EDITOR’S LETTER

Editor-in-Chief Farrah Storr on the role we can all play in a time of crisis, and finding light among all the darkness

As I write this letter, the streets are empty. There are queues a quarter of a mile long outside our supermarkets. Flour and toilet rolls have become rare luxury goods, while the world now wears a strange, ominous uniform of gloves, mask and a nervous smile.

This is not a world we know. Neither is it a time we could have predicted. Over the past few months, we have all experienced moments that seem more akin to a sci-fi novel than real life: deserted motorways, house parties held via a computer screen and conference-calling platforms becoming a social lifeline for us all.

We have all been challenged, some more than most, and have most likely wondered if life will be the same once this is all over… which of course it won’t. Businesses will stumble and fall. People and livelihoods will be lost. We will never look upon a simple handshake in the same way.

But there is also much that will have changed for the better. Small things – almost imperceptible really – but there nevertheless. Never again will we take a walk for granted. Or skip a phone call to a loved one. And we will never, ever, roll our eyes when we’re invited on a night out. Yet perhaps the greatest thing we will have learnt through all of this is that there lies true heroism within us all.

That’s been the real boon among the chaos: the wondrous unfurling of people’s kindness and bravery. Notes tied to doors and bins with ‘THANK YOU’ scribbled across them. Neighbours who have emptied their cupboards to provide for others. Even on the track where I walk my dogs, someone has painstakingly removed every gate lock to protect those who tread its path.

But perhaps the real heroes are those we see every day. The supermarket workers, delivery drivers, care home attendants and pharmacists who have found themselves on a front line they never though they would. NHS workers enter a profession where bravery is a prerequisite and for that we hold them dear. But those individuals who must keep the rest of the country going? This is a battle they did not sign up for, yet they keep fighting regardless.

Which is why we asked you to tell us about the women who are fighting this invisible war, day in, day out. We wanted to know about anyone who puts themselves out there, so the rest of us can safely stay inside. Within 24 hours, you gave us hundreds of names, seven of whom featured on special ELLE digital covers (you can see them below, as well as on our social channels and at elle.com/uk).

There are so many stories to share: the woman who voluntarily went into isolation with her sick aunt to help look after her children. The nursing home assistant who cares for the country’s most vulnerable. The new mother who gets up at 4am for work to make sure every shop shelf is stocked before returning to her 12-month-old baby. The supermarket manager who, despite suffering from crippling anxiety, stands at the door of her store to take the frustration her customers throw at her. ‘You want to tell them you’re scared and anxious too,’ she told me. ‘But you can’t.’

So, to celebrate those nominated, we’ve printed their names here. Read them, remember them, thank them. But, most of all, be grateful that, in a crisis, we have heroes like these on our side.