With families stuck indoors and kids home from school children across the UK have been painting rainbows and placing them in windows for a number of weeks now to signal support for the NHS who have been working tirelessly on the frontline throughout the pandemic.
The rainbows have served a practical function to give children a chance to flex their creativity while being home schooled but they’ve also offered a message of hope during the coronavirus lockdown. As the weeks have progressed however their role, and the now regular Thursday evening ‘clap for carers’, seem to have taken on an even bigger significance, as a symbol of solidarity against the virus, as well as a display of support. We also seem to be clapping even harder and making even more noise as the weeks pass too. There are two boys, who have recently moved in to our street, and every Thursday evening at 8pm they dive out of their garden towards some bins, which they beat with sticks. Their attempt to make the most noise in the street seems to have become their highlight of the week!
Here at Young People at Heart we’ve all continued to work throughout the pandemic. We’ve found lots of different ways to say thank you to our Foster Carers here too including putting together a little Facebook video. We’ve also introduced some extra activities, with the help of technology, to give carers some respite from home schooling and finding new things to do to keep children (fostered or otherwise) occupied during the lockdown. We’ve created rainbows and displayed them, we’ve baked cakes, we’ve had regular cookery lessons, a snake talk, a Easter craft session and a cheesecake master class to name but a few. And although we’ve not been physically able to be together in all of this it has helped bring us even closer together as a team because we’re all working with one common goal, to see what’s on the over side of the rainbow.
So on Thursday at 8pm, for the foreseeable, you’ll find the Cox family being part of the applause for all the key workers helping everyone through this pandemic https://clapforourcarers.co.uk/ All the Doctors, nurses, health and social care workers, carers, emergency services, the armed services, public transport staff, delivery drivers, porters, shop workers, teachers, waste collectors, manufacturers, postal workers, cleaners, vets, engineers and all those, including our own team, who are still out there making a difference to the lives of others.