(written on Sunday 15th about Friday 13th)
A lot has changed since I last wrote. As the UK, much of Europe and countries across the world face the prospect of the closure of many IRL public spaces, in which touching people, and movement will be heavily restricted, the world feels very different now than it did a week ago.
I was off on Wednesday and Thursday, feeling a little under the weather (thankfully not COVID-19) but I was back on Friday to volunteer again at the Irish Centre.
With there being a palpable shift in public consciousness towards the possibility we might be facing lockdown similar to Italy a lot of the conversations at the Irish Centre were about COVID-19. It was a smaller group this week - with many families choosing to stay at home. Facing the loss of many public spaces, brings into sharp focus what holds society together and today I was really struck by how precious and important inter generational social groups are. I think they are precious as they are so rare, and there is something really beautiful about systems of care in which everyone receives. Most of the volunteers at the babies and toddlers group are grandmothers, and they host the space for parents and carers as well toddlers and babies. I love the jokes, the care, and the impressive organisation that goes into every week - preparing activities for the kids to do.
Despite the temporary loss of meeting spaces there are incredible initiatives being started to provide networks of care. Mutual aid is going to take many forms and I am starting to see groups set up in local areas to help each other. You can see a list of links to these groups here
https://docs.google.com/
We know this is going to affect people who are most vulnerable in society - the precarious, month to month, zero hours, the elderly, the homeless, anyone dependent on social services, carers, people living alone, those without access to clean water and sanitary living conditions and more generally anyone working in industries that relies of people - gigs, art galleries, cafes. As Jürgen Kloop, the manager of Liverpool football club said about the decision to stop football matches - 'football is the most important of all the least important things', but there is much more to it than the loss of entertainment - there is the loss of income for low paid workers who support it - the groundsmen, bar staff etc.
In the evening, I went to volunteer at the Discover Islam Centre, close to the centre of town. It's a fantastic place that does a lot of outreach work with schools, has a coat project - where people can get a coat for free, and does a weekly food project giving a free hot (delicious and nutritious!) meal to those in need.
I was only here for an hour, but I really enjoyed being involved in the project and meeting Sohail (here in the picture) who works at the Centre. It made me question why I wasn't more involved in voluntary organisations - previously I thought this is because I don't have much money or spare time, but I realised here how much is possible in just one hour or whatever time you can give.
A lot has changed since I last wrote. As the UK, much of Europe and countries across the world face the prospect of the closure of many IRL public spaces, in which touching people, and movement will be heavily restricted, the world feels very different now than it did a week ago.
With there being a palpable shift in public consciousness towards the possibility we might be facing lockdown similar to Italy a lot of the conversations at the Irish Centre were about COVID-19. It was a smaller group this week - with many families choosing to stay at home. Facing the loss of many public spaces, brings into sharp focus what holds society together and today I was really struck by how precious and important inter generational social groups are. I think they are precious as they are so rare, and there is something really beautiful about systems of care in which everyone receives. Most of the volunteers at the babies and toddlers group are grandmothers, and they host the space for parents and carers as well toddlers and babies. I love the jokes, the care, and the impressive organisation that goes into every week - preparing activities for the kids to do.
Despite the temporary loss of meeting spaces there are incredible initiatives being started to provide networks of care. Mutual aid is going to take many forms and I am starting to see groups set up in local areas to help each other. You can see a list of links to these groups here
https://docs.google.com/
We know this is going to affect people who are most vulnerable in society - the precarious, month to month, zero hours, the elderly, the homeless, anyone dependent on social services, carers, people living alone, those without access to clean water and sanitary living conditions and more generally anyone working in industries that relies of people - gigs, art galleries, cafes. As Jürgen Kloop, the manager of Liverpool football club said about the decision to stop football matches - 'football is the most important of all the least important things', but there is much more to it than the loss of entertainment - there is the loss of income for low paid workers who support it - the groundsmen, bar staff etc.
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In the evening, I went to volunteer at the Discover Islam Centre, close to the centre of town. It's a fantastic place that does a lot of outreach work with schools, has a coat project - where people can get a coat for free, and does a weekly food project giving a free hot (delicious and nutritious!) meal to those in need.
