THE COVID MONTHS | ONE YEAR ON FOR THE ADMIN TEAM
The Admin Team at Northern Guild have been amazing, adapting to previously unthinkable changes in the way they work, supporting innovation, generating ideas and suggestions to improve the services and training of the organisation and literally saying ‘Yes’ to every request. We could not have functioned in the last year without their enormous energy, and vast reservoirs of goodwill, loyalty and committment.
Julie, Marisa and Sarah have agreed to share a snapshot of what life has been like over the last year.
JULIE BOURNE
At the start, Covid was a very strange and slightly anxious time, but as time wore on I began to quickly accept that life was different and not how is used to be.
I was furloughed for a period of 6 weeks at the very start and after 2 days of doing nothing at home apart from watching TV, I made a decision to do something productive each and every day. My house was deep cleaned from top to bottom, I painted, re-decorated and made an effort to tidy the front and back garden which was interesting to say the least as I’m not a very keen Gardener, everything I try to grow just ends up dying! I also went for a walk every day which was something I began to look forward to. Strangers you met along the way would say hello or good morning/afternoon it was almost like a mutual acknowledgement that they were happy to see another person also.
Coming back to The Guild after six weeks was strange at first after being away for so long. I felt a little out of touch with work office life. The building was still and empty with none of the usual familiar sounds or smells from the café but we were still so busy in the office and it did not take long to slip into a new way of Northern Guild life.
A year on and upon reflection life in general was not too difficult for me, I think the most difficult aspect of Covid for me has not being able to see my granddaughter. I am thankful for ”Facetime” and there have been so many of those calls over the last year with her but I am so looking forward to seeing her in the summer as she is my joy and happiness and I definite feel like I need some of that now.
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MARISA RITSON
I was fairly frighted when the pandemic began. I had planned to visit my family and friends for two weeks in Newcastle, whilst my school in China was closed for their Chinese New Year break. Soon after I arrived home, Covid-19 was all over the mainstream news. The feeling of excitement and happiness to be back with my family and friends after a year was replaced by a huge sense of fear and dread. I was worried about my friends, my students and my colleagues in China. Covid-19 was not yet a concern in the UK, so I felt quite isolated in my anxieties.
Three months on and the UK goes into its first national lockdown. The weekly zoom quizzes, the daily walks, the yoga and the baking (which have all completely stopped now), feel like a bit of distant haze. The thing that stands out the most to me is how important it was, and is, to stay connected with loved ones. The endless video calls, and messages with friends, to check in and have a laugh and a chat, made all the difference.
Fast forward, another two months, to May 2020, public schools in China re-opened. I taught my primary school children virtually, to a Chinese schedule, at the sociable hours of 1:30am – 9:35am UK time! As much as this was challenging, it was so heart-warming to be back, even in a virtual sense, and see my students through to the end of their last semester before they left for summer again.
Such global uncertainty, has encouraged me to practice gratitude more than I have previously. I now perceive home through a lens of positivity, safety and warmth, whereas before I always chased after something more.
As much as I have found the past year deeply saddening, scary, and incredibly testing, I have found so much light, in how this time of crisis has brought people together. Not just within their own circles, but on a global scale, and that strong sense of solidarity and hope is something I will always remember and have found huge comfort in over the past year.
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SARAH BELL
The comparative quietness of the last year has certainly provided a valuable opportunity for reflection.
Over the year I have found myself being more introspective, and the time of lesser movement has been quite soothing and settling for me; with fewer distractions a calmness has slowly floated in. Without being able to travel further afield, I’ve found myself with a renewed appreciation for where I am – being in Newcastle, and with a growing affection for the Northumbrian coastline and countryside, which continues to provide local yet exciting adventures and new places to explore. I’m glad that the year has, more generally, brought about awareness and appreciation and for the natural environment, and the joy that it unyieldingly offers.
I’ve been particularly grateful to have a workplace to come to and for colleagues who are a supportive team to work with and to be with. Although the building itself is much quieter, our more recent and careful reopening is bringing welcome energy and smiles that are all the more appreciated. The time between the former normality and now has, I think, brought gratitude to the fore.
Being present at work throughout the last year has renewed my sense of responsibility and steadfastness – the Guild has been something of an anchor in an otherwise uncertain period.
As an admin team, we’ve been able to respond to new and varying issues brought about by the pandemic, and the everchanging circumstances that we all find ourselves in. Now that, more broadly, as we tentatively coming ‘out the other side’, I feel confident in our ability and adaptability as an office team of colleagues and friends.
I look forward now, optimistically, to a summer of opportunities anew, to seeing friends, and sharing spaces with those who have been held at a distance. And likewise, to seeing more faces at the Guild – for the building to be happily and physically filled with the values I so admire in it and in the team.