During the early days of lockdown I started this photo project. There seemed to be a collective expression of Love, Gratitude and Appreciation in the air, especially for our KeyWorkers. 

 

The nations New Heroes, the ones keeping our country running, our NHS Workers, the Teachers and the Carers, and the "UnskilledWorkers"  the Bus Drivers and Train Drivers, Cleaners, Supermarket Workers,  where would we be without their courage, bravery and their strong work ethic? 

 

We all know that many of these positions are held by migrant workers, or descendants of immigrants. Will we remember they were our heroes, the ones keeping our country running once this war on Corona is over? 

 

Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the tide of appreciation, gratitude and respect to turn. As soon as we came out of the first stage of lockdown the undergraduate medical students, that responded to the call for help, have already been disregarded with only one months pay. A new immigration bill has passed which rejects low skilled workers, the new laws means that when these key workers apply for new visas, they will be declined and will need to leave the country. The teachers who cared for the key workers children, and the children at risk, when questioning safety measures on opening the schools, have been accused of being lazy work dodgers. And most recently of all the Carers who looked after our elderly in the Care Homes have been scapegoated for the death toll suffered!

 

We have been given an opportunity to adjust the balance, to re-prioritise, to insist on decisions being made from the more feminine agenda of empathy, compassion and Love, we need to fight against the traditional masculine politics of ego, power and oppression, at the very least we must ensure that the world does not become even more fragmented at the end of this pandemic.

 

©2020