20th JULY - 31st AUGUST 2020

Social Networking Diagram

This is a social network diagram showing our community contact circle.  Each dot represents a person and the lines show the links between them.  At the start of lock down we made sure that everyone in the church community had at least one contact person who would give them a call once a week for a chat, to make sure they were ok and to call for help if it was needed.  It was really important that everyone was included and that the helpers all had a call from someone too.Of course many people volunteered outside the church circle too, either locally with immediate neighbours or with other groups helping in the wider community, but that's beyond my mapping skills!

A Front Garden Interview

Sue is a local author and activist for the environmental group Extinction Rebellion. She shares her thoughts, passions and reflections on lockdown in this interview

"Take what you need, leave what you can"

My hope when we first set up the community facebook group was that by organising a supportive network, those who needed it wouldn't be left without help or support. One of the key issues in those initial weeks was the unavailability of many items from flour to the much coveted toilet roll! As weeks progressed many were affected financially by the lockdown too. This pantry is operated on the basis that anyone who needs to use it is welcome to, whether you need a couple of meals to get you through to payday or because you've run out of something and all of shops are closed! 

WIND TURBINES

Leslie, alongside his wife Sue are actively involved in campaigning to stop climate change. As an environmental activist, this poem reflects his positive view of wind turbines. Click on the picture to watch the video.

Front Garden Inverview

Leslie is a local author, founder of Berkhamsted Live and hosts a program on Radio Dacorum. He shares his thoughts, passions, reflections on lockdown in this interview. Click on the image to watch the video.

A Word Cloud Diagram

For the last 14 weeks I've been organising a weekly bread delivery from Darvells for 15 households on our road.  This started as a practical need for bread, but has now become a real treat. The word cloud shows everything we've ordered, with the most frequent in the bigger sizes.  Over 300 white rolls and nearly 100 donoughts! It may be adding to our lockdown waistlines, but the bread delivery brings us joy every Tuesday morning.

Artist's Illustrations

Debbie has diversified her talents following lockdown restrictions which affected her previous employment. She created these illustrations of chosen treasured local landmarks iin recognition of our beautiful surroundings and to celebrate Berkhamsted. These illustrations, framed and signed are available for purchase and she is open to commissions, please contact her via email - debbieshrimpton@gmail.com

Painting and Silent Auction for the Hospice of St. Francis

Kerry, a local artist, considers the effects of isolation whilst shielding in her newest painting entitled 'Distressed' She has produced this piece specifically for the Front Garden Festival. If you are interested in purchasing this piece we are running a silent auction with all proceeds going to the Hospice of St Francis. Email us at with your name, the amount you would like to pledge and a telephone number and we will let the highest bidder know on the 31st August. 

It was becoming a real struggle to motivate my 8 year old son to do the homeschooling sheets being sent home. We had a day off one day as he was struggling. I then remembered Joe Wicks has introduced a wheel of fortune for exercises, in his PE with Joe for kids. So I made one of our own, with all the subjects on, and the next day, introduced it. We used it ever since. The ‘excitement’ of not knowing if we’d be doing baking or English etc first and so on, made it all a bit more bearable. We also introduced PE Bingo for when he landed on PE - where he pulled activities out of a bag and matched them to our sheet. If he got 5 in a row over the course of lockdown, he won a prize. We obviously only had things he could achieve such as Trampoline, Keepy uppy’s , goal practise, basketball hoops, dog walk, etc. 

Jon has been thriving in lockdown. Here he describes what lockdown has meant to him, the opportunities he has had and how community spirit has got him through during a time where isolation was the new normal.  Click the image to see a video in Jon's words.

When lockdown started the choir could no longer meet to sing together ! We had to find a way to keep people singing. The music for the virtual performances (there are 3 of them so far) has been specially arranged for Berkhamsted Choral Society and our sister choirs in Chorleywood and the Lechonfied singers. We've had a lot of fun learning and recording the music and sharing our videos through the website and facebook. It's kept as many members of the choir as possible singing although it's not been for everyone! Please click on the image to find out more information and listen to some of their amazing performances including lockdown versions of Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Many Shades of Blue.

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Mark has a signature black cab, the only one in Berko! He found himself instantly unemployed at the start of lockdown but instead of resting during he kindly provided free transport to many NHS staff and vulnerable people attending appointments! Mark talks to the Front Garden Festival about his highs and lows of lockdown and the surprises along the way. Togetherness is the theme.

Hi I'm Hayley and I'm a Berko girl, born and bred. The majority of my family - parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins (...you get the picture!) - are in the town and as I grew up, went to school and have worked in the local area my network of friends are from the town too. Lockdown hit me hard as I love to be around people. My husband had symptoms of coronavirus in early March so we had to isolate before the official lockdown and I found it hard not being able to see my loved ones and talk to them and get comfort and reassurance from them when I needed it. My anxiety about the situation was escalating and I knew I needed to turn this around so with my 2 sons, Tommy aged 8 and Joshy aged 5, we started writing letters, sending pictures and having video calls with our family and friends. One evening Tommy done a virtual bingo game with his 1st Berkhamsted Cubs group and he enjoyed it so much that it gave us the idea to start up sessions with our family and friends as another way of keeping in touch and having fun with them at the same time.

So since April 2020, I have been running bingo sessions on Zoom for close friends and family. We use a free virtual bingo game (https://myfreebingocards.com/numbers/1-90) and I am the bingo caller and my friends and family print off their bingo cards and play at their homes. We have prizes (that everyone has contributed) for 1 line, 2 line and a full house which change each week. We have got into the bingo lingo of "22 - two little ducks" *quack quack* etc and it gives everyone an opportunity to catch up and have a laugh. We've had an array of prizes from homemade cakes, Twee jams, shopping vouchers, chocolates and even an inflatable hot tub hire!!

I believe that these sessions have helped not just my mental health and well-being but all of those that take part too. Everyone is still keen to join in even now as the lockdown and isolation/shielding rulings are easing off, as it gives everyone a positive boost on a Thursday night and is something everyone looks forward to. We'd recommend other Berko residents reached out to their friends and family in this free and easy way as it is great fun for all involved.