Covid Matters

Thomas Lawson, Chief Executive of Turn2us, a UK national charity providing help to those who struggle financially, breaks down the causes of financial disparities due to the pandemic, the impact it has on affected families, and expresses his hope for a more egalitarian future.If you haven’t heard of us,covid:aid is the new UK charity dedicated to helping all those adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to help anyone who is struggling but may not have found the correct resources or support system to help. By building an empowering and caring community, we provide a safe space where people’s voices can be heard, and where you can gain access to support that is specific to your needs. We’d love to have you as part of our community, so please visitcovidaidcharity.orgYou can find Turn2Us at turn2us.org.uk

Renowned Scottish artist and poet Alec Finlay has had an intimate knowledge of – and relationship with – chronic illness since he became ill with M.E. at 21, with it informing and shaping his work. In an expansive and thoughtful conversation for our podcast Covid Matters he spoke to us about how this shaped his debilitating experience of Long Covid –and how his work on Scotland’s Covid Memorial will provide a space for recuperation and to collectively reflect on how our experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic have shaped us.If you haven’t heard of us,covid:aid is the new UK charity dedicated to helping all those adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to help anyone who is struggling but may not have found the correct resources or support system to help. By building an empowering and caring community, we provide a safe space where people’s voices can be heard, and where you can gain access to support that is specific to your needs. We’d love to have you as part of our community, so please visitcovidaidcharity.orgFind more information about Scotland’s Covid Memorial –including details of the collaborative workshops taking place –on the I Remember blog.

As a former consultant occupational physician, Clare Rayner has raised awareness of the need for employers to be educated about Long Covid and to take it seriously –and battled tirelessly for the rights of those living with the disease to be treated fairly, despite herself suffering debilitating and devastating long-term effects as a result of coronavirus. We spoke to her for podcast Covid Matters to find out more about occupational health as it relates to Covid-19 – and about her own experiences.Clare was an Honorary Lecturer at the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Manchester, and worked as a Trainer for the National Education Project for Health and Work. Clare talks with first-hand experience of Covid-19 and has written several papers on the condition including editorials on returning to work after Long Covid, leaflets for workers and employers published by Society of Occupational Medicine, and a recent consensus document on management of Long Covid. She addressed the WHO as a spokesperson for patient groups with post-Covid health issues.Here are some links to articles/work featuring Clare:The Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) –Urgent need for occupational health for people with Long COVID: https://www.som.org.uk/sites/som.org.uk/files/SOM_Long_COVID_press_release_28_June_21.pdfWe have heard your message about long covid and we will act, says WHO: https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/09/03/we-have-heard-your-message-about-long-covid-and-we-will-act-says-who/Promises of Long Covid support have not materialised (a blog by Clare Rayner): https://www.pslhub.org/learn/coronavirus-covid19/273_blogs/promises-of-long-covid-support-have-not-materialised-a-blog-by-clare-rayner-r4499/If you haven’t heard of us,covid:aid is the new UK charity dedicated to helping all those adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to help anyone who is struggling but may not have found the correct resources or support system to help. By building an empowering and caring community, we provide a safe space where people’s voices can be heard, and where you can gain access to support that is specific to your needs. We’d love to have you as part of our community, so please visitcovidaidcharity.org

The importance of sharing our own stories cannot be underestimated, and it was for that reason that it was so uplifting to speak to Ed Richardson from the Covid-19 Recovery Collective about their work. A collaboration between the technologist and his friend Jane Ireson, an NHS nurse and researcher, they set up a website which invited visitors to submit tales of their own experiences.As you can find on their website what came was a wide variety of stories which also reflected similarities and provided reassurance to people at times when there was considerable uncertainty about Covid-19 and the Long Covid symptoms that were being reported by many. Through funding from Sheffield Hospitals Charity research has been taking place this year to perform a thematic analysis of the stories, identifying common themes and helping shape insight into what recovery from Covid looks like for different people. It was inspiring to speak to Ed about the work that he, Jane, and others have been doing, and if you haven’t already I’d recommend taking a look at the stories they have shared: https://covid19-recovery.org/

For this episode of Covid Matters I was extremely fortunate to speak to Doctor Dean Burnett. He’s a neuroscientist, lecturer, author, blogger, podcaster, pundit, science communicator, comedian and numerous other things – and most recently he has written Psycho-Logical.In the book he reveals what is actually going on in our brains when we suffer mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and addiction. Having listened in audiobook format I found his insights fascinating and personally helpful. It was great to find out more about his thoughts on how the lockdown has affected us, and to get a better understanding of how knowledge of how our brains work can be helpful. We also discussed how he had been personally affected, as well as what his goals with the book were –and what he’s planning next. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.If you haven’t heard of us,covid:aid is the new UK charity dedicated to helping all those adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to help anyone who is struggling but may not have found the correct resources or support system to help.By building an empowering and caring community, we provide a safe space where people’s voices can be heard, and where you can gain access to support that is specific to your needs.We’d love to have you as part of our community, so please visit covidaidcharity.orgPsycho-Logical: Why Mental Health Goes Wrong – and How to Make Sense of It is now available in paperwork at Waterstones, Amazon, and elsewhere, and also as an Audible audiobook

Produced by covid:aid, the UK’s new national COVID-19 charity, Covid Matters is a regular podcast in which experts speak to us about the key issues facing those affected by the pandemic. We are delighted to welcome Dr Nathalie MacDermottto the show. She’s a clinical doctor and academic researcher at King's College London, sub-specialising in paediatric infectious diseases in the NHS. She also has significant experience in medical response to disaster and epidemic situations in Africa and Asia.Nathalie has been living with Long Covid since 2020, and has spoken publicly and powerfully about the long-term effects. Here’s an article she wrote for The Conversation in May 2021: https://theconversation.com/i-went-from-regular-tv-commentator-on-covid-to-long-covid-sufferer-in-just-a-few-months-158331If you haven’t heard of us,covid:aid is the new UK charity dedicated to helping all those adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to help anyone who is struggling but may not have found the correct resources or support system to help.By building an empowering and caring community, we provide a safe space where people’s voices can be heard, and where you can gain access to support that is specific to your needs.We’d love to have you as part of our community, so please visit covidaidcharity.org