Unsung heroes: The cleaners and caretakers

They’re rarely seen due to the early morning starts but their role is more important than ever in stopping the spread of coronavirus.

Armed with disinfectant and bleach, Bridgend County Borough Council’s cleaning crews are starting work from 4am.

Their main focus is the emergency childcare hubs set up to look after the children of keyworkers but they’re also continuing to clean corporate buildings where essential staff are based.

We have a team going to each of the six schools set up as childcare hubs and the four Flying Start centres as well as the schools which are acting as collection points for the free school meals. Ensuring all the settings are disinfected properly is more vital than ever before.

Before the outbreak of coronavirus, we would usually go through around 200 tablets of bleach a month, we’re now using 15 times the amount, bleaching every school every day. It is a stressful time, we’re constantly aware of the threat of the virus and its implications.

The childcare hubs are mainly for children of keyworkers who are fighting for our lives in the NHS. We need to take care of their children as they are taking care of us.

Cleaning supervisor Michal Sobocinski

Michal’s nine-year-old daughter has been helping to support her dad in his role, drawing a picture showing her dad fighting germs. It’s entitled: ‘We can beat this together.’

Agi Sosnowska, facilities management supervisor, said the council’s team of cleaners had experienced a huge change in the last three weeks to their workload due to a number having to self-isolate and the transfer to cleaning the emergency childcare hubs.

She said: “We are making plans and taking decisions on a daily, sometimes hourly basis, rather than weekly as was the case before the outbreak of the coronavirus.

“Despite the long days and stretched resources, the feedback from schools has been that we are doing great work.”

The council’s caretakers are also experiencing much longer working days with a reduced number of staff to call upon.

Among their duties, they are opening up the various childcare hubs early in the morning ready for the cleaners and securing the site at the end of the day while answering alarm call-outs as required.

Senior caretaker support supervisor Neil Oliver said: “Everything has to keep running, we are doing the best we can in really challenging circumstances.”

Council leader Huw David said: “We are so thankful for the hard work and commitment of our cleaners and caretakers, they are doing an absolutely incredible job in these uncertain times.

“The facilities service has a dedicated team and this is evident from their professional and resilient approach, supporting additional services across the local authority.

“Many of them are travelling much further to the emergency childcare hubs due to their usual schools being closed.

“We can’t thank them enough.”