Cyfraniad di-enw i broject Casglu Covid: Cymru 2020.

I live in Swansea with my family – my husband, two children and my mum. I am speaking more with my family and friends, before I probably got in touch with them every other week. Now it is weekly, sometimes daily. I am more aware of my neighbours and speak to more of them now and ask if they need anything. Before, we just said hello if we bumped into each other in the street.

My first language is Bangla. Since lockdown the children have been off school and my husband and I have been working from home. We have been speaking more in Bangla to each other. I have also joined an online course to learn Welsh, which I have been meaning to do for ages but not had the chance. I have downloaded the Duolingo app and learning five minutes of Welsh daily and weekly online two hour sessions. Also, we have extra work to do on our own. Hopefully by the end of the course (10 weeks), I'll be about to have basic conversations in Welsh.

I work Monday to Friday 10-6pm. I set school work the night before, for the children to do whilst I am working during the day. We take late morning break in the garden for 10-15minutes, we have lunch then have another afternoon 10-15 minutes break in the garden. We all go out for a walk after work, not too far from home and not for too long maybe 20-30minutes. Weekends we lazy about in the house, catch up with house work and TV. We try and watch the daily update on TV the Government give on COVID-19. We try and do top up shopping once a week from local Tesco Express and the big shop fortnightly.

I have never worked from home before so it has changed drastically for me. I support families and young people. So, everything is over the phone support or online. I don't attend many meetings normally, but since working from home I have been to meetings daily and on most days more than once usually via Zoom or Teams. But I miss speaking to my colleagues in the office, it is not the same on the phone or online. We are more busy working from home that I don't get a chance to speak

Children are quite resilient and they have adapted quite well. My two boys were excited when the lockdown started, but after five weeks they kept saying 'I am missing school, I am missing my friends' and that they want to go back. Also, they have adapted to keeping social distancing. My six year old is too scared to go near any other people when we go out for a walk.

I am a Muslim and follow Islam. This year Ramadan started in the middle of lockdown, it has been really hard staying away from friends and family when normally we would gather around to break fast when the sun sets. However, we have distributed food to those who live near, by leaving food on the door step and chatting to them at a distance. We have not been able to go to any prayers in the mosque since the lockdown. This is especially hard for the Friday prayers and the night prayer (Tarweeh prayer) during Ramadan. Our biggest celebration is Eid Ul Fitr when Ramadan finishes. Normally when visit friends and families, exchange gifts and have big feasts as well as dressing up in new clothes. But this year we will be in lockdown and will be spent with own family. It’s a bonus to be cooking less, but nevertheless, we will be missing all the family and the gatherings.

Cyfraniad Enfys i broject Casglu Covid: Cymru 2020.

Rydw i’n gweithio i’r awdurdod iechyd mewn tîm iechyd meddwl. Fel arfer, mae hyn yn swydd heriol, ond nawr, hyd yn oed fwy. Mae’r tîm wedi gorfod newid practis i arsylwi pellter cymdeithasol. Mae’r swydd yn gallu bod yn anodd, trallodus a llawn straen – rydym yn dibynnu ar ein gilydd am gefnogaeth. Dros y blynyddoedd, rydym wedi creu tîm da, cryf, cefnogol.

Weithiau, ma’n anodd aros yn gryf. Rydym yn cefnogi cymaint y gallwn o’n cleifion ar y ffôn neu wrth Skype neu FaceTime, ond yn amlwg, nid yw natur ein swydd yn golygu bod hyn bob amser yn bosib. Mae cadw cysylltiad a chael acses i feddygfeydd teulu, fferyllfeydd cymunedol a gwasanaethau eraill i’n clientiaid hefyd wedi bod yn heriol ac yn wahanol… I fod yn onest, rydw i wedi cadw ‘mhen lawr a mynd o ddydd i ddydd yn gwneud fy ngorau a beth alla i.

Mae hyn yn anghredadwy! Fod y byd i gyd wedi cael ei effeithio. Pobol, economiau, diwylliant, traddodiadau a disgwyliadau. A fyddwn yr un peth byth eto? Rydw i pob amser yn credu ein bod yn datblygu, nid yn unig fel rhywogaeth ond yn unigol ac yn bersonol. Gobeitho fydd hyn mewn rhyw ffordd yn ein hysbrydoli i ddatblygu yn well, yn fwy caredig ac yn fwy tosturiol, dim yn unig yn bersonol ond tuag at ein cyd-ddyn, ein cenhedloedd a’r byd.

Cyfraniad Heather i broject Casglu Covid: Cymru 2020.

My poor 5-year-old daughter misses her school and her friends. Both my husband and I work full time in the house and constantly shush her and tell her "not now we're busy". When we finally aren't busy, we’re exhausted. I think the constant distractions in the house cause more energy and focus to be needed for the same work I was doing without distractions in the office before the lockdown. I commuted to work by bicycle before – something that blasts you with cold air and physical exertion, and clears your head and invigorates you. Without that, I end up like a zombie at the end of the day, and can't find energy enough to engage with my kid fully. I've tried to go for bike rides anyway, but without a purpose to them, I can't find the motivation to go. My kid watches a disgusting amount of television now.

I thought I would end up snacking more throughout the day and eating larger meals now that they all have to be cooked at home, but that hasn't really happened. My constant battle to muster enough unbroken concentration in the work day doesn't really leave room for aimless snacking. But without the bike riding and walking and dancing I used to do regularly, I'm still getting fatter. I've had to cut myself down from my normal food intake just so my trousers will stop being unbearably tight, but I've just ended up filling that hole with alcohol. So, the battle continues.

Social distancing is our one main defence. When we bring groceries or other purchases into the house, my husband washes them with soap and water. I always feel like that's over-the-top, so I just lay it all out and spray it with Dettol. Unless I'm feeling particularly like the world has gone mad and nothing makes sense and how on Earth could a person possibly contract a deadly virus from a packet of biscuits. In which case, I just put the stuff away in the cupboards and wash my hands and pour a drink and call it job-done.

I think my personality is particularly vulnerable to caged-bird-syndrome. I like to flit between places and people on whims. They said at the beginning of this that the Age of Introverts is upon us, but that was silly. How can I possibly find time alone to recharge my introverted energy bank when I'm trapped all day in a tiny house with two other trapped people? I go to bed exhausted and low and wake up the same as if I never actually went to bed. I feel like a zombie, and I feel infinite guilt.

Actually, this questionnaire has been surprisingly therapeutic. Thank you. I don't think I've ever been asked these things or ever had to stop and think what my answers to any of these questions are. I feel strangely lighter – like I just spent a half hour in the confessional and can just leave it all there when I walk out.

Cyfraniad y Parchedig D. A. Roberts i broject Casglu Covid: Cymru 2020.

I am the local Rector of Bedwas, Machen, and Michaelston-y-Fedw and I'm the Vicar of Rudry. Our churches are helping people with food parcels, prescription collections, click & collect deliveries, and pastoral care at this time. I am a key worker, and amongst my normal duties as a Vicar, I am doing this along with over 100 volunteers from the community who have signed up to help us.

I get up at 7am typically, ready for a my work at the Bedwas, Machen, Michaelston-y-Fedw & Rudry Parish Trust CARE Project, which has HQ at St. Thomas' Church, Caerphilly. At the HQ, we have a food hub which is where food is collected and delivered in food parcels to people in need. It's also the base of our online support system and phone lines. I am on hand as the Lead of the Project, and also in my role as Vicar. I will usually leave there at 5pm, ready to come home to my wife and the children, before working again the next day. In between all those things are usual vicar jobs including services which are now all online, and funerals, some of which are COVID-19 related.

Some of the calls I take as a vicar are particularly tough at the moment: people grieving, people who are struggling with mental health, people who are in desperate poverty, and even people who cannot cook anything with the food we give in food parcels because the poverty is so diverse and vast. That can be hard to comprehend at times.

The Church is used to responding and adapting to crises and pandemics, so this is nothing new for the Church... it's just strange to be the generation having to do it! But despite challenges, we are grasping the opportunities too. People of all ages are connecting with the Church now, and our older members are getting much better at technology!

I think that out of all the challenge and sadness that people are experiencing now, there can also come hope, and even joy. There are good news stories to see and hear, such as people recovering, people coming together and building community. My hope and prayer is that this will last long after lockdown. I'm also hopeful about the Church. People are asking "the big questions" and many are joining online events and services, or volunteering with us. It's really heart-warming, and it gives me immense hope for the future. I just hope we don't squander or waste the good things that have been given to us during this difficult time.