CASE STUDY

HIGHLAND AUTO CAMPERS

WHEN coronavirus started appearing in Inverness, care home manager Victoria Connolly was determined no one who worked or lived there would fall ill.

So she asked the staff of the Isobel Fraser home in Inverness if they’d be prepared to live onsite and was thrilled when 14 said they would.

But then came the problem of where to put them.

The 38-year-old said: “There are a couple of rooms upstairs I could fit six people into. But then I thought, ‘Where am I going to put everyone else?’”

“Ihaveafriendwitha campervan so I phoned her and asked if we could use it. She agreed but I needed more so she suggested I hire one.”

Victoria got in touch with Highland Auto Campers whose owner Mark Jarratt, 44, immediately agreed to hire her three vehicles for cost.

While they’d normally charge £130 a night for their practically-new fleet, the care home got them for just

£250 each a week.

Mark says: “We’ve only been going two years but earlier this year, things were going well – March was picking up and April and May were fully booked.

“But we only get an eight-month window to make our money because of the tourist season so lockdown came at the worst time for us, the start of our season and was a complete disaster.

“Then around April 14, we got a call from the Isobel Fraser home.

Stories were, by then, beginning to emerge that some care homes had been really badly hit by coronavirus.

“They said that while the home was free of coronavirus, they knew they needed to take steps to keep both staff and residents virus free and by providing accommodation for their staff on site. They wanted to rent three of our vans to do this.

“We were surprised to get the phone call – there are a lot of similar companies in the area – but quite pleased and we immediately agreed to assist in any way that we could. We just wanted to help.

“It was also a win-win situation for us. The campervans hadn’t been used for a few weeks, they were just sitting quarantined and this was income – not a great deal of income but better than nothing.

“Even though they hadn’t been used for weeks, and one was so new it had never been used, we gave them a thorough clean before driving them over and setting them up.

“The staff and some of the residents were quite excited when we arrived and were looking out of the windows.”

Six care home staff slept in the vans for between three and five weeks. Manager Victoria said: “They really enjoyed it – they were warm and comfortable. Most have said they’d take them out on holiday!”

The care home, which has 27 residents, hasn’t had a single case of coronavirus. Mark said: “We were really proud to have been able to help. It’s good to do something for the community.

TEAMING UP: Highland Auto Campers owner Mark Jarratt with girlfriend Alicia.