We’re all in this together.

A guest blog by Karine Nohr. Time to read-5 minutes

Early in the Pandemic, I remember passing through Woodseats and noticing many people were carrying packets of toilet paper. This first manifestation of fear, which was starting to play out and was to run over the next few weeks of the lockdown, soon transformed into the emergence of a sense of mutual aid. In order to try to meet some of the challenges of the restrictions, communities and individuals got creative. Despite having to take isolation precautions, we found our common humanity and ways to support each other, so communities strengthened. The value of Community became increasingly evident. Many mutual aid projects, created by ordinary citizens, sprung up. Thousands volunteered to run errands for the NHS such as delivering prescriptions, the weekly clap for the NHS, street social media groups developed and reached out to those living alone, people with sewing machines made masks, people with elderly neighbours offered support for shopping, health and care workers volunteered for extra shifts. Helping others was a transformative experience, creating a sense of all ‘being in this together’. It wasn’t this deceitful Government or the Corporations that created the atmosphere of solidarity, generosity and genuine concern. It was ordinary people, struggling to get by, who extended themselves to smooth the path for others.

Jubilee for Debt

Community collaboration and heartfelt consideration were the important stories; forging bonds, our communities became more cohesive. We had to ask ourselves what our true values were. For a moment we also saw that the most vulnerable amongst us needed looking after, too, if we were going to make it through. We came to see that we didn’t have to be in opposition to each other in order to survive, but we could be far stronger by all pitching in together. We took strength from other people’s courage (such as the key workers) and realised that we believed in each other. We moved from Fear (the Toilet Rolls Saga) to Collaboration.

Sadly many people were abandoned, others traumatised. We were not forewarned about the Covid crisis. Safety nets were missing; too many fell through the cracks. Indeed since the Pandemic the cracks have widened. The poverty crisis is worsening. Many struggle with juggling bills, childcare, workload and isolation. One in eight of our children go to bed hungry, demand for Food Banks has increased enormously, only emphasising the importance of struggling together, rather than alone, and the value of meaningful community. Community means belonging and connecting, it means cooperating, it means looking after each other. And this makes us ALL more resilient.

Jubilee for Debt

Conversely, we are forewarned about the Environmental Crisis. Huge changes are coming. Can we be grown-ups and face these constructively? Can we be brave and try to imagine how we must meet these challenges, some already with us, more to come, working together, cooperating? What are the values that we want to uphold? Covid has taught us the importance of community and harnessing our collective power. Now is the time to be creative and think about what we need to do. We must hold on to our values and not let them be crushed by corrupt institutions whose interests lie in keeping us divided and fighting each other, who try to fool us over how they are meeting the demands of the Climate crisis with their greenwash empty promises, whilst trying to steer the national conversation away from the multitude of problems, by scapegoating the weakest members of our society. It’s always easier to find someone else to blame for everything, and the ultimate school bullying, as our Government has shown us, is to pick on the weakest. It is the Corporations, intent on obsessional profit-making that are leading us to self-destruction, it is the Governments and Corporations refusing to rise to the current challenges we face, who are the real culprits in the road to annihilation, not the unfortunate desperate folk seeking refuge in patched up dinghies.

So how can we stop destroying, but instead build, in these difficult and seemingly hopeless times? Can we find new ways to meet the impending challenges? Can we hold on to our sense of compassion and of community, witnessed in the Pandemic? We now know that cooperation is essential. Without cooperation we go nowhere, we achieve nothing. In order to cooperate, we have to build trust.

There is a fundamental sense of friendliness in Yorkshire; let’s hang on to this and be kind to each other in a way that we know is possible. We all belong here, and that sense of belonging is fundamental to our welfare. Belonging is connecting. There are so many wonderful examples around us of people looking after each other and looking after their surroundings; deep down we know that this is how a community thrives.

Let us be curious about what we need to do. Many examples already exist, such as local food growing, food sharing, street Tree Planting and support for Active Travel. Let us use our imagination, and ask ourselves what might be possible, because possibility is productive. Let’s work together to create the stories of how we want our Community to respond to crises, to become more resilient and rise to the challenges of the years ahead.