Anthony, from SelectionBOCS, has written the following news article about his return to the Day Services, here at The Brothers of Charity Services. We hope you all enjoy it as much as we did.
On 23th March 2020 the UK government imposed major restrictions on travel, work and socialising of because of COVID-19, a potentially deadly virus that was spreading all across the world. Since the 12th April 2021, day services have slowly started to reopen provided that they can comply with social distancing guidelines. Government guidelines mean many of the other day service need to do more work before they could reopen.
Above: Creative Arts and SelectionBOCS service users enjoying ribbon dancing with Adam and Judith.
Everything has changed here. it wasn’t what it used to be before the COVID lockdown. Things at the day services haven’t quite been business as usual because of the covid lockdown but the aim is to return to a full service as soon as possible. Many people have been affected during the covid lockdowns. A lot of the service users haven’t returned because they aren’t feeling confident about resuming services under the current restrictions. Spending more time at home and being exposed to alarming news reports has made people worried about going outside.
Above: The Creative Arts Team have created a collaborative summer display
Personally, I have missed Inprint, Selection BOCS and Landbase. When I returned I felt nervous about the changes to day services because we weren’t able to go out in the vans or able to the printing that I have missed for a long time. Day services had to incorporate social distancing guidelines before we could reopen. Plans to expand have been put on hold because of the restrictions but work has slowly resumed on preparing the coach house and other areas at Lisieux Hall for an improved service with more modern facilities. A lot of people have been missing more that just the activities. For many, day services was a social experience and many friendships have been put on hold during the lockdown. Brothers of Charity made efforts to provide people with a social outlet through Zoom and while this isn’t as good as meeting people in person it has helped people to stay in touch and in some cases make new friends.
Above: David and Lee showcasing their woven masterpieces at Creative Arts
Click here to view Davids’ fabulous work.
