What’s your Spirit of Lockdown?

Share your story to inspire a better, more connected future

The stories we tell now about our response to Covid-19 will shape how we look back on this time, and how we move forward as a society.

What are the truths that will inspire our better days?
What’s the spirit you want to bottle to guide your way forward?

Share your story of lockdown and join a community of story sharers across the country in celebrating the power of relationships and inspiring a conversation about how we can build back better, stronger and more connected.

Share a written story

Share a multimedia story

Explore others’ stories

Whether you’re looking for inspiration to write your own story or simply to understand people’s experiences during the lockdown, dive into our latest submissions.

Building Back Better

In brief In this short blog, David takes stock of what we've learnt from The Relationships Observatory and offers a positive reflection on what we take forward as we rebuild. This blog has also been published as part of Compass's #BuildBackBetter series. 750,000...

Designing connection into care

In brief Covid has shone a light on the relationship between social care and social connections. With the UK Government's social care reforms on the horizon, Sam Dalton makes an argument for social care models in which care and connection come hand in hand.Sam is...

A common field

In brief In this first post in the Joining the Dots series, Relationships Project founder David Robinson sets the scene for the series and outlines the plan going forward. The hook worm was paralysing entire towns in the rural south of the United States in the...

Shifting Power

In brief In this, the latest in our series of lockdown reflections by our network of observers, Relate's Director of Services, Ben Collins, reflects on what lockdown has taught us about power within service delivery. Another busy week in lock down – feeling...

Loving the Stranger in the Time of Coronavirus: The Story of HostNation

In brief In this Joining the Dots blog, Anthony Berman gives a personal account of the befriending charity, HostNation, before and after COVID-19, and the benefits it has brought to refugees and asylum seekers and their befrienders.Anthony is on the Management team at...

Doing what anyone would do

Days after the Prime Minister launched a bold new Civil Society Compact, the Health secretary announced a major public consultation on the future of the NHS and the Chancellor introduced a budget that squeezed frontline services in the short term, invested in the...

My barber: Putting relationships first

Last week David Robinson wrote about the failures of the Post Office and the implications of putting relationships last. This week he reflects on the success of a very different kind of business.Putting relationships first I don’t spend a lot of money on my hair, but...

Piers Morgan, Love Island and a relationship centred business

In brief In this short blog, David reflects on the sort of relationship-centred business that helps make the world a much better, warmer, kinder place. Half asleep I stumble across a tweet from someone called Matt Haig, of whom I have never heard....

In praise of small everyday relationships

In brief In this Joining the Dots contribution, Steve Wyler discusses the concept of conviviality and the importance of shared spaces where small everyday relationships can flourish. Steve is an independent consultant, researcher, and writer in the social sector....

The Relationships Field: 6 initial reflections and 5 questions

In brief 6 weeks ago, we (Iona Lawrence and Immy Robinson) set out to explore whether a ‘field of relationships’ could, should, or does already exist. We’re still at the early stages of this exploration but have been lucky enough to pick the brains of some very...

Everyone is welcome

You don’t need to be an experienced storyteller to take part. Don’t worry about spelling, grammar or being the next JK Rowling – we want to hear about your experience of lockdown in your voice and in whichever format works best for you.

You might want to write your story, to video it, audio record it, draw it, tell it alone, tell it in pairs. Choose the format that works best for you and get sharing!

share a written story

share a multimedia story

Populating the map

We’re building an interactive map to showcase and celebrate stories of lockdown from across the UK. In early 2021 we’ll be inviting storytellers and local decision makers to come together to draw out lessons and shape a better, more connected society post-Covid.

You are under no obligation whatsoever to consent to your story being shared publicly – it’s entirely up to you to decide whether you’d like to share it or keep it private. Whichever format you decide to share your story – written or multimedia – please take a moment to let us know whether you’re happy for your story to be shared.