Stories from the Pandemic

OutoftheBox was delighted to be involved with Stories From The Pandemic offering activities across Sheffield to enable communities to come together, reflect on their experiences from the pandemic and engage in a memorial activity together.

We developed a story called ‘Something Happened’ to enable people to reflect on their experiences of COVID and community leaders from Sheffield were trained to use OutoftheBox for personal and collective reflection and healing.

This short film gives a flavour of what we offered.

Seventeen sessions were held across the city:

a Community social event;
a Support group for Parents of Children with Autism;
a Support group for People living with Dementia and their Carers;
a Healing and Wholeness Church service;
Mental and Physical Wellbeing groups;
a Public Engagement event by University of Sheffield.

The stories were shared as part of sessions that included:

Social catch up;
Creative activities;
Making a ‘Memories’ book;
A quiz;
Coffee and cake;
Cooking a meal together;
A fire pit in the garden.

Feedback from the sessions:

”The format meant that everyone had an opportunity to speak.  People were quiet at first but when they realised there were no wrong answers they gained confidence and shared their thoughts.”

"I liked the freedom and space to think and talk without having to explain."

"The stories were intriguing and because they are also visual I feel they are accessible to the heart and the head."

"It was very therapeutic, healing and beautiful. It involved my subconscious rather than my conscious mind."

“Listening to and watching this story has brought me a feeling of well being. Why? Because it has placed everything there in front of me and we have spoken things I have not been able to say or had the opportunity to reflect. It has made me emotional for the 'right ' reasons.”

"I felt so relaxed just watching the movement of the sand."

“OutoftheBox has a huge potential to open dialogue and encourage each person to share their perspective”

"I admit to being worried about today and what would this mean BUT, it has made a difference - felt listened to, by someone who knew exactly what it was we went through."

"This built our togetherness - thank you."

“The healing came from shared conversation - different experiences , understanding and perspectives.”

“Listening to each other, compassion, caring and supporting each other in a respectful manner.”

“OutoftheBox allowed for deeper conversation and expression.”

The sessions enabled people to speak about many things:

“I was so long under the cloud.
As you can see - it’s behind me now”

"It helped me to understand how awful the last three years of COVID were. I experienced lots of loss - personally and through my work in hospital. The workshop exposed to me how the grief had manifested and had become a real part of my ageing."

“One woman said it reminded her of the domestic abuse she had suffered.  Getting out of the house was really important to her so lock down triggered a lot of memories. Volunteering has helped her to connect with activities and people that have helped her to build her self esteem.  She is feeling hopeful and removed some of the black clouds off the story.”

“What I really really didn’t like -
the four walls and feeling alone. Please take one wall away and let the light in to heal a broken heart!”

“Blocking off the houses made a group think about barriers to support and language barriers.”

“There was conversation about anti vax and conspiracy theories and about how covid had caused rifts between people, everyone interpreting the rules differently and how it was really easy to fall out with people.  There was talk about tolerance and finding ways to find common ground.”

“One lady talked openly about living with agoraphobia.  She explained some myths and others asked her questions, she shared the tools she used to manage it and be able to live a good life.”

“What I liked?
Time with my pet cat, who knew when I was ill and never left my side.”

“I felt loved by Sam who fetched my prescriptions, bread and shopping. I am sad that’s gone away - but glad for my independence once again.”

“Everyone was affected so we just had to get on with it but actually we all lost things and suffered because of it”

“Clouds made someone think about climate change, government being a dark cloud, using up limited resources.  This started an in depth discussion about the environment and what individuals could do to make a difference and collectively what people could do together.”

“My favourite part of the story? Outside dancing with others in the sun after feeling so, so isolated and all alone”

“Maybe it’s time to look at the three houses - Our home, my sisters and a care home - it is like this is a sign to start things back up.....”

“There was lots of discussion about depression and mental health and how trapped it felt living with mental ill health.” 

“There was conversation about the value of having safe spaces to visit and people to talk to that they trusted.”

“Love is really all you need! The community came together to show care, support and help.”

“Holding hands - together again. Feeling warmth, love and someone’s hand in mine.”

At a Healing and Wholeness Church service the story ‘Something Happened’ was laid out in the two scenarios - before and after the Pandemic.