‘This is my truth,’ NHS founder Aneurin Bevan’s widow recalled him saying to people, ‘tell me yours.‘
Truth is, there is no universal truth of the first 12-months of the pandemic. Our experience differs. For some, a welcome break working from home. For others, grief or a fight for health.
It got me thinking. How have public sector comms people fared? I asked members of the Public Sector Comms Headspace Facebook group for their thoughts.
On March 23 2020, the UK Prime Minister announced the widest set of restrictions on personal freedom in living memory. It’s hard to recreate the shock of it and since then things changed.
Can you sum-up the last 12-months in four words?
“You are on mute.” – Mark Chapman.
“Relentless change and challenges.” – Suzie Evans
“What a fucking rollercoaster,” – Sarah Tidy.
“I am not thriving,” – Kelly Harrison.
“Hardest of my life.” – Lucy Salvage.
“Frustration, exhaustion, revelation, gratitude.” Lucy Hartley
“Legacy hand?” – Jon Phillips
“Emotional, frustrating, proud, enlightening.” – Laura Broster
“Bleak, tiring, uphill, love.” – Angela Maher.
“I’m ok with change.” – Joy Hale.
“Keep swimming through currents.” – Kirstin Catriona Thomson
“Relentless. Exhausting. Camaraderie and Gratitude (and quizzes!)” – Emma Russell.
What was a personal positive moment of the last 12-months?
“Having a warm, loving household.” – Suzie Evans
“No commute, absolutely brilliant.” – Stephen Wilkinson.
“I absolutely love homeworking.” – Clare Parker.
“Incredible commitment, resilience and talent of countywide partners working together to do great things in comms and elsewhere.” – Thom Burn.
“Volunteering at the Vacc Centre seeing happy, dancing Octogenarians.” – Marie Lewis.
“Learning to sew and play piano.” – Carolyne Mitchell
“Getting much closer with my partner, being home together more could have been rocky, and I know others haven’t been so lucky, but I’m so thankful we had each other through the highs and lows.” – Jennifer Ann Bracegirdle.
“Getting to spend time at home with my teenage daughter and the birth of my niece.” – Ghazala Begum.
“Seeing my dad get a vaccine.” – David Grindlay.
“Joining my family for the first time in months for a BBQ on the beach. Feeling the warmth on our faces and remembering what it felt like to be in their company and how much we had missed. And now I remember that, and that it will happen again.” – Emma Russell.
“Getting a promotion and having that first hug off my niece when we were allowed.” – Ceri Doyle.
“How much I’ve valued and love my partner and my two girls.” – Nicola Fulton.
“Hugging my Dad for the first time when we were finally allowed to form bubbles. And getting our puppy.” – Jennifer Kightley
What was a personal bleak moment of the last 12-months?
“Grandmother’s funeral.” – Andrew Clayton.
“Not seeing my dad for a year and him missing kids birthdays and Xmas.” – Leanne Hughes.
“My grandad passing away at what felt like the most stressful point in my memory, end of March 2020, however it did make me stop for a weekend and step back to process everything around me.” – Jennifer Ann Bracegirdle.
“Watching my child break down because everything is ‘weird and feels bad,'” – Kelly Harrison
“Not seeing a single person I knew face to face for 6 weeks something others won’t even be able to imagine but reality for those of us wfh who live alone.” – Ceri Doyle
“Losing one of this group to COVID. It really affected my patience – for a few days there I lost any ability to tolerate deniers/rule breakers and the ‘but they were old/already sick’ brigade, grrrrr…..” – Beck McAuliffe
“Worry about the long term impact on my daughters mental health, wellbeing and education.” – Ghazala Begum.
“My cousin hung himself in April 2020.” – Anonymous.
“Missing the birth of my second son when there was a flight ban at the start of the pandemic and not seeing my mum for a year now.” – Mark Templeton.
“Losing my voice through stress for four months.” – Joanne Cooke.
“Personal tragedy aside, having to concede defeat and take time off from work for my mental health.” – Lucy Salvage
“Realising that although day-by-day, hour-by-hour I feel absolutely fine, just below the surface the isolation, the pressure, the long hours, the dark nights, the missing family and friends, the worry, the constant covid- anxiety, the funerals we couldn’t attend, the weddings cancelled, the hospital appointments done alone, the elderly relatives giving up because their life has stopped… well it really does take its toll, that and the daily annoyance that still my job is referred to as ‘making pretty things and jazzing stuff up’.” – Emma Russell.
“My husband’s friend died of Covid leaving a widow and young child.” – Angela Maher.
“My Mum’s tears at not seeing her grandchildren for months.” – Marie Lewis.
Homeworking? Back to the office? Or a mix?
“Discovered working from home suits me, but I need to go to the office too ~ 70:30?” – Lucy Hartley.
“Both – and the trust to be able to chose which works best for me, my job and my team at that given time. But I really do miss seeing my wonderful colleagues.” – Emma Russell.
“Homeworking, with some friends house working and the odd office touch-down.” – Carolyne Mitchell.
“Keep me home working. Love it.” – Clare Parker.
“Definitely a mix, I miss homeworking days when I needed time out from meets to focus and I miss office times with colleagues to be creative and group think through the troublesome, sticky issues properly.” – Laura Broster.
“Mix but more at home to hang out with bandit-dawg.” – Leanne Hughes.
“Working from a very quiet office is better for me than being at home.” Nicola Fulton
“Homeworking is finally acceptable.” – Brioney Hirst.
Thank you to contributors Andrew Clayton, Mark Chapman, Suzie Evans, Thom Burn, Sarah Tidy, Kelly Harrison, Ghazala Begum, Lucy Salvage, Jon Phillips, Stephen Wilkinson, Emma Russell, Marie Lewis, Carolyne Mitchell, David Grindlay, Laura Broster, Angela Maher, Leanne Hughes, Jennifer Ann Bracegirdle, Beck McAuliffe, Clare Parker, Joanne Cooke, Ceri Doyle, Nicola Fulton, Brioney Hirst, Jenny Kightley, Kirstin Catriona Thomson, Amanda Rose, Charlotte Parker, Mark Templeton and Joy Hale.
This is their truth, tell me yours.
Gosh this is so powerful