Week 39 - Our new Storyteller makes her first regular check in

 Edited BY


G P Kennedy


Olivia - Liverpool, England


This week it seemed as though the weather was doing its best to reflect the general mood of the UK as a whole.


Liverpool’s streets were frozen over with a treacherous layer of ice, and anyone brave enough to leave their home was immediately hit with icy blasts of wind. 


On Wednesday morning, we woke up to the news that the UK’s Covid-19 death toll has now surpassed 100,000 people. 


With Britain now holding one of the highest Covid-19 death tolls in relation to its population size, the government is taking a stricter approach. 


For the past fortnight, it has been illegal for people to leave their homes without a “reasonable excuse”. The police are able to impose a fine of £200 who anyone found breaking these new rules.


Many people are of the feeling that the legislation has come too little too late. 




Since the start of the pandemic, the government has often hesitated in the face of urgency and the communication of key public health messages has been haphazard.


As the prevailing message has swayed between alarm and reassurance, it’s not surprising that the public feels confused.


But there is light at the end of this very long tunnel.


News outlets also informed us that more than 4 million people have received their first dose of the Coronavirus vaccine.


This includes a significant portion of the over 80s, people in care homes, and healthcare staff. By spring, it is hoped that everyone over 50 will have been vaccinated.


One way that I tried to fight off the January blues this week was by volunteering at my Mum’s church. Volunteering is thankfully still allowed under UK law, as long as social distancing is adhered to. 


The church has just started asking its members for food donations, which are sent to homeless shelters, food banks, and people in the community who need them.


It was great chatting to people from a distance as they dropped off their contributions, and I was amazed to see how people who don’t have much money themselves wanted to help. 




My Mum told me about how one elderly man who receives the food parcels has had to have both of his feet amputated for health reasons.


He doesn’t have much family around to bring him basic necessities.


He has still managed to hold onto his cheeky Scouse sense of humor.


Although boredom is the least of his worries, he told my Mum that the doorstep parcel drop-offs have become the highlight of his week. 


Getting some much-needed human connection will remain the highlight of mine. I was strangely comforted to hear that everyone else was feeling just as isolated from the world as I had been.


When you don’t know what to do with yourself, it definitely pays to do something for someone else.

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