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.

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....

Share your #SpiritOfLockdown

In brief The Relationships Project and Local Area Coordination Network have teamed up to surface, share and celebrate stories of lockdown from all across the country. How have your relationships changed through Covid? What’s the Spirit you want to bottle to guide your...

It’s All About Relationships: Connecting to connected

In this extraordinary contribution to the Joining the Dots series Dr Nick Barnes looks ahead to a post-Covid future, arguing that to build a better society, we must address inequality and redress power structures. Nick works as a Specialty Doctor in...

Honouring, celebrating and exploring the voices of young people

In brief On 27th July 2022, we co-hosted an event with Save the Children to celebrate and explore the stories that young people shared with us through The Lookout. We were joined by two of our Chief Listeners - Mete Coban and Kirsty McNeil - who shared their...

From process-led to relationship-led: Moving towards more relational Councils

On 14th February, in partnership with LBBD, we hosted our second relational councils convening. In this session, we asked: How could we see relationships as a solution to statutory duties, not as incompatible with them? Our next convening, taking place on 25th April,...

If not now, when?

In brief Ofgem confirmed the increase in the energy price cap on Friday August 26th 2022. We now know that, without substantial help, galloping fuel bills, combined with inflation, will push 45m Britons into fuel poverty by the end of the year. David Robinson...

Observatory Sighting #1: Stories, language and framing

In this first Sighting, we reflect on the role that stories, language and framing will play as we decide, as a society, how to rebuild. Observation The stories we tell now about how society is responding to COVID-19 will shape how we look back on this time and...

The Relationship Collective: A proposal

Before now... In the summer of 2020 I set out on an open-ended research journey exploring why relationships matter and whether people who put relationships at the heart of their work feel connected to others doing the same. I was lucky to collaborate with The...

Measuring relationships: What’s the problem?

Over the course of hundreds of conversations about relationships, Iona Lawrence identified a shared challenge around measurement: We don't know how to measure relationships or whether the game of measurement is futile. In this blog, we seek to kickstart a generative...

‘Rewilding Care’: Could letting relationships flourish revolutionise social care?

In brief Bob Rhodes is the founder and President of LivesthroughFriends CIC, a social enterprise that demonstrates how those who have acquired the most complex reputations can live good lives when attention is paid to building relationship networks and a sense of...

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.