Report transcript in: My 2020 Story

Please Report the Errrors?

Good morning.

How

you doing?

I'm OK. So, um, today, I'm going to be interviewing my friend Sharon.

Um,

About

what? Covid. And her covid story. So

I'll hand over to you, Sharon. There's no point me introducing you.

I'll let you do that.

Um, and we'll just have a chat.

Yeah, no worries.

Um,

well, I've known you, Karen, for

10, 15 years. In one guys or another when we pass, keep crossing, which is fantastic.

I work

for the Methodist Church in

Colder

and I employed on community engagement. So I don't actually work in site churches.

I do a little bit,

but mine's about working in the community

and addressing any needs. So it's not much

that different

to car another that mine's got a fierce element to it.

And I also lead a mobile. It's called a mobile ministry. It's been two buses,

and now it's a band, which we've worked with you and youth groups and on A S B and all

stuff like that.

So I

get involved in

all

parts of

brilliant.

That's me.

Yeah.

So,

um, well, I'll I'll join

you.

How do you feel that covid has affected you? Sharon from the beginning of lockdown.

I know we've had this conversation a few times.

Yeah,

I think it's almost 12 months now because we're in March 21

you could sort of almost feel it coming.

And then when it actually you sat down and

watched Boris that Friday night at six o'clock,

it will like it felt like

it just a massive shock. It's like, What?

What's this all about? What's going on? We've never known anything

interrupt our lives like like this,

and what does it mean? So I guess for the first, I don't know

good few weeks.

I think

I'm certainly in shock. And how does it affect my work?

How does it affect my personal life?

And,

you know, when they said you were going to be locked down for 12 weeks,

it felt an enormous amount of time.

We're 12 months on,

and we should be in a similar situation.

So it took me a while to get my head

around because I'm normally based out in the community working

and a very social person

and all that stuff. But it it's it was

because

it was a health crisis. It

that acceptance was there Almost

where I think

you have to do this.

Yeah,

you have to do this.

So that's that's how it affected me initially.

And then as things started to change,

we like going on our holidays and going for weekends away.

And we couldn't do that.

But as soon as we were released, sort of over the summer, it's like,

right where we're booking.

So we managed to get 22 good weeks away in this country where we might have gone abroad

and some weekends away. And that

and then we got locked out again.

So that's the sort of personal side of it.

And I've known a few people

who have died not directly, but know of that.

We've come to know through our work and and, you know, one of I told you about

in touch.

So I think everybody's been impacted

one way or another by Covid.

Yeah.

the work certainly changed. I was gonna say about your work, Sharon. I mean,

have you not been able to go out and do the work that you normally do?

We did a bit when relaxation, but I think we were in tier two or three at the time.

And we did some work with the police about, um,

educating people about covid restrictions. They got so complicated, didn't they?

Yeah.

So we we give a sheet a printed sheet in a little bag, all covid secure,

all quarantined

with a face mask and tissues and sweaters just to

engage with people alongside the police for community awareness.

So we did some of that.

And how

do you

think?

Did you did you notice what people were saying?

What were they saying? Pretty

when? Yeah, when we worked for North Halifax's partnership up in North

because the infections were really high at that point, weren't they?

And and people on the whole was sticking to

were telling us they were sticking to the restrictions.

But they were saying that that it was certain pockets of people

that they thought infections were getting higher.

They were confused about the message that were coming out from the government

and then just being able to clarify that as much as we can,

we felt like we were doing something really valuable in in in the community.

But it was difficult because you normally really

engage with somebody you've got masks on,

so you can't read the facial

body language.

Um,

but we did as much as we can and what we thought we should be doing in that time.

But a lot of the work and night time economy that we do in the town centre. That was all

stopped. And,

um, I'm also a police chaplain. So I wasn't

initially able to go into stations so much or go out on patrol with the police,

and they were getting hammered all the time by covid being spat out

by being abused,

just taking so much of the time up.

So just being there to encourage people and

get alongside them when I could was really important for me as well.

Brilliant. Because we all need encouragement

a big one.

Yeah, I think we do. I think I think a lot of people have felt very low

over,

you know, going into lockdown, coming out of lockdown, back in lockdown.

And then now I think we're on a home stretch out. We I think we're

Yeah,

we're all for tea,

and we all need air.

Yeah,

it's so it's so tiny. I mean, right now we've got into a routine working from home.

I'm on 50% furlough now,

But working from home,

we we seek to do this at a certain time now where we never had that sort of routine.

But we have his lunch. We go for a walk. I read my book.

We go for another walk if we're allowed. You know, it's

much of a routine to get us through each day.

I think you have to.

Yeah. I think you have to have some kind of normality.

Um,

how how do you? I think there's going to be a lot of mopping up with people around

mental health.

How

do I

How do you feel?

It's gonna impact your work going forward, though, You know,

Do you feel as if you're gonna have to

start again from scratch or

take up where you

like? I

think I do. I mean, during during a lot

during lockdown, we've been adapting stuff to go online, so we've done,

um, because we've got a vehicle, we do prayer drives,

and we've been doing quite a lot of these interviews.

We've been doing the chickens and angels. People might have seen

those out.

We're gonna do hearts,

um,

prayer ribbons. But we've been working with church churches to enable them to

look at different. They're gonna have to operate different in the future

and to be more community minded. Some are some not so

that might be down to an age demographic,

but just trying to encourage them and give them some ideas.

How small things like finding an angel or a chicken

really brighten somebody's day,

you know, Or just something really

litter picking. We did litter picking and I

and that's an easy, easy thing to do,

and people really appreciate it.

So it's just getting out there and loving your community.

Yeah, brilliant,

brilliant. And

that's my thoughts. Just love your community. I love you.

Love your neighbour, which which is what we try to do as Christians.

I think we all do.

My work is gonna change and we're going Yeah,

and we're gonna have to start building those relationships again.

I think,

as most people are,

I think most people are.

I think a lot of people like you say have

been affected through mental health or illness or loneliness.

Isolation.

I think a lot of people have been affected.

Yeah, so that

confidence around coming back out and doing maybe taking off where they left off.

It's not gonna happen overnight.

It's going to be building the the the confidence and the strengths again.

It because,

you know,

people like you said, people have lost people. People have been,

you know, not seeing the families or the friends, and

it's got to have an effect on people. It's got to have.

Do you know, I I know well, on the odd occasions that I'm,

I'm doing face to face with someone,

and that's generally when I'm doing the chatting to work with the police,

you're chatting and you you have that connection and that interaction

which you don't normally have other than your immediate family and I come home.

Oh, I'm absolutely shattered because I've had to use a different part of the brain

and interacting with somebody Face to face is very much different to online,

and it really is,

and this is for me that's used to doing it. So people that have been

in for 12 months, plus

it's it's finding them now it it's finding them and being able to

to work with them

and then wanted me to work with them,

you know, they might. They might not want to. They might think you know what?

I've done my bit.

I don't really want to do it again.

Yeah,

and that

that's

really hard, because

I know that we

Halifax we have got some amazing,

amazing leaders,

you know, of people that

go above and beyond and always have done and put their community first. And I think,

you know, I think it's totally understandable if them people say,

Actually,

I I'm not I'm not bothered to let somebody else come along,

but it's finding that other person into to to take over them

and it certainly,

I mean, me and my

me and my husband's been talking, you know, I've just gone 55

thinking,

Is it time to start winding down now?

Can can we almost afford to start because it

makes you really evaluate everything in your life?

Yeah. And your priorities and what really really matters.

We might have thought we knew what matters.

But until you get time, I totally agree with that. Sharon.

Yeah, I totally agree with that.

It does make you wonder, Um

and

I think you know, when you think about your family and things like that,

it does make you evaluate your

thoughts and where you think you go

in.

I know, definitely. I have during my lockdown journey.

Um,

you know, I'm working from home working,

you know, in in the pub. Um, lots of stuff that we've been doing.

But then, like yourself, most of it's been at home and

zoom and

is the interaction with the outside world.

Other than that, I don't see anybody or do anything. So

you go shopping, you

And how are we gonna are we gonna break that down?

You know,

we're getting used to when we go for a walk

stepping aside into the middle of the road for some

How are we gonna?

And

it probably will happen in time,

but we'll all be a bit

like that

and hugging people.

But

people

Well, yeah,

and and it's

is a natural emotion, isn't it?

You know, I I love to hug you. You love to hug me, and and that's like,

you know, it's It's not only just a friendship, it's a real good,

isn't it? It's.

And that feels,

yeah,

it's weird. It's really weird.

We might need to have a local, um,

neighbour day when we get everybody sorted and we're all out of it

next year.

I think we'll do that. Sharon.

Yeah,

to get

back into that

connecting.

Just been reading something. And

this lady just said she she had a meal with friends. Not

during covid. It's a book,

but she truly felt when

I felt connected. And we all need that sense of belonging

and connection to be able to be fulfilled.

Totally agree

as humans. Is it

the e

during?

Yes.

Yes,

right. Well, thank you.

I've really enjoyed talking to you. I'm gonna turn you off record

now.

Um, but stay there, and we'll just have a quick chat, but thank you very much.

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Posted By

Author

Karen.Scanlon

Post date

10/03/2021