Lotto tribute to lockdown ‘stars’

For Rachel Riley and Pasha Kovalev, the four-month lockdown has been full of happiness and positivity.

Their baby daughter, Maven, is a constant source of joy and the Countdown star and former Strictly dance pro have enjoyed connecting with their local community on daily walks in London.

It’s been great for little Maven’s cultural identity too because her Russian grandma, Galina, 60, has been stranded with them since Covid-19 struck.

So the seven-month-old tot is well on her way to becoming bilingual and embracing her Russian roots.

“Galina came over in March for a month’s holiday, but then we hit lockdown,” says Rachel, 34. “She only had her winter clothes! But it’s been lovely having her help and it’s great for Mave to have had all three of us around all the time.

“Galina is from the far east of Russia and doesn’t speak any English, nor do the family over there. So it’s really important that Mave is bilingual.

“I speak some Russian, but she’s got used to hearing her dad and grandma.”

The Countdown numbers queen, who wed Pasha, 40, last year after they met on Strictly in 2013, went on: “Mave has inherited the national love of pickles too.

“One of the first things she ate was a big gherkin. She stuck it in her mouth and sucked on it for a good 20 minutes without pulling that lemon-sucking face.

“She’ll turn her nose up at nice things like melon and strawberries but with pickles, she’s straight in there.

“She’s really going to miss her Grandma when she leaves.”

But while Rachel has been relishing all the enforced family time, she is well aware that millions of people have been really suffering throughout the pandemic – and how much they rely on local lockdown heroes.

That’s why she is fronting the 2020 National Lottery Awards, which honour the UK’S leading lottery-funded projects in the arts, education, health, environment, sport, heritage and community.

Because this year, for the first time, they will be honouring the individuals who have made an extraordinary impact in their community during the pandemic.

Rachel says: “Thanks to National Lottery players, some £600million has gone to support communities in the crisis.

“But this year we want to honour the people within those projects who adapted so quickly and gave extra help.

“It’s a real chance to say thank you. The winners in each category will win £3,000 for their organisation and a National Lottery Award trophy.”

One project that especially impressed Rachel is Woman’s Trust, a London-based therapy and counselling charity for women who have experienced domestic abuse.

During Covid-19, they have been organising group digital wellbeing sessions as well as their one-on-one therapy online.

Rachel revealed: “I’ve been supporting a friend who I didn’t know was in a situation of domestic violence for some years.

“While I can’t go into specifics, I know Covid has made things more difficult. It’s been so hard for women in her situation,

without direct access to support services. I saw a poster that said ‘Domestic abusers have always worked from home’ and that’s so true.

“There’s no outlet currently. People are trapped at home, the kids aren’t at school and police and social services are running a limited service. These campaigners do an incredible job, they’ve often had similar experiences and their own stories are hard to listen to.

“So many survivors of domestic abuse will want to say a big thank you to those who’ve gone the extra mile to help.”

Rachel also admires the Cultivate London urban farm and social enterprise trust. It sponsors and trains unemployed

young people in landscaping and horticulture, engaging communities in food growing and rethinking fresh produce.

She says: “Getting out for a walk every day, seeing nature, has been so important for us. We live near Hyde Park and there’s a little vegetable patch there – I know how transforming gardening can be.

“My mum’s really into gardening since lockdown, it’s therapeutic. But there are many amazing Lottery-funded projects out there, and wonderful unsung heroes.

“The awards are a great way to celebrate positivity when there’s such a lot of negativity out there.”

Rachel knows the negativity all too well, having been subjected to “hideous abuse” and physical threats after criticising Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to tackle antisemitism within the Labour Party. The maths graduate, who grew up in Essex, identifies as Jewish but never went to synagogue as a child and is an atheist.

But researching her heritage – her family came over in the pogroms – helped her grasp of antisemitism. “It’s always there, and in a time of turmoil is easy to wake,” she says.

Voicing her concern on Twitter in 2018 led to such horrific trolling she is now set on changing the toxicity of social media.

She says: “I had my eyes opened by the antisemitic attacks and am now patron of a non-profit organisation called the Centre for Countering Digital Hate.

“We’re dealing with a whole infrastructure of baddies using the internet to

We want to honour the people who adapted fast and gave extra help

RACHEL RILEY ON AIMS OF 2020 LOTTERY AWARDS

I believe we’re not in immediate danger now, people did feel that

RACHEL RILEY ON FEARS OVER ANTISEMITISM

money and sow hatred – be it antimuslim, anti-black, anti-jewish, antivaccine or any other misinformation. A lot of people are intentionally misleading others to make money and social media companies do nothing.

“They make all these promises but when it comes to reporting really high-profile, prolific liars, they don’t do anything.

“A recent Twitter poll asked users, if they could go back in time and stop it being invented would they do it? The majority said yes. People like being able to connect and make friends, but social media has become really toxic. You can’t have a nuanced discussion – it’s anger or nothing. Something’s gone very wrong.

“The social etiquette we apply offline needs to be applied online, but it’s gone the other way. So I’m committed to CCDH, which promotes positive initiatives to counter the hate.”

Rachel also believes Labour’s new leader, Sir Keir Starmer, is committed to tackling antisemitism.

“I’m a centrist. Not Labour or Conservative, not tribal,” she says. “But I think the indemake pendent report will show there’s been a huge problem. It’s a can of worms that won’t go away for a generation. It’s done real damage and will need effort to change some of these misinformed views.

“But from Keir’s actions I believe we’re not in immediate danger any more… and people DID feel in real danger before.”

Rachel has finally returned to work and is taking Maven with her to the Countdown studios in Salford, Manchester.

“It’s all very different,” she says. “Everyone has masks and gloves on, we’ve got more locally based contestants – and, of course, no audience.

“We’re all adapting though and Mave takes it in her stride. She’s such a happy, sociable little thing – really chilled.

“Although not the other night. She wouldn’t sleep, the first time ever. I was walking round Media City at midnight in my jogging bottoms, with her in a sling.

“I was going, ‘Look, there’s BBC Sport, there’s Pudsey, there’s the Blue Peter Garden… now please go to sleep’.

“I’ve realised it’s because her two front teeth are coming through.” It’s another reminder how long lockdown has been.

Grandma Galina will fly home next month but Pasha, whose “Here Come the Boys” UK tour is off until next year, will keep talking to his little pickle in Russian.

“He’s been home a lot more than expected,” says Rachel. “He’s enjoying looking after the baby. Friends have said, ‘She’s going to be a Daddy’s girl’. But that’s fine.”