Samaritans (Oxford)

The Samaritans is a registered charity that performs a simple, but vital service: if someone needs to talk, they’re always waiting at the other end of the phone.

Their Oxford branch is one of the oldest and busiest in the country: it was established in 1963, and offers round the clock support, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Last year alone, they took nearly 40,000 calls – a clear indication of the value they bring to the local community.

Samaritans (Oxford)

The Samaritans is a registered charity that performs a simple, but vital service: if someone needs to talk, they’re always waiting at the other end of the phone.

Their Oxford branch is one of the oldest and busiest in the country: it was established in 1963, and offers round the clock support, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Last year alone, they took nearly 40,000 calls – a clear indication of the value they bring to the local community.

Understandably, given that it’s continually in use, their premises were becoming a little run down – that’s when they got in touch with Streamline to bring it back up to speed.

Streamline, which had previously refurbished the charity’s Banbury branch, were keen to make sure this important local service could continue to function without any disturbance. But this presented an obvious obstacle: how do you upgrade premises while they are in use?

We believe that the answer to this question is through top-level customer service, being sympathetic to our clients’ needs and working around them. As such, we accomplished a maximum amount of work with a minimum amount of fuss.

We reconfigured the client’s existing bathroom into a disabled one, including all the appropriate equipment, and converted an old store room into a shower room for people on long shifts, or who like to come in straight from work or the gym. Both of these areas were fitted with anti-slip vinyl flooring, keeping them extra safe.

We also repurposed the director’s office, turning it into a new volunteer breakout area with soft seating and a coffee table and added bespoke items, like a tambour door cupboard and made to measure upholstered acoustic panels, to a variety of areas.

We also dealt with the relocation of the premises’ CCTV monitor, and the installation and testing of new Cat5 points ensuring a great level of connectivity in the building. Next, we supplied new projection equipment to the training room, making sure the Samaritans have access to modern tech that does them justice.

Lastly, we planned the layouts for the charity’s ops room, back up room, and meeting rooms, taking the need for privacy into account, fitted whiteboards and noticeboards, and redecorated various rooms.

The result is a headquarters that this great charity can be proud of, which we hope will enable them to continue their important work to the same great standard as (and easier than) before!

 

(Due to the nature if the premises we were unable to take pictures when volunteers were working)

Prev Next

“Streamline throughout the whole project could not have been more supportive and positive in their approach.We always got the impression that the finished product and their desire to make it work for us was the priority over any financial considerations. They gently suggested amendments and improvements to the original plans, always with practical benefits to the fore and we are now not only delighted with our ‘new’ building, but in the way all the various tradespeople were respectful and positive in their dealings with us.   Any snagging issues have been dealt with promptly and without demur and we would highly recommend Mark and Leigh and the Streamline team to anyone seeking to upgrade and improve their working environment.”

Tony, Director

 

“Streamline was a joy to work with throughout the process of refurbishing our Duty Room and Office in 2016. Mark Steel was very patient with of all our differing needs and cost limitations.  His innovative design made best use of our space and continues to work really well for us. His ‘can do’ attitude was just what we needed and his team worked hard to complete the work within a short timeframe and within budget. The service was courteous and efficient throughout, and I would thoroughly recommend Streamline.”

Davina Birkbeck, Director