Lockdown Neighbourhood
On March 23rd 2020 the UK government declared a national lockdown in an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19. With travel restrictions in place, daily outings limited to one hour for exercise and grocery shopping limited to essential items only, the population found themselves in uncharted terriroty.
Over the course of a few weeks in April, I spoke to some of my neighbours to get a sense of how they were coping. I wanted to know what they had been doing to keep themselves safe, entertained and well stocked with essentials during these extraordinary times.
Jacqui and Ian
During the third week of the lockdown, I spoke with Ian and Jacqui who were both fairly upbeat with plenty of home-based projects keeping them busy, such as Jacqui’s gardening and Ian tending to his allotment. They talked about their church, their work and their family. The couple’s three daughters all live far away from the family home. There’s Penny who is currently living and working as an English teacher in Taiwan, Sarah who runs a night shelter in Brighton, and their youngest Heather who is house sharing with her boyfriend’s family in Bristol. We talked about what it was like to be apart from their children at such a time.
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Zosia and Sam
GP Zosia and nurse Sam talked to me from the front porch of their shared home about how their lives had changed since the lockdown began. Sam explained how terrified she felt when she came down with severe symptoms and then of how she had to quickly adjust to new working practices when she returned to her job caring for patients at Southampton General Hospital. Zosia explained how she would have now been several weeks into a new job treating patients in Kenya, but owing to international travel restrictions, she is now back at her old GP surgery in Salisbury. Despite everything it was good to be living together and not weathering the lockdown storm alone.
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Colleen and Steve
Married couple Colleen and Steve are both used to working long hours. Colleen runs her own business providing cleaning and companionship to her elderly clients and Steve is a telecoms engineer. Whilst Steve is still able to work from home, Colleen’s business has been massively affected by the lockdown, so much so that she worries what the future might hold. She keeps in touch with many of her clients and occasionally shops for them but, with an elderly parent living locally, her priorities are with them. This is a decision that has not sat well with some of her clients, some of whom struggle to understand the seriousness of the situation.
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Rohan and Ethan
Brothers Rohan and Ethan live at home with their parents, Ian and Vanessa. They talked to me about their last day at school and how the lockdown had affected their studies. Ethan had been preparing for his GCSEs and like many other students his age he faced the possibility of cancelled exams. He talked to me about his uncertainty and what his next steps might be. Rohan’s experience had been quite different and he told me that he and his friends had not been too fussed about school closing. Whilst Ethan got to grips with the possibility of not sitting his exams, Rohan was continuing his lessons via online classes and learning guitar with his tutor via video calls. Although the brothers had barely left the family home, they were socialising with friends regularly via social media and messaging. |
Maxine and Tom
Maxine, Tom and their three year old son Hunter all developed symptoms during the first week of UK lockdown, so they made the decision to self-isolate for 14 days. The couple have always had close contact with friends and family so they were concerned about passing the virus on to Maxine's parents who had looked after Hunter the previous week. Our conversation started with the couple describing their horror when they all developed symptoms and how they have been sticking to a strict lockdown routine ever since, only venturing out for essential supplies and to explore the neighbourhood.
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Sue
Sue spends most of her time tending to her garden which provides her with ample fresh air, exercise and a great sense of achievement. She keeps herself busy with video calls to friends and family, carrying out “walk-bys” to see nearby family members, and generally revelling in street spirit. When I spoke to Sue we chatted about our work, how lucky we felt to have gardens, and the importance of keeping our cars running should we need to travel anywhere. At this point our conversation turned to how hard it was to have parents living far away and we touched on what to do if they were taken seriously ill.
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