How do we mark one year since lockdown?

We’ve been having a think about how we as a community can mark a year since the first lockdown started on 23rd March 2020. There might be something else that we pull out of the bag but we had one thought which for some of us turned out to be both poignant and funny and wondered if you in our community would like to share too?

What were the pictures that you took in the days leading up to lockdown in 2020? Look back in your camera roll, do they tell a story of how life was before and in the lead up?

As a starting point Joan, our Development Manager is sharing a few photographs that she took in just over that week leading up to lockdown commencing.

Photo One - Stranraer

Throughout the beginning of last year I was taking part in the Social Enterprise Community Leaders in Tourism course where I very fortunately was able to attend residentials in Skye, Loch Lomond and Stranraer and meet some lovely people also involved in community led tourism across Scotland. That weekend of the 14th March I was in Stranraer. Nearly as far away from Thurso as I could be in Scotland. I remember coming down to breakfast on the Saturday morning and hand sanitiser had appeared everywhere. It felt surreal. I spent that train journey up to Glasgow making sure that the staff of the Trust were all ok, cancelling events we had planned and fielding phone calls.

Photo Two - Milk!

Sunday morning waking up in Glasgow and heading to Queen Street Station. I stood waiting to get onto the train and flicked on Facebook and saw a group had started called ‘Deliver for Caithness’ which was amazing but also saw that there were nearly 2,000 people in the group and was worried that while the intention was amazing and full of community spirit to be able to really support our communities and vulnerable people we needed some co-ordination. I have never spent a train journey like that one. Phonecalls, texts, messages, emails. By the time I got to Inverness to my daughter’s flat not sure I had any fingers left. My afternoon in Inverness, the last time I saw her until after lockdown ended was spent searching Inverness for milk (my son was headed to Inverness on the train to do work experience and he couldn’t get any in Thurso before he left) and fielding more calls and messages. There was no milk to be found! Anyone who knows me knows it is intravenous tea I drink more or less, milk was important! Fortunately on the train North the woman on the trolley noticed me and was full of praise for what she had seen in the Facebook Group so I chanced my hand for some milk sachets and was rewarded!

Photo Three - Calm

What is unusual for me for this photo is that it was taken at half past two in the afternoon on the 19th March. I do a lot of my thinking and reflecting on the beach. Early mornings are my time or late at night when there is no one else about. Have a big funding application to write, gearing myself up for a busy day, you’ll find me on the beach early hours. That week prior to the lockdown on 23rd March was manic. Organising, planning, creating systems, managing volunteers, setting up to work from home, making sure staff were all ok, just working out how we were going to support the community. So if I was on Thurso Beach at 2:30pm in the afternoon it meant I was stressed and needed some quiet calm. I obviously got that as not a another soul is in sight.

Photo Four - Planning

That week, the Trust Office very literally was turned into a war room. All of our usual posters and calendars taken down and thanks to the wonderful Colin in Sutherlands Photolab we were able to get large maps of the town, plan out where volunteer were and who was heping in the rest of the county. One of our first thoughts had been to have volunteers in each street but ultimately we went with separating the town into areas. That week and all of this past year Helen, our Chair and Carol, our Treasurer were absolute rocks. From early days helping me clear the office, helping to plan, lists upon lists! I can tell that they must have been in the office too not just as Carol’s bag is sat there but because there are flip charts all over the desk for our lists!