Ideas – Excellent Ideas Only™

Stressed?

Blessed?

Coronavirus stressing you out? If you’re particularly vulnerable, or just feeling downright anxious, here are some suggestions.

See if there are any local community Covid-19 support groups happening near you. Search your area name and ‘Covid-19 Mutual Aid’ or ‘Covid Support Group’ on Facebook and you are likely to find one! These groups often have a WhatsApp link to help communities safely organise, and can connect you to those who can help. Even if you’re anxious and healthy rather than vulnerable, join up and and let them know what you have to offer, as helping someone could help you to feel more in control.
Don’t be afraid of speaking out about your experiences and needs online! There is no shame in asking for help and it’s definitely, definitely a good idea if you need it. People generally want to help (apart from the loo roll hoarders) (even some of them want to help too).
Find a YouTube meditation/yoga/breathing exercise/hypnosis video if you’re feeling anxious.
If traditional mindfulness and relaxation techniques leave you feeling restless and more anxious, find a hobby to channel your energy into!
If you’re feeling anxious, sometimes opening a window and getting some fresh air can help things feel a little bit more normal.
If you don’t have social media and need help, put up a sign in your window asking for what you need (eg. groceries delivered, prescription collected, etc.) with a contact number.
Listen to music you associate with happy times. Turn it up!
Take on a project around the house that you haven’t yet had the time to do: clean out your closets and drawers, deciding what to keep, what to mend, what to donate, what to throw away or turn into cleaning rags; clean and reorganise your kitchen cabinets; edit your photos and/or create photo albums or scrapbooks; try some recipes you’ve never tried; etc. focusing on a many-hours-long task that requires a certain amount of concentration will allow your worries to subside and relax your nervous system.
Visit www.leveler.info, a database to redistribute wealth during the Covid-19 outbreak. The database connects self-employed people who have lost out on income due to cancelled gigs and work to higher earners/people who have stable salaries who can afford to donate some of their income to people who desperately need it. By adding your payment details and a synopsis of your situation to the database, people are able to donate to you and help alleviate a bit of financial difficulty.

This website relies on user submissions. If you have any links to information, resources or charities that will help vulnerable or stressed people affected directly or indirectly by Covid-19, please send them to excellentquarantineideas@gmail.com!

I’m not a medical professional so I won’t publish any specifically scientific medical advice or info on here (I’ll leave that to someone who can fact-check properly). However, if you have any links to resources which help aid anxiety/help vulnerable people reach out, community support groups, etc, please send them my way!

Site created by Rifke

Are you in a position to offer support to more vulnerable people during these weird times? Here are some ideas!

Post a note to a vulnerable neighbour asking if they need shopping or just a chat on the phone, particularly those who have limited access to the internet and/or social media (a lot of elderly people). Remember to give them your name and number! Find a template you can adapt here (courtesy of the Greenwich Covid-19 Mutual aid group).
See if there are any local community Covid-19 support groups happening near you. Search your area name and ‘Covid-19 Mutual Aid’ or ‘Covid Support Group’ on Facebook and you are likely to find one! These groups often have a WhatsApp link to help communities safely organise, and connect vulnerable people to those who can help. Let them know what you are able to offer, and the area you can help in. Here’s a list! https://freedomnews.org.uk/covid-19-uk-mutual-aid-groups-a-list/
Cook meals that can be frozen and delivered to local people who are isolating/aren’t able to cook for themselves. Practice cleanliness and safety, wash your hands A LOT, and leave outside the door if the recipient has any symptoms.
Donate to your local foodbank to help them cope in the midst of panic buying.
Donate to a homeless charity to help people who don’t have the option to self-isolate and who are likely to have health complications that make them particularly vulnerable.
If you’re in a position where you can work from home and are able to financially support yourself and have money to spare, consider helping out friends who have had jobs cancelled and who need financial help.
It goes without saying but wash your hands regularly, with soap if possible (otherwise hand sanitiser will do). You might feel fine but still be a carrier for the virus, putting other people potentially at risk if they come into contact with you/surfaces you’ve touched.
If it’s YOU hoarding the loo roll, consider a) not and b) redistributing it to everyone on your street so other people can go for a poo too.
Reach out to people you may not always talk to but care about, make sure they are okay, share information you have, and let them know you want to hear from them and how they are.
Visit www.leveler.info, a database to redistribute wealth during the Covid-19 outbreak. The database connects self-employed people who have lost out on income due to cancelled gigs and work to higher earners/people who have stable salaries who can afford to donate some of their income to people who desperately need it. If this is something you can afford to do without putting yourself in a financially precarious situation, it’s a great way to help people in a tangible, non-abstract way, and alleviate someone of a bit of their financial difficulty during an uncertain time.
Donate to a food bank near you! @hollytem is selling zines full of artwork by independent artists to raise money for Trussell Trust, issue 1 has sold out but you can submit your own artwork for future issues via https://linktr.ee/hollytem. Supporting fundraisers by artists is a great way to donate to charities as it also helps the people featured to circulate their work a little (as well as helping the charity obv) which may lead to more work and commissions during a financially tough time for freelancers.
Talk to your local pub/café/restaurant and if they aren’t doing takeaway, see if you can buy unused food supplies from them. This way, they can make some of their money back from unused stock and you can dodge the apocalyptic scenes at the supermarket!

This website relies on user submissions. If you have any links to information, resources or charities for people in a position to help vulnerable people during the Covid-19 outbreak, please send them to excellentquarantineideas@gmail.com!

I’m not a medical professional so I won’t publish any specifically scientific medical advice or info on here (I’ll leave that to someone who can fact-check properly). However, if you have any links to charities, community support groups, and anything else of that nature, please send them my way!

Site created by Rifke