Soroptimist International of Midland Chase Region recently put out a call to its clubs to document the daily experiences of key workers during the current Covid-19 pandemic. There was a superb reaction and responses were gathered from a wide range of key workers – not only in the NHS and caring professions, but also in the often over looked private and voluntary sectors.
A diverse range of key workers – some Soroptimists, others relatives and friends replied, telling us what they have been doing as part of the mobilisation of effort to combat the virus, the effect of Covid-19 on their job, the changes they’ve made personally and professionally, the difficulties and hardships they’ve encountered and the potential long-lasting changes to their day-to-day working lives.
The material was compiled into an extensive newsletter by SI Lichfield & District Programme Action lead Christine Corless who is a member of the Regional Programme Action Team for Midland Chase Region. This has been widely circulated within the membership of course, but Chris also spotted an opportunity to find a wider, high-level audience for this aspect of our work.
The Mass Observation Archive specialises in material about everyday life in Britain – remember Gavin Millar’s 2006 film “Housewife, 49” starring Victoria Wood? It contains papers generated by the original Mass Observation social research organisation (1937 to early 1950s), and newer material collected continuously since 1981 (Mass Observation Project). The Archive is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in the care of the University of Sussex where it is housed as part of the University’s Special Collections.
In these extraordinary times, the Mass Observation Archive is calling for individuals and community groups to document their experiences of Covid-19 through journals and writing and we think it’s the perfect “home” for our report/newsletter, so Chris will be submitting it very shortly.
Meanwhile, the responses we have had from readers have been very positive and quite moving, here is just a small selection…
This is fabulous! What a wonderful idea & such a great take up from key workers willing to share their experiences. It has really given me a good insight into what is happening out there & makes me even more proud of the effort they are putting in to keep our country running. Thank you so much for putting this together.
The stories are heart rending to hear, particularly about the mental effects of their work and the worry about their families. To read about juggling working from home and trying to help home schooling was so sad. But there were also so many positive things that have been learnt and are being tried as a result of needing to do things differently and quickly. A testament to the adaptability of us humans and very humbling to read.
Lovely piece, thanks very much, very moving especially as I hear of the anxieties from the NHS workers I support in my role as an occupational health nurse specialist…
This is absolutely brilliant and should be kept as a historical document! Was it your idea? It really makes you think! Many of us aren’t aware of the implications of our occupations during this lock down. I’m so proud of the nursing profession…