Leisure, learning and lock-down - PARENT CARERS

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This is a very challenging time for parent carers, so we thought we’d put a few thoughts together for what you can do if you get a moment to yourself. There are links to more practical information at the end. This guide is written for parent carers of children and young people with additional needs by the *Compass Card Team at Amaze. If there are things you’d like to see included, email compass@amazesussex.org.uk

*The Compass Card is a free leisure discount card run by the Sussex-based charity Amaze for disabled 0 to 25s living or going to school in Brighton & Hove or West Sussex. To find out more about the card and how to apply, click here. To find out more about Amaze, click here.

The Compass Team is still processing Compass Cards! Find out more here.

First things first:

Remember you are a parent carer. You are not a teacher or a therapist. Sometimes things have to slide and that’s okay!
It’s okay to not always feel okay. If you can, take some time out to do some yoga, meditation or other form of relaxation.
If you’re lucky enough to have a balcony or a garden, make sure you use it. Breathing fresh air and listening to the world around you is a tonic. If you don’t have either, open the windows.
Social media and constant news channels can be overwhelming. Keep some clear space for yourself and be prepared to turn them off.

Look after yourself

For parent carers juggling so many challenges at the moment, it can be difficult to take time for yourself. But if you can, it will help you come back into the ring better able to focus on what you need to.

For a short message about looking after yourself, this two and a half minute video from Carers Trust East Midlands pretty much sums it up.

Yoga, meditation or mindfulness, or just focusing on your own breathing, can all help in times of crisis.

If you want a down-to-earth guide to mindfulness, get your hands on a copy of Ruby Wax’s ‘Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled’ (you might find it in e-book form through your local library – see below). It’s practical, realistic and funny. You’ll also find lots of ideas on Ruby’s Facebook page here.
There are 12 free yoga and meditation classes available from Ekhart Yoga and they’re specially designed to relieve stress and anxiety. Find them here.
If you want to support local companies, some Carers’ Card Partners in Brighton & Hove are running online classes.
About Balance is asking people to pay usual prices, but has introduced a £3 community option for people going through a difficult time. Classes include mindfulness and meditation and a gentle early morning yoga class for all levels which lasts for an hour.
Bodhisattva Kadampa Meditation Centre is offering livestream 30 minute meditations from 12.30 to 1pm on weekdays for £1.
Brighton Natural Health Centre (BNHC) has a free live online relaxation classes at 12pm on Mondays and is offering other online classes via Zoom including meditation and mindfulness, yoga and pilates where you pay what you can (£3, £6 or £9).

Keep in touch with family and friends

Well, this is weird. Who knew there were so many apps that meant you actually didn’t need to see family and friends in the flesh?!

Some people will already be familiar with Skype and Facetime, but we’re also discovering apps like Houseparty (free, but with in-app add-ons if you want them) and Zoom. By the way, there’s been some controversy about Houseparty recently with news that the app has been hacked. The company behind the app has said there’s no evidence of a hack and that if you use a unique, secure password you should be safe. There’s more information in this piece from the Daily Telegraph. There’s also Messenger and WhatsApp where you can exchange messages, call or video call.

Keeping good relationships with people in the home can be challenging, so if you need some useful tips, the national charity Relate has information here.

Learn a new skill

You’re probably being driven mad by all the media talk about people having loads of time on their hands for exotic hobbies, learning a new language or starting to read ‘War and Peace’. So we won’t overdo this. But if you’ve always wanted to knit, crochet, cross-stitch or play the ukulele for example, the distraction could provide a welcome escape. YouTube is an absolute treasure trove for ‘how-to’ videos; just search for what you fancy and see how you get on. Here are a few ideas in case you’re looking for inspiration.

Learn to knit. You’ll be overwhelmed by the choice on YouTube, but if you’re an absolute beginner and you like the idea of knitting a scarf, we like this one for its good, clear instructions.
Take a short course. There are literally hundreds of free adult courses on Futurelearn and OpenLearn with topics ranging from digital media to psychology.
Play the ukulele. Compass Card families can learn to play the ukulele for free with online tuition from Go Kid Music. Find out more here.

Have fun

Laughter is one of the best ways of relieving tension and you can get your daily quota with the #BigCheerUp for Amaze. Launched on April Fool’s Day, Amaze has joined forces with top comics like Angela Barnes, Joe Wilkinson, Joe Lycett, James Acaster and Richard Herring to introduce the best funny jokes campaign ever. We’ll be sharing them on the Amaze Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter. You and your family can get involved too by filming yourselves telling a joke, funny story or anything silly (PG only!) and posting it on social media with the tags #BigCheerUp and @AmazeSussex.

Compass Card Partner Komedia Brighton is also trying to raise a smile if you want a break from the Covid 19 chatter. Well known for its Krater Komedy club, Komedia is launching livestreams of the iconic club from Good Friday 9 April at 9pm. You can watch the show on YouTube on your phone, tablet, PC or Smart-TV here. Don’t forget to subscribe to Komedia’s YouTube channel while you are there for the latest Komedia Live! videos. You can also follow Komedia on Facebook here.

We also found some other great ways to relax and have fun.

Brighton Festival goes online. Compass Card Partner Brighton Dome & Festival is streaming a range of shows online in May and you can watch them for free from home. There are adult shows as well as online family music from Groove Baby at 2pm on Saturday 23 May where you can join three friends on their quest to save some grownups from some horrible trolls. Singing, dancing and adventure all included. Find out more here.
Missing Brighton Fringe? There are plans to run Brighton Fringe 2020 in the autumn, but if you can’t wait until then for alternative, imaginative performance, OFF (Online Fringe Festival) really is the next best thing. Fringe shows across the UK are being streamed for a few days each and provide a rich supply of entertainment. Find out more here.
Laugh and learn with Cosmic Shambles. Described as being for ‘people who want to keep on discovering and learning about our wondrous universe and who want to have a laugh while doing it.’, the Cosmic Shambles team of leading scientists, comedians, writers and performers have introduced the Stay at Home Festival here. There’s something on every day of the week at the moment and you can watch live or watch past shows on demand.
Join an online choir. Yes, you read that right, it really is a thing. There are probably quite a few options out there, but The Sofa Singers set up by vocal leader James Sills is the one that caught our eye. This amazing project ‘brings together hundreds of singers in real time for 45 minutes of simultaneous singing’. Find out more here.
Make the most of online library services. Libraries buildings may be closed, but you can access e-books, audiobooks and more as part of your library membership. If you’re not a library member already, not a problem; applying online is simple and painless.
Brighton & Hove: see what the online library service offers here. To join the library service as a new member, click here. You can also keep in touch with the service on Facebook.
East Sussex: find out what’s available online here. To join as a new member, click here. You can follow the library service on Facebook here.
West Sussex: you can find out more about the eLibrary Service here. To join up as a new member, click here. Keep in touch with West Sussex libraries via their Facebook page.
Go to the (virtual) theatre. In normal times, these National Theatre films of West End plays would cost an arm and a leg in cinemas and even more if you went up to London to see them, but you can now watch them for free on YouTube every Thursday evening at 7pm.
Shakespeare’s Globe is putting six of its productions online to watch for free while the theatre is closed, including Romeo and Juliet and a Midsummer Night’s Dream. They’re available to stream at the Globe’s on-demand service from 6 April and the films rotate every two weeks.
Andrew Lloyd Webber is making his smash hit musicals available to watch for free on YouTube. They’ll show at 7pm on Fridays and be available for to watch for 48 hours.
For a fuller list of shows that’s updated regularly, follow this link.
Live music. If you love a bit of live music and you’re on Facebook, you might enjoy Rock the Lockdown where musicians from all over the world perform from their living rooms.
The Social Distancing Festival. Music, dance, art and more are all available via an ever-growing calendar of livestreams on the Social Distancing Festival website.

Exercise

Exercise with the NHS. You’ll find lots of exercise videos on the NHS website including aerobic exercise, strength and resistance, pilates and yoga and more. There’s even belly dancing for beginners!

Get inspired with Sport England. Sport England’s new campaign, ‘Stay in, work out,’ is provides a full range of ideas about getting active at home and outdoors.

Exercising outdoors. If you want to get out in the big outdoors, a local park might provide the answer. Under the current lock-down, you’re still allowed out for exercise once a day, but you need to stay local. Lots of parks are open, but playgrounds are shut and sports courts, skateparks and car parks may also be closed. Take a walk, go for a run, or cycle when you can. You can go by yourself or with members of your household, but remember you can’t play contact sports like football and you need to keep two metres away (about the width of a car) from anyone you see who you don’t live with.

If you want to see where your local parks are, click this link for information about spaces in Brighton & Hove, this link for East Sussex and this link for information about spaces in West Sussex.

Some links to practical information

See the Compass Team’s other lock-down guides for families and for young people.
Local charity Survivors’ Network has put together a great resource to help with social distancing and isolation. It includes helplines, webchats, online meditation, free yoga and meditation classes, adult colouring and much, much more.
Amaze has produced a wealth of resources for parent carers of children with SEND Brighton & Hove and East Sussex. Read more here.
West Sussex Parent Carer Forum and Reaching Families in West Sussex have put together Coronavirus information on education, health, wellbeing and more. Both the forum and Reaching Families are running regular online events where you can share a cuppa with other parents from the comfort of your own sofa. You can keep up to date with events on the forum Facebook page and the Reaching Families Facebook group page.T
The Compass Team at Amaze has ‘Leisure, Learning and Lock-down’ resources for families and young people and an online gallery for crisis creatives. Find out more here.