Life Under Lockdown: Nottingham's spirit shows Covid crisis can make us stronger

  • Video report by ITV News Correspondent Geraint Vincent

ITV News has spent the last month in Nottingham, learning how England's Covid-19 lockdown has affected people there.


Spending the last month in Nottingham, as the city hauled itself through a second coronavirus lockdown, I didn’t expect to find cause for optimism. In the end it was difficult to ignore.

It was in the homes that people have been cooped up in for so much of this year. The families who have lost loved ones but are determined to help each other get through the worst. And others who have just been reminded of what’s most important in life, like grandmother Angela Davis who was so pleased to be in a bubble with her daughter’s family.

The businesses which put money by to see them through to the new year, and have used the lockdown to make sure they come back bigger and better. Anna Garvey and Aiden Johnson have a tattoo parlour and jewellery shop in the centre of the city.

They were closed down with 24 hours’ notice but have spent the last month building a new piercing studio which will allow the business to expand, and Anna is thinking about how she can use her artistic talent elsewhere.

And in the concern that people have shown for the communities they live in. The youth worker whose youth club was forced to close, and is now paying personal visits to family homes to make sure the youngsters are alright. And the Hindu temple which had to turn worshippers away during Diwali, but has now opened its kitchens to make food for those in need.

While there might be more hardships with the new tier system, when life does return to normal, it might just come back stronger.