The impact of COVID-19 on our charity - Play Gloucestershire - began with the cessation of school and community sessions from March 17th 2020.  We were forced to furlough 15 members of staff in order to survive.  As one of the three un-furloughed staff members, work provided a structure for me during such an unprecedented time of change.

Initially we created ‘Virtual Play Rangers’, sharing online content detailing low-cost play activities and mental health boosts, but we wanted to do something practical, and being mindful of digital exclusion, our ‘Bags for Play’ campaign was born.  Each bag was a mini version of the kit we would usually take to communities in our fleet of vans. Equipment that could lead to play at home, in the garden, on a balcony. With the help of external funders, long-term local council funders and generous donations via our ‘Bags of Play Appeal’, we packed and delivered 1,500 bags for vulnerable children and families across Gloucestershire.    

I felt incredibly lucky to be able to help with the Bags of Play Appeal, physically packing the bags provided a welcome distraction and knowing that I was doing something practical to help vulnerable children and families made me feel useful after the initial stage of working from home, regular Zoom meetings and adjusting to a 'new normal'.

I particularly enjoyed delivering bags to individual children living in the communities where we would usually be offering free, open access play sessions. Hearing about their experiences, which were varied but predominantly positive, with some relishing free time and being at home with family, others feeling frustrated and cooped up; gave me an insight into the social inequalities facing children during lockdown. Those living in less rural areas were often in flats sharing communal indoor and outdoor spaces, making it difficult to socially distance.  ​

In addition to this, I worried about children who were having a negative lockdown experience, the mental health implications for adults and children, and families who were struggling without the usual school or social support networks. 

Concerns about the impact of lockdown on the most vulnerable children in Gloucestershire created an opportunity for us to collaborate with Gloucestershire County Council's Early Help and Prevention Team. They funded us to lead Play Nurture sessions for vulnerable children and those facing a disrupted transition from year 6 to year 7 due to the pandemic. Our Play Nurture work provides vulnerable children with the time and space to take part in child-led outdoor play and benefit from its restorative and healing qualities.  ​

My life took a drastic turn one sunny afternoon in 2004. That’s all I remember of the day actually - how hot and sunny it was. The rest of it had to be told to me as I was lying in a hospital bed with a broken back from a rock climbing accident. For the next couple of months I was pretty much useless and relied on other people to do everything for me. Dealing with that was harder than dealing with a broken back – I was supposed to be an independent person but circumstances now meant I was completely helpless.

As I gradually recovered I came away with two strong lessons for myself. Firstly, if was ever in the position where I could help someone, I would treat them with as much dignity as possible (exactly as I had been). Secondly, it’s really difficult to ask for help. Sometimes no matter how much it’s needed, people just won’t ask (exactly as I didn’t) - so we need a better way to make it available. 

Fair Shares has always been about connecting people and finding ways for people to share their skills, interests and acts of kindness to make everyone’s life better. It’s about how we value people and the time they give. It’s different to traditional volunteering in that everyone is encouraged to give their time to help and everyone can also benefit from the help of others. We’ve tried to rethink those old acts of charity into a community endeavour to look after itself by supporting itself. I’ve seen how this has meant it’s easier for people to accept help because they know they are part of a community where their contribution is just as important and valued.
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When COVID-19 hit we had no idea what we should do, but we were here and we would do something. We embedded ourselves at the Friendship Café community centre and we connected with and talked to as many people as possible – our participants, local residents, local action groups, other charities and the council community hub. Almost straight away a path presented itself. The community said what was needed and more importantly it said how it wanted to help.
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In Barton and Tredworth (where we are based) the local covid group assigned a representative to every single street and we would leaflet all the houses and know who all the vulnerable people are. We didn’t wait for requests for help - we just went round and offered and reminded everyone that as a community we will support everyone and get through this together. We soon realised just how big a problem food was - access to food, access to shops and access to healthy meals. A food bank was set up and we were collecting food donations from supermarkets, local businesses and residents. We also started cooking and delivering hot meals Monday to Friday.

​The Council Community Hub would refer people to us who needed things like prescriptions picked up, but my job was to then talk to them and find out how they really are. After talking to a gentleman who wanted a prescription picked up I soon found out that he hadn’t eaten properly for the past three days.

"It’s been great to see more of our colleagues at Gloucester Services getting back to work in the past week, after time in furlough for many.  The Kitchens and Farmshops are now fully open and it’s been great to see the social media praise for the new measures in place to keep people safe.
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Lockdown has been tough for most of us, and now more than ever we want to support our local people and their businesses.
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Gloucester Services stocks the produce of over 130 local producers based within 30 miles of the site on the M5, and a further 70 within the region, many of whom are family businesses, small or businesses and even one-person-bands trying to make a living from their passion.  Everything from Cinderhill Farm’s infamous sausage rolls (made in the Forest of Dean), to Beeswax Wraps (made in Nailsworth), to the delicious organic milk from Jess’s Ladies farm in Hardwicke, shows how much talent and fabulous produce is at our fingertips locally. 

Last year we hosted two ‘meet the buyer’ events to give local producers the chance to meet the team at Gloucester Services and pitch their goods. It was great to see some of those making it into the Farmshops and Kitchens before lockdown, and I really hope people will now start coming back in there and buying local.

Of course we’re also keen for this to happen to ensure we can continue supporting our local communities, with up to 3p in every £ spent at Gloucester Services coming back to GGT to invest in local people and projects.  Every year this income means we can reinvest over £200,000 back in locally through our fantastic community partners and other projects, but as Sarah Dunning, Chair of our business partner at Gloucester Services said on BBC Radio Gloucestershire last week – we can only receive that income when the business is open and thriving.
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They say charity starts at home, but doesn’t everything?  Support local businesses, support local people.  We hope to see you at Gloucester Services next time you’re passing."

"Ever since ‘Footlights’ started up in 2017, I have aimed to make it feel like a weekly ‘family party’, so everyone has been welcomed at the door with a hug and a kiss. When the Coronavirus crisis began, we immediately changed to greeting each other with ‘elbow bumps’ instead, and did this in a fun and lighthearted way, whilst realising the importance of the new guidelines.

One of our own members, a virologist for many years, had warned me of the impending situation, and by the 16th March, we had decided to close, just hours before the Government announced advice for our more mature age group to ‘shield’.
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The last song we enjoyed together at that final session was ‘We’ll Meet Again', and this was very emotional…. The words had never meant so much to us all. Of course, it is now the ‘anthem’ for the Lockdown experience of the whole nation.

​The friendships and strong bonds forged at ‘Footlights’ have stood us in good stead, as communication between us all has been plentiful.

​As well as emails and texts, my  husband, Ross, and I, have been phoning several different  ‘Footlighters’ each day to check that they are well. (It takes a while to contact everyone, as we have around 70 members.)
 
We also offer the ‘Jolly Jukebox’ service, where we can sing requests down the line! Number one in the ‘charts’ is Sir Ken Dodd’s ‘Happiness’, which never fails to bring a smile!
 
I was also able to provide a singalong at a VE Day Party at Chapel House Care Home, as arranged earlier in the year. This was only possible because of their Covid free status, and the large garden.

​The very first practical responses to the coronavirus pandemic were led from the ground up by front liners, families, friends, neighbours and volunteers. It was an example of something wonderful, something that the Trustees and staff at the Gloucestershire Gateway Trust have always believed in and hold in the highest regard. It was what George Orwell called “common decency." 

As social animals we feel safer when we recognise how interconnected we are and when we feel for others and they feel for us. The mutuality we feel at times like these shows that deep down, maybe, just maybe, we are fonder of one another than we normally let on. 

​"Gloucester Services is an incredible place to work, where no two days are the same, and over the past five years my team have become my family. I’m proud of everything we achieve together on a daily basis to give our customers the best possible food experience we can to break their journeys on the motorway.
 
Unfortunately due to Covid-19 a lot has changed over the past few weeks that is out of our control. Whilst still trading in the Farmshops, Kitchens and Quick Kitchens, we made many adaptations to our working practices in order to stay safe and proactive for our customers safety; including introducing social distancing stickers on the floors, screens at the tills and encouraged contactless self service at the tills. We were able to offer so much help in the community, from baking fresh bread and delivering it locally when people were unable to get it themselves to donating Easter eggs to NHS families, as well as multiple donations within the community whilst we were closing down.

Like many people in the hospitality industry I have been furloughed, meaning no work to go to for a while. This is an alien concept to me, I’ve always worked, I don’t even take more than 10 days off for a holiday as I miss the rhythm and routine too much!

It has taken a lot for me to adapt to a new Lockdown way of life, without my work family to get up and go to everyday, without the buzz of a busy Friday lunchtime to look forward to, it’s definitely a challenge to remember what day of the week it is. However, I’m extremely proud of the way everyone took the news of furlough leave in their strides, knowing it’s the right thing for the business and ourselves during this time, working together to clean down and close up the kitchens and quick kitchens with care and precision to ensure we have a great place to return to when we are able. The hardest thing for me was seeing our usually buzzing kitchens with no colleagues or customers, just dark and quiet once we’d closed them.
 
Everyone is keeping in touch still, using our internal Facebook groups, it’s great to see what everyone’s getting up to whilst not working, learning new skills and sharing food ideas together! We had a virtual baking competition over Easter which really got everyone’s creative juices flowing, just a shame we couldn’t all taste the winning cakes!

COVID–19 is a different world for us all, it’s making us think differently, live and behave differently, but there are some good things that are coming out of the fact that we are on lockdown.  It’s been a difficult few weeks for many of our Gloucester Services colleagues as they have had to temporarily shutdown the majority of the site.  But we are lucky as there is a strong community within and our relationships with GGT's Community Partners have really been invaluable during these last few weeks.

We have always worked with and funded GL Communities to pick up food that we are not able to sell at Gloucester Services and deliver to community food cupboards in the area.  This week we have been able to make a big food donation, which is collected and delivered to collection points in our target communities - see our food support article for details. 

Our community partner GL Communities also offer free money advice, what benefits you are entitled to and how to claim them. It can be complicated and daunting, the team have a wealth of knowledge and can guide people through the process.

One of things that Mark Gale is often heard saying is “ The only thing that is stopping us is our imagination”.  Gloucester Services was born from creative and community aspirations. Now more than ever we need to think out of the box. The way we connect with people, at home, family, our neighbours, friends our colleagues.  I am lucky and proud to be in Stroud, where a group of people set up a coronavirus community response network, https://neighbournetworks.uk/, giving out advice, mapping out streets and ensuring everyone is supported and linked to someone. It has bought people together and people are now talking and meeting people on line who they have never met, but have lived in the same road for years.
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On our street we have two WhatsApp groups, a serious one and a funny one to support each other during these strange times. Each year we have a street party and this year is going to be one big celebration of people we all have met, people who have helped us laugh, supported us and kept us all going. 

I know it’s going to be challenging, for people who know me,  I am not one to sit still for long. But I have picked up the phone to friends who I have known for years and had proper catch up’s. One of my good friends is a yoga teacher and is offering yoga on facebook, it’s great, I get to hear and see her and do some yoga at the same time (a calmer me is always appreciated by my family!). We have decided to have tea and cake once a week with some local friends to support each other over Zoom to share stories and advice on our children.  

Last week I celebrated my birthday and more than ever, I felt very lucky to have such amazing friends and family around me.  The usual more material items, were replaced by homemade items from my family, a 'Queen of Corona' crown from son number one, a medal from son number two (we often run together) and rose tinted glasses from my husband. We spent the day together and walked a former neighbour’s dog, in a bizarre way it was actually a lovely day.

At the end of all this, we may live in a different world where we are more connected, make more time for each other and appreciate each other and a world  where the only thing that is stopping us is our imagination.

"Life is tricky and it’s getting trickier for lots of people in these exceptionally uncertain times. However even in this current COVID-19 crisis there is much to celebrate in our communities.

GGT has for years been promoting the importance of neighbours helping neighbours, kindness and recognising that everyone has skills and knowledge to share. In fact we know that good neighbours and friends are what people in our communities value most. Sometimes the hardest thing for people is being confident enough to offer or ask for help. Well in the last few days we have seen a tidal wave of people stepping forward to connect people up, helping and looking out for each other. 

​There is self help action in almost every area.  Although we must always follow the governments health guidance in order to protect ourselves and others, I urge you to step forward and get involved.  Call a friend, relative or neighbour who might be in isolation, or volunteer to get some shopping or collect a prescription for someone who is housebound.  If we do this then despite all our worries now our communities will come out of this crisis stronger and more connected than ever before.

Gloucester Services is a great example of communities seeing opportunities in adversity, changing the M5 from something that caused pollution and accidents into a community asset. Together we can now generate new opportunities to connect people as neighbours and friends, helping us all to build stronger communities now and for the future."

"After some of the challenges of 2019, I’m hoping that we can all be a bit kinder to each other in 2020.

What makes communities special is the positive time we all share chatting to friends and neighbours, playing together and keeping an eye out for each other.

The great news from our 2019 Annual Community Survey* is that most residents in our neighbourhoods still want to share their skills to help other local people.  When we start sharing local skills and knowledge, we find that the solutions to many local ‘problems’ lay in our own hands. What people often need is to be allowed some time, trust and resources to create their own opportunities and solutions.

A great example of this in 2019 has been the amazing array of activities generated by our local Culture Matson partnership with its many and varied partners. This group has helped turn the reputation of the local area from being seen as a problem into an asset. Culture Matson partners like GL4, schools, churches, library and many community partners organised a plethora of events from theatre, dance, beat boxing, circus skills, outside cinema and many more all of which have been led by local people.

Now people come to Matson to go to the theatre and other community festivals. As a community we are focused on helping to increase this activity providing us all with new opportunities to get to know more people, make new friends, have fun together and generally make a spectacle of ourselves. That’s what I call perfect 2020 vision."
 
 
*for a copy of our Community Survey email office@ggtrust.org and we’ll send you a free copy, or visit our publications page.