House of Lords ‘Life Beyond Covid’ Committee

Early years are a really important time for children. What happens in the early years has the potential to impact the rest of a child’s life and beyond. Research shows us that Covid-19 has had a range of impacts on early years' services in different communities.

When the House of Lords announced their 'Life Beyond Covid' Committee we wanted to make sure the views of local workers in Nottingham were considered as part of the UK Government's plans for the future. Most importantly, we wanted to help prevent further inequalities for the families we work with. 

We spoke with our Family Mentor teams in Aspley, Bulwell, Hyson Green & Arboretum, and St Ann's, alongside other colleagues who work with the early years in Nottingham, including libraries, early help, health visitors, local councillors and community and voluntary organisations.

Our conversations were inspiring, positive, and honest; but also challenging.  One thing was clear: no one was quite sure what Life Beyond Covid would look like. Most people felt strongly that we needed to:

• Build on the sense of ‘togetherness’ that lots of us felt during the peak of the pandemic.
• Continue looking out for others.
• Come together as a community to make sure everyone is treated with respect and compassion, regardless of who they are.
• Move forward and beyond Covid.
• Make sure no one is left behind.

Generally, we felt there was a lot of hope for the future.   

However, many of the people we spoke to believed that existing inequalities (whether based on gender, income or ethnicity) could worsen. They felt that the government needs to be honest, clear and compassionate so that the impact of Covid does not impact more generations of local families.

We worked with two artists to create a set of 6 visual minutes that record the conversations we had with local workers. They give more detail about their hopes and challenges as we move beyond Covid-19.