Colleagues on-campus throughout Covid

While it’s been a tough few years for everyone, staff from across the University were at the forefront of helping other colleagues and students face the issues brought about by the pandemic.

Even though many of us had to change the way we work and study, some colleagues continued to be on-campus, implementing new systems, helping to keep our facilities going and supporting students who couldn’t go home.

Just a few colleagues have given an insight into their experiences of working on-site during the pandemic:

Gillian Naylor is Assistant Retail Operations Manager who manages front-of-house for three of the University’s main cafés. As the lockdown began in March 2020, retail operations were closed and Gillian was re-deployed to support students at Collingwood College.

She said: "Right throughout the pandemic, there were always students in college –international students, postgraduates and undergraduates. It was a really worrying time as none of us knew what to expect, so we tried to support the students as much as we possibly could.

“Students were sometimes in almost complete isolation at the college so I helped to set up new services such as pantries and cooking facilities to give them access to all the basics they needed. Some of the things we were doing were definitely out of my comfort zone, but I knew I had to help and ultimately, I enjoyed the challenge.

“We were all pretty scared at the time, but after working with new people, learning about the colleges and helping where I could, I was very proud of the work we did.”

Gillian Naylor

Neil Stoker is a General Services Assistant and he worked throughout the lockdown, helping to make sure our buildings were kept in top shape. He said: “Lots of people were furloughed but I worked on-site to make sure the water systems were kept healthy, flushing out the taps and toilets, carrying out weekly fire alarm checks, and helping contractors to carry out maintenance work on our buildings.

“Three of us covered all the buildings around the Teaching and Learning Centre, Palatine Centre, Bryson Library and the Student Union, so there was plenty to keep us busy!

“It was a surreal situation with no-one around. It was a bit like a ghost town sometimes and though we were all pleased to come into work and do our bit to support the University, it’s been good to see people returning to the site.”

Neil Stoker

Rachel Harding is Assistant Customer Services Manager based at the Oriental Museum. She usually works across the museum, Palace Green Library and Durham Castle, but during lockdown, Rachel was re-deployed to the Bill Bryson Library to help set up new Covid-safe working practices. This included implementing safety measures such as one-way systems, sanitiser stations, establishing a new online booking system, supporting Library and Collection staff to re-open services safely, and working directly with our students.  

Rachel said: “It was nothing like my usual job but I worked in a bubble with other colleagues to make sure the library was as safe as possible for everyone.

“Although I initially worked from home, I returned to work on-campus pretty quickly and it was like coming to a new workplace. I didn’t know much about the library at first, but everyone helped each other and we all just got on with the job and did what needed to be done.

“I applied my knowledge in different ways and we achieved an awful lot. It was actually a really good atmosphere to work in and I was pleased I could support the efforts to keep people safe.”

Rachel Harding

Kelly Newton is the Reception Helpdesk Team Leader based at the Palatine Centre. Although like many people, she needed to work from home initially, Kelly was back on-site in the summer of 2020.

She said: “While a lot of the team were furloughed, a small number of us stayed to keep essential systems like the maintenance helpdesk going, helping to keep on top of any maintenance issues across the campus.

“When I came back on-site, I was based at Mount Oswald to help with the opening of the site where we had three new reception desks. I managed reception as well as the maintenance helpdesk and I was definitely pleased to be back!

“Right throughout lockdown, we were here for people, helping to keep things going, and though it was sometimes a difficult experience to manage, we had to think on our feet and I think we all adapted really well.”

Kelly Newton

Marc Page is the Housekeeping, Cleaning and Stores Team Leader. Together with HCS Assistant Christine Guarnaccio, they worked throughout the pandemic to keep facilities clean, sanitised and safe. Marc said: “Right through lockdown, we had to make sure all the sanitisation stations were filled and ready for people coming back. We cover a lot of the University’s buildings and keeping them all clean over the past few years has been really important.

“Another part of the job was keeping people supplied with the correct PPE to make sure we were as safe as possible, and obviously keeping on top of the sanitising supplies was a big task. But people really pulled together and supported each other as we knew we had an important role to play.”

Christine said: “I was only at home for a few weeks and came back to work in April 2020 as it was really important that buildings and everywhere that people touch were cleaned regularly.

“The situation was very strange, a bit like a science fiction film! Wearing the PPE took a while to get used to but everyone understood the new ways of working and I think we all adapted pretty quickly.”

Marc and Christine

Vicki Hedley is the Customer Services Co-ordinator for Digitisation and Disability Support based at the Bill Bryson Library. She worked to implement a range of new systems and processes throughout the pandemic and helped people with remote access to learning materials.

Vicki said: “We introduced a range of ways to help students maintain their learning, many of which we’re continuing to offer. Things like our postal lending returns, virtual enquiries desk, space booking system and TALIS, which offers a single easy-to-use way of accessing reading lists.

“Obviously it was a tough time, but out of a really challenging situation has come so many positive changes to the services we provide at the library.

“It also feels like everyone’s more aware of their own wellbeing, and after working in a bubble with a small group of colleagues, the pandemic just reinforced what I knew already: I work with some really great people who did their best to support each other, helping us to become an even more closely-knit team.”

Vicki Hedley