When the first lockdown hit in March, Christmas seemed far away in a land where coronavirus had vanished and everything was back to normal. However, with England only just coming out of its second national lockdown and many places in England in tier 3, everyone is having to come to terms with having a Covid Christmas.
It goes without saying that everyone has been affected by the pandemic in some way. Some have lost jobs, some have been on furlough, some haven’t been able to play sports or music, some have been working all the way through, and some, including myself, wrote a dissertation 50 miles away from their University and graduated in their living room. Most of us haven’t been able to go out to eat, meet friends and family or hold large gatherings – all the things that happen the most around Christmas time.
The government has announced that from the 23rd December to the 27th December you can choose to form a Christmas bubble that consists of three different households.
Despite being able to form another bubble, Christmas is still going to be hugely different from usual. For some people, the risk of contracting Covid-19 is too high a risk to chance forming bubbles with other people, so for them, they will be staying in isolation/their current bubbles over the Christmas period. For others, they may be seeing relatives inside for a Christmas dinner but will miss their friends for that annual Christmas drink. Some people will not be able to travel abroad, either to spend Christmas or visit family members that they may have not seen all year.
Gail Buckie from Edinburgh says that ‘there’s no way’ she and her family will be able to see her parents over Christmas, especially because her mother is vulnerable.
“I imagine the iPad and Face Time will be on pretty much the whole day on Christmas Day.”
She isn’t the only one – Mhairi Hamilton from South Lanarkshire says that she cancelled her big family Christmas months ago to avoid months of uncertainty.
“I put a message around the family saying that I was not going to host in the house but I would host a Zoom Christmas.”
She says that the response she got from her family was overwhelmingly positive, with the prospect of not having to drive and the ability to spend the day in pyjamas being an attractive quality. She agrees that she is having fun thinking outside the box and that there are ‘many, many positives to be taken from it’.
For some, the prospect of a virtual Christmas is not appealing, especially if they live by themselves and therefore have been alone for a lot of the year. Helen Kemp, 56, who lives in the Yorkshire Dales said:
“This Christmas my husband, a serving soldier, will be at work on Christmas Day, and my brother, who I would normally spend Christmas Day with, died in August.”
“I don’t have children and other than my cousin, who has invited me for Christmas Day to her house, I don’t have any close relatives nearby anymore.”
Helen says she will spend Christmas morning at work at a charity that gives discounted holidays to vulnerable people, including the homeless, but after that she would be alone at home for a few hours until her husband returned from work.
There are pros and cons to Christmas this year, but the important thing is to be grateful for what you have. Even if your family and friends are miles away and only in your presence virtually, try to reach out to anyone who is alone this year. Even if you arrange to sit outside their doorstep for twenty minutes and have a mince pie, small gestures that work around the restrictions might just make someone’s Christmas.
Here are some helplines that can be contacted if you are feeling lonely or vulnerable this year:
Samaritans- 116 123
Mind- 0300 123 3393
Age UK– 0800 055 6112
Royal Voluntary Service– 0330 555 0310
Amelia Cutting
Featured image courtesy of Annie Spratt via Unsplash. This image has in no way been altered. Image license can be found here.