Reasons to be cheerful despite weary return to lockdown

SO here we are again. It’s hard not to feel that, almost a year after the first ‘stay at home’ order, we’re back where we were.

There are reasons to be cheerful - the vaccine for one. Out shopping at the weekend, I met friends who have had the jab, and that makes it suddenly feel real - hopefully the end is in sight.

But it does feel that, going into this latest lockdown - is it the second, third, or more than that for us here in Rossendale? - everyone is just worn down now.

We need to recapture that spirit of March last year - admittedly harder when the weather is against us.

That sense of all being in it together, or celebrating loudly those helping to keep us safe and that going above and beyond to overtly look after each other.

That’s not a criticism of anyone - we’ve had an awful year, and it’s ground many of us down.

Promises of the final push, and the end being in sight, are understandably treated with skepticism given so many other broken promises from 10 Downing Street.

You can’t prescribe kindness, but it won’t half make the next few weeks easier if we capture our attitude of Lockdown 1 over the next few weeks. Knock on that door, make that phone call, stop in the street (socially distanced of course) and just ask: How are you?