Apart but not Alone: Neighbour support and the COVID-19 lockdown

Biddle, Michele; Jones, Mat

Abstract

Our presentation covers the following themes: (a) Characteristics of neighbour support during the UK COVID-19 lockdown, including a comparison with more formal voluntary and statutory sector support; (b) relationship between area-based deprivation and neighbour support; (c) impact of social capital on the experiences of lockdown; and (d) successes and challenges of neighbour support, including the role of social media platforms in creating hyper-local communities. We draw upon evidence from the ‘Apart but not Alone’ study, which aims to understand the characteristics of neighbour support during the UK COVID-19 lockdown and associations with area-based deprivation. This study comprises three phases: (1) an online survey of people engaged in neighbour support in the initial period of lockdown, promoted through several channels including postcode-based Facebook mutual aid groups; (2) in-depth interviews with some survey respondents to better understand the lived experiences of lockdown; and (3) a follow-on survey focused on neighbour support following the easing of UK lockdown restrictions.

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research e-Conference 2020 - ‘Times like these’: Researching civil society responses to and recovery from COVID-19
• Start Date: Sep 7, 2020
• Deposit Date: Sep 9, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 9, 2020
• Keywords: Community activism, mutual aid, informal care, social capital, inequalities, crisis response and recovery, voluntarism
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/6666953