. It was aimed to not only take some of the stress out of the situation for frontline workers but also to support small, independent hospitality businesses which have been hit severely by COVID-19.

Currently, more than 1000 properties are listed on the site, with several available for special rates.

Also as part of the initiative, eviivo have offered key workers holiday vouchers as a thank you for the incredible work they have done throughout lockdown and beyond.

Natalie (31), who is a teacher at Ravensthorpe school, is just one of those to be supported by the scheme. She used her voucher for a night’s stay at the Kings Head County hotel in Kings Lynn.

She said: “I was initially intrigued by eviivo’s Stays for Heroes scheme and knew it would be a great opportunity.

“I was so happy to receive money towards my stay, making it an exceptionally cheap summer’s night away in Norfolk! I was very grateful that teachers were given the opportunity to use it and hope that many teachers were able to make use of it too.

“Due to the current coronavirus situation, we are now using more remote learning to communicate with parents at the current time. During lockdown it was great for the children to form further relationships with other children from different year groups in our own bubble.

“However, due to the long period of time off school, some families did not access the remote learning that was provided for them, whereas other families engaged greatly. There are big gaps in learning over this time period, and it has been a struggle for some teachers to manage this.

“It was great to see the engagement in home learning increase over time though. Teachers have become more knowledgeable in using systems such as Teams, Google Classroom, Tapestry and Zoom as a way of interacting virtually.

“I think that children are happy to be back in school. Due to the restrictions that need to be followed outside of school, it gives them a safe space to just be.

“They seem happy to learn and appear more appreciative of the teaching and learning that takes place in school, which is wonderful to see. There seems to also be more of an awareness of other people and the way we behave towards each other both in and out of the classroom.

“I would definitely recommend taking a break and using any of the schemes available to us. It was actually one of my colleagues that recommended the scheme to me.”

Ian Hardwick, Partnerships Director at eviivo, added: “So many essential workers are facing immense pressure to keep the country going, and many of them are being forced to move out of their homes either to isolate away from their families or to be closer to work.

“At the same time, the independent accommodation sector has been impacted tremendously, with thousands of bookings being cancelled in the wake of the crisis. Rooms that would usually be booked are now empty, so we decided to bring our community of properties together to try to help those most at need while also supporting these local, often family-run businesses at the same time.

“In recent weeks there has been a real sense of coming together, and we hope that through Stays forHeroes we can do our bit to support.”

The scheme has also been praised by the The Bed and Breakfast Association. Chairman, David Weston, said: “Business has dried up for thousands of B&Bs all over the country, which would normally be filling up with bookings over the next few months.

“Having spoken to many property owners who are listing their accommodation through Stays forHeroes, it allows them to remain open while also making it that bit easier for key workers to find rooms in their area.

“They are working round the clock to keep the country going and having a comfortable, safe place to stay will hopefully go some way towards supporting the incredible work they are doing.”

For more information on Stays for Heroes, visit www.staysforheroes.com/.