Three years since lockdown: Eastbourne looks back

On March 23 2020 it was announced England would go into a national lockdown. People were told to only leave the house for essential shopping, limited exercise, medical needs and travelling to work only when absolutely necessary.

Check out March 2020-March 2021 in pictures

Non-essential shops and services shut and home schooling started with children in Eastbourne swapping the classroom for the kitchen table.

Community spirit shone through with a number of organisations helping vulnerable people unable to get out to shop for essentials. A local charity called Matthew 25 Mission continued to feed people in need through government guidelines, Morrisons offered food boxes to vulnerable people struggling to get delivery slots and the local foodbank pleaded shoppers to donate much-needed tinned food.

Chancellor at the time Rishi Sunak announced the coronavirus furlough scheme to help firms struggling. Just two months later businesses in Eastbourne had already put around 11,500 employees on furlough. At the same time, people in the area had made roughly 4,100 claims for financial support under the separate Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

April saw Captain Tom Moore complete his 100th lap for the NHS, rainbows popped up in windows all over streets in Eastbourne and residents continued to clap for carers from their doorsteps every Thursday evening.

Following the announcement of lockdown being extended in mid-April, it was revealed 90 per cent of Herald readers believed the lockdown should be extended. At the time Sue Stevens said: “I would rather be in lockdown for as long as it takes and come out the other end alive. Some people aren’t taking it seriously enough.”

On April 24 father and son Simon and Louis Smith walked around their neighbourhood dressed as Spider-Man to bring a smile to children stuck at home during lockdown.

The Owen family provided more than 100 care packages for key workers too. Tracey Owen said: “Keyworkers are not just the NHS workers, there are a lot of forgotten heroes that need to know we appreciate them too. We may not know them personally, but we owe then so much.”

May brought the first signs of lockdown easing and people started to go back to work but Boris Johnson confirmed schools and non-essential shops and services would remain shut until at least June.

In a survey done by the Herald, 72 per cent of readers voted that Dominic Cummings should have been dismissed by the Prime Minister following his Covid rule-breaking by driving to Durham.