Village in Lockdown

The Week That Everything Changed

After a week of living under lockdown, this is a snapshot of how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted one community in Hampshire. My name is Daisy and I live in the village with my wife and son. This blog features images captured around the village during daily exercise.

Queues of people stood 2m apart wait their turn to enter the local convenience shop amid new restrictions.

Schools, churches, playgrounds and most shops are now closed as a result of restrictions aimed at limiting social gatherings. Those businesses who are open are adapting to the times - the community cafe offers a novel way of 'window shopping' to purchase your essentials.

Social Distancing

There is a steady queue of people outside the local convenience store and pharmacy. Everyone stands 2m apart, and it’s a 1-in 1-out policy. Staff in headsets stand at the entrance to the shop maintaining social distancing rules. Inside the shops, emergency tape marks when you can stand, and staff often work in gloves and masks. Shelves stocking bread, milk and toilet roll are often bare.

A Smile a Day

Walking around the village, we pass more people than we would on a normal day, we smile at more people than we would on a normal day, and we say hello to more people than we would on a normal day.

Everyone is conscious of maintaining social distancing, but there is something different about the interactions – there is a sense of camaraderie in the fleeting glances exchanged between strangers in the street.

Community Kindness

Despite everything, now is the time to come together. One sign at the petrol station offers free basic supplies for Emergency and NHS workers. Countless windows display childrens drawings of rainbows to cheer-up passers by, and the streets echoed with appluase for emergency workers on Thursday evening. This is community spirit and it’s these kinds of actions and images that inspire us all. #CommunityKindness