By Ryan Gray
Plato once said: “The community which has neither poverty nor riches will always have the noblest principles”.
To say that humans haven’t been caught off guard this year would be a lie, humanity is all in one giant rocking boat and we’re all along for the choppy ride. Class divisions feel like a lost thought to all in our current state of pandemic and panic buying now that we’re all facing the same threat at once.
Yes, this is the coronavirus – where we have lost friends and family, neighbours and partners. Countries such as China and Italy have been on lockdown, with police rule to detain citizens from going for that second jog. The UK has now joined other countries in this almost global quarantine, to reduce the risk of spread from this vicious virus.
But there is a silver lining. Recently, with people self-isolating and working from home – and from the help of technology – we have seen a surge in connectivity and community with each other like nothing we’ve seen before.
“Because I have to stay at home now, I can’t see my friends or family, but since I’ve been at home I’ve been in a lot more contact with them.
“We’ve been talking more than three times a day on FaceTime now,” said 22-year-old Lloyd Dawson.
Now that we’re inside and isolated from everybody else, it has become clear that our strongest link to each-other is our sense of community and our willingness to help the people around us as best we can.
Rob Holland, 34, began posting out leaflets around his local area to help those who may be in need. He said: “I wanted to do something for the elderly in my village, I know that there are so many elderly people in my community that need help but don’t get it, so I decided I’d go round the houses to offer my services.
“I’ll go shopping for them if they need essentials from the shop and are unable to travel themselves, I’ll walk their dogs if they need exercise, and I’ll also run any other errand that they may need to make sure that they aren’t putting themselves in any risk whatsoever.”
Many public neighbourhood Whatsapp groups have also sprung up, helping community members most in need to access medicine and food – and to not feel alone.
“I went to pick up a prescription for a woman in my neighbourhood who was in desperate need. I also bought her some food,” says Wendy Sloane, a lecturer who joined her local Whatsapp Group. “It turned out she is from Russia, where I used to work, and we even have a mutual friend. We are definitely having a coffee together face-to-face when this is all over.”
People like Wendy and Rob are coming together, not just around the UK, but around the world. We’re finding new ways to entertain ourselves, help ourselves, and help our community. 18-year-old Tommy Birchall said that he and his friends are “on TIK TOK and Instagram putting it out there that we want to help our friends out, we’re picking each-other up and making sure that none of us are left out of anything”.
The world is facing its biggest challenge in recent history and what better way to face it is through care, consideration, computers, and above all, community.
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