Home and Away

These photos have been contributed by Social Workers following the Covid-19 pandemic in response to the theme: home and away

In March 2020, the Prime Minister made his memorable speech mandating the British public to ‘stay at home.’ For many people home became simultaneously an office for remote working, a gym, school and bakery.

It may have been crowded or lonely, relaxing or stressful, a site of refuge or abuse.

  • How has the meaning of home changed during the pandemic for you and those who form part of your personal and professional networks?

  • How did you spend time at home and away from it?

  • Did you adapt your domestic space for new activities and routines?

We welcome all experiences and interpretations of this theme.

  • 1.20: Stay at home

    Things went quiet. For those of us who still needed to get to work the trains were empty and there were not many of them! It made getting to work and getting away hard

  • 7.23: Home and Away

    “Unity” was the name given by John Gillespie to his 2021 ‘thank you’ stainless steel bench for keyworkers. This was installed in a main shopping street in Chichester, but was later so heavily vandalised it had to be removed. It will not be repaired or replaced. Some people clearly have had strong but negative feelings about the contribution of keyworkers throughout the pandemic…

  • 11.19 Home and Away

    Home and Away

    This definitely links with belonging and connection but only happened because of the complete blurring of boundaries between home and work. After numerous home visits and meeting other people’s pets I secretly really wanted to have a dog. But the time was never right. I was already home-based before lockdown, but then covid made me permanently home-based. Suddenly all my arguments against having a dog were gone! Enter this dappy, loving boy! I had absolutely no idea of the connection that could be made with an animal. He keeps me sane during my endless days at home, but also drives me to distraction! Working from home, I need to keep him quiet around my online meetings but having him also gives me a good reason to take a break and get some fresh air. Life has changed completely because we are dog owners and have an additional responsibility. Amidst a really difficult couple of years, my relationship with him is my big win.

  • 1.13: What Unites Us

    Hi - I have put these images in for all the categories as they show how we quickly managed to adapt to the changes. At work and at home I was aware of things like discarded masks and all the signs - my grandchildren and the little ones I work with growing up in this strange new world of social distance and hand cleaning!

  • 7.25: Peaky Blinders

    I have put these in Belonging and Connection and Home and away because During lockdown I had the time to catch up on series that I had always heard about and not watched. It was hard being away from people at times but watching Killing Eve and Peaky Blinders made me feel part of something and connected to friends and family

  • 4. 24: My bike

    Had my bike quite a while but not used it much before the lockdowns. Getting the space and time to stop during the day in the first lockdown gave me the inspiration to get it out the garage and head off. Now I am a bike evangelist . It gave me the freedom to get away

  • 18.7: Decorating

    There was nothing like being inside the same four walls to make us realise how badly in need of a paint they were. We had lots of paint stored in the garage from well meaning plans and the lockdown finally gave us the opportunity to get on with it. It had a special importance as we were doing so much on zoom and teams and people could see into the house meaning that we wanted to feel it looked ok

  • 12.02: Home and Away (Boggle photo)

    The extent of the impact the pandemic was having on my then 7 year old became clearer upon realising she has found ‘die’ and ‘covid’ amongst the letters in a game of Boggle whilst home schooling.