INDEX
Chief Executive’s overview
Our financial strength has given us a huge opportunity to provide extra investment to our localities and neighbourhoods, and even more support. For example, we’ve helped our local authority partners by providing temporary accommodation for rough sleepers. And I’m delighted to have launched VIVID Plus, our new charitable arm, which will enable us to channel what we do to deliver the very best social outcomes possible for individuals and communities.
Mark Perry
With the world having changed so much over this last year, I think it’s made many of us really take stock of what matters most in life. And for me at the heart of this is being kind and caring, realising that everyone has faced varying degrees of challenge.
10
This is where genuine empathy, understanding and support can make a real difference. It’s something we’ve continued to talk about openly in our business, and has helped us focus on what more we can do moving forward, over and above what we’ve done before. We’re here for the long-term, and the last year has reinforced that through good times and bad, there’s a central role we at VIVID can provide in helping people improve their life chances and
2019-20 ANNUAL REVIEW AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2020-21
supporting communities to thrive. Mike has made clear many of the challenges we have faced this year and I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved to support our customers, communities and each other. A large focus has been managing our response to COVID-19 but it’s also been so much more.
Throughout the year we helped customers access more than £5.7m in benefits or income they were entitled to, helped 589 customers back into work and over 600 customers with their digital skills to give them access to online products and services they’d otherwise be excluded from – all this support being so important to ensure customers can maintain their tenancies and improve their wellbeing, especially when faced with particularly challenging circumstances.
