Covid-19 masterpost – mental health, education & learning, community, etc.

Hi friends,

I am seeing so many wonderful and cockle-warming links and initiatives around and I wanted to create a master-post that I will continue to update throughout the next few weeks/months. If you have any suggestions please do let me know. Favourite indie online shops? YouTube channels? Education resources? Anything! This is primarily UK based.

I am home-bound for the most part as I have underlying health conditions that put me at a much greater risk of coronavirus complications, so a lot of this is about stuff you can do or access from home.

Last updated: Thursday 2 April 2020

Mental health

• General tips: make your bed every morning, shower/bathe every morning, open windows and let fresh air in, change bedsheets weekly, try to wash up and wipe down kitchen counters every night before bed.
• Change your scenery! Get YouTube on the telly and try some relaxing background scenes, or even something magical
• Headspace app
• Calm app
• MIND wellbeing support
• Rethink Mental Illness
• Covid-19: managing your mental and financial wellbeing
• Coronavirus: online therapy service to offer free sessions across UK
• Mellow Doodles on Instagram
• THE BEST SLEEP MEDITATION THAT EVER EXISTED
• Why You Should Ignore All That Coronavirus-Inspired Productivity Pressure

General tips/survival guides/other lists

• When you are out and about, smile at people and give huge thanks to every worker you encounter
• Every day, have a little think about who you are grateful for right now
• Shop your own pantry; begin with an inventory and then plan your meals (use an app like these to find recipes)
• Grow up – Glo up survival guide
• Fat-Assed Prepper Survival Tips for Preparing for a Coronavirus Quarantine
• Twitter thread of free stuff available online
• 16 Tips for Working From Home With Kids
• Newswise – Activities, links, tips and advice to help families learn more about the news together
• Paid-for things now made free
• Financial help and rights
• How to keep fit for free at home
• What To Do During (Unexpected) Life At Home
• Mail, groceries, and takeout: How to be sanitary with the stuff you’re bringing into your home

For those with kiddos

• Live kid-friendly P.E. each weekday morning (some links weight-loss oriented)
• Sign up to BorrowBox and get free eBooks and audiobooks through your local library
• Free online educational classes for children and teens
• Home learning support packs by curriculum from Twinkl and printing from Netprinter
• 30 Days of Play Lego challenge
• Story Starters – creative writing prompts for kids (or grown-ups!)
• Free wildlife colouring pages (and animal facts)
• FREE streaming of kids’ stories on Audible while Schools are closed
• 9.45am Aesop’s Fables streaming on Facebook
• List of all the free educational stuff celebrities are doing online, with times
• 20 learning apps for stir-crazy kids

Pet stuff

• Doggy podcasts!!
• RSPCA Covid-19 pet advice
• Canine & feline sector group advice page

Education and learning and fun

• University-hosted free online courses
• Sign up to BorrowBox and get free eBooks and audiobooks through your local library
• Free University-level resources from Cambridge University press
• Thread of academic resources going open-access
• You can now download over 300,000 books from the NYPL for free

Community initiatives (UK)

• Covid-19 Mutual Aid UK (Facebook)
• Sign up to Nextdoor and see how you can help your neighbours
• Shelter – Covid-19 housing advice
• Refuge (domestic violence shelter) responds to Covid-19 (and donate here)
• OLIO Cook4kids
• Acorn the Union Community Support
• Jack Monroe’s nightly ‘lockdown larder’ advice Twitter chat

Ideas for using up time

• Download and play The Sims!!
• Buy a secondhand console and some games (e.g. from CeX or Music Magpie)
• Read magazines and books via your local library using PressReader.com and BorrowBox
• YouTube channel Odd Tinkering
• Learn to sew with my YouTube playlist
• Organise a film/game/book swap with your neighbours (all via letterbox of course)
• Make a ‘thank you’ banner or card for your post-person, bin-people, etc. Get the kids involved! Search Pinterest for ideas.
• Have a Netflix party with your pals
• Have a regular Zoom or Google Hangout with your pals/family (though be aware of Zoom privacy concerns)
• Free yoga videos – Yoga with Adriene (warning – some links are weight-loss oriented)

If you still have your usual income

• Order from local indie restaurants via contactless Deliveroo and tip your rider a lot
• Buy vouchers for local indie restaurants or cafes, or from indie shops that are now selling online
• Order online from local indie shops if you can – stock up on birthday and Christmas gifts for the next year or so in advance
• Donate to The Trussell Trust to support food banks in the UK

And take care of each other, yo <3

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