Throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s, as well as being a social worker during the day, I also used to do shifts on the emergency out of hours service.
You were pretty much on your own, based at home, receiving calls via a deputising service.
We received every conceivable type of request, ranging from referrals for child protection, through to Mental Health Act assessments and requests for night sitters for elderly people.
You also got requests that were so out of the ordinary that they didn’t readily fit into any category, and required finding solutions by thinking out of the box.
One night, I was contacted by the local police about a couple of New Age travellers, who lived in a traditional horse drawn caravan and would tour the commons and heaths of the county, camping for a few nights at a time before moving on.
They didn’t bother anyone, always clearing up their site before leaving, and no-one bothered them.
Until one night. They had a fire in their caravan, and although they had managed to rescue most of their belongings, and the caravan had been burnt out.
The police were asking for assistance to sort them out with emergency accommodation. This was complicated by the fact that they had two horses and a dog.
As they didn’t have any children, and could not be regarded as vulnerable, social services did not really have any responsibility for assisting them.
In any case, finding accommodation for a couple of able bodied people at such short notice, late in the evening, was a non starter. And finding emergency accommodation for two horses, not to mention a dog, was virtually impossible.
But
being a social worker, I still felt that I should do something if I could. It called
for some lateral thinking.
I had an idea. I consulted my file of useful resources that I had compiled over
the years, and started to make phone calls.
Eventually, I got hold of a local voluntary organisation and had a chat with them. They were able, and willing, to help. It was arranged that they would provide a large tarpaulin and deliver it to the site.
The travellers were therefore able to construct a bender using the tarpaulin and remain on the common, at least for the time being. This meant that they could also continue to look after their dog and their horses. Problem solved.
