Take part in Leeds-wide project to document life in lockdown

The Yorkshire Evening Post has teamed up with Leeds City Council and developer CEG to document life in lockdown in Leeds through the 'COVID Diaries' project.

Thought to be the first of its kind currently underway across the district, the initiative aims to collect reflections and stories from as many people as possible and place them on public record for future generations.

Laura Collins, YEP editor, said: "The YEP has been there through some seminal moments in our city's history - two world wars and the first man on the moon being among them. Now we are living and breathing this pandemic, it's really important that we capture this moment in history on public record. I would urge everyone to get involved and share their experiences and make sure this moment in our lives is documented forever."

The project is open to people of all ages to send in entries via video diary, blogs, photos, artwork, poems and songs to the website at www.coviddiaries.co.uk or via social media.

Further down the line, Leeds Museums and Galleries will also be looking into how they can be used in future displays and exhibitions exploring people's experiences of the pandemic.

Coun Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council, said: “There’s no doubt this has been an incredibly challenging time for our city and its communities and we have all had to adapt to so many extraordinary changes to every aspect of our daily lives.

“But even in the face of such upheaval and uncertainty, we have seen some truly remarkable displays of compassion, creativity and civic pride from the people of Leeds. This imaginative project will give us an opportunity to document and share some of those uplifting and emotional stories and create a lasting record of this unique chapter in the city’s history.”

Aisling Ramshaw, head of sales and marketing at CEG, the developer behind the major Kirkstall Forge and Temple schemes in Leeds, said: “As a business that is the custodian of two nationally significant historical sites in Leeds, we really value history and believe this project can play an important role in understanding not only how society is living through the pandemic today, but being able to reflect on the impact it has had on people and wider society over the years to come and plan for the future.”

For more information visit www.coviddiaries.co.uk.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. These are challenging times but the team at the Yorkshire Evening Post need your support more than ever in the weeks ahead.

While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you. In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you - wherever possible and providing it is safe for you to do so - to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Inevitably falling advertising revenues will start to have an impact on local newspapers and the way we continue to work during this period of uncertainty. So the support of our readers has never been more important as we try to make sure that we keep you connected with the city you live in during this time. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. We need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Our team of trusted reporters are working incredibly hard behind the scenes - from kitchen tables and spare bedrooms - to look at how we can do this and your continued support to the YEP will help to protect its viability in the days and weeks ahead.

For more details on our subscription offers please visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk/YEP, email [email protected] or call us on 0330 4033004.

Thank you

Laura Collins

Editor