TELCO leaders are working closely with Barts NHS Trust and CCGs colleagues covering several boroughs in east London. The following resources contain important information in regards to covid-19

Dr Helen Jarvis is an academic at Newcastle University and leader with Tyne and Wear Citizens. Here she blogs about the importance of language during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

Dr Ann Marie Mealey, Senior Teaching Fellow and ethicist at Leeds Trinity University, shares her reflections on the implications of COVID-19 for faith-based universities trying to maintain relationships and remain active in their local community.

Deputy Director Jonathan Cox shares some reflections on the continued relevance of Citizens UK's mission at a time when its day-to-day methods are ‘locked down’, and how our Community Organisers are ‘disorganising and reorganising’ to support member institutions to live that mission out.

This Thursday [2 April] hundreds of faith leaders will congregate, not in place of worship but on a Zoom video conference, to tackle together the huge challenge presented to institutions by the Covid 19 pandemic.

The call, joined by global experts in faith and digital technology from Facebook  comes after a huge survey by Citizens UK of faith and community organisations laid bare the need for adaptation and digital skills sharing amongst institutions. Many organisations are moving their services online as well as grappling with shortages of volunteers for foodbanks, befriending services and other community projects, caused by members of the congregation going into isolation.

As this fast moving public health crisis unfolds, Citizens UK and its local chapters have been working with schools to address the government's response and clarify how low income families will be supported as the school closure continues.

Brighton and Hove Citizens is an alliance of community groups working together to build grassroots leadership and relationships across diverse communities in our city. We usually meet in person for individual, heartfelt meetings, or at public actions for social justice causes. However, like so much else in our wonderful city, we are adjusting and changing our practices as we together battle Covid-19.

As a community it is key that we stay at home. But we believe that staying at home cannot, and should not, mean that we stop relating to each other. Indeed, in times of social isolation it is key that we take extra time and care to reach out beyond our usual social circles to find social commonality and community in our city.

This is why we, as Brighton and Hove Citizens, are running an online campaign through April and May to build community through covid-19. 

By Paulina Bielecka, Year 12 at William Perkin High School

On 10 February 2020, 70 students from across 5 schools in Ealing came to William Perkin High School for a Mental Health Summit, with recently elected James Murray MP.

The year 12 house captains worked extremely hard with our organiser, Daniel Mackintosh, to put together this Summit, which was created for students to share stories of how they were experiencing mental health challenges, and think together about the next steps we can take to make a difference. 

We had a couple of William Perkin students, Lucia and Cloe, who shared their personal stories and how it affected their mental health. It was very inspirational as they told us how they dealt with this pressure and to see them so confident now, made the whole room confident in themselves .Trisha, a Year 11 student, shared with the room a video of the internal thoughts us teenagers can have,and how easy it is to say “I’m fine” when, in reality, we are suffering. We also had Mr Chugg who bravely spoke about his personal experiences in university and how his mental health was affected in which he claimed that “failing and mental health didn’t matter because in the end I succeeded”. For him to do this he had to learn to speak with others about how he was feeling. This left the whole room deep in thought because it was a very moving story however. He demonstrated courage and was able to make the right decisions in the end because he had people around him to help. After listening to all of these speakers, we all gathered in our schools and came up with next steps to help the younger years with their mental health. One idea some students had was to create talking groups, where students have a dedicated room where they come together to share how they feel. 

We also had the local MP James Murray who attended this summit, who listened to our stories and our ideas, and to seek his commitment to working with us so we can make a difference. us to present. He listened to speakers from our school and was interviewed by our lovely Lucia from Year 13 about his personal mental health and how he protects it. He replied:”I try to push aside difficulties but that’s not the right thing to do. It’s better to talk to someone and share our difficulties, because we all face these challenges together”. During his interview with Lucia ,she asked him if he could commit to broker a meeting with the Ealing Clinical Commissioning Group, which is responsible for mental health services in the borough. He said yes! And when we come back to school, we will be following up with James Murray MP to build the next step of this campaign.

Dear Member Institutions,

These are scary times and we wish you and your loved ones and communities well.

But these are also times when the trust, relationships and power we have built over years of organising can be mobilised to support our communities and our country at a time of unprecedented strain.

The first priority for us is the well-being of our members and staff so we have shifted all of Citizens UK’s activities to a work from home approach and all meetings taking place on phone or video call. With the elections postponed we are shifting the big Assemblies planned in London, Manchester, South Wales, Birmingham and Essex to next year.

In this time of crisis, our mission remains as important as ever. With the need for physical distancing comes a danger of isolation, with the worry of infection comes the possibility of prejudice and with economic disruption those already struggling become even more vulnerable.

We need to stay together, to listen and take considered action – so while we may have to distance ourselves physically, we increase our social solidarity, and our commitment to work together for the common good.

Over the last 12 months, TELCO members have built power and won some amazing campaigns. Thousands of leaders have been involved in action across East London, and our focus this year has been on Breadth, Depth and Impact. Below, we celebrate some of our members. For more highlights see our Annual Meeting Brochure.