Volunteer diarists from Hastings sought to chronicle experiences during coronavirus pandemic

In a project launched today, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery is seeking volunteers willing to record their experiences of living under lockdown and how their lives have changed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Participants would be asked to keep a daily journal, charting the day-to-day experiences and the impact of the virus on ordinary life.

Kim Forward, leader of Hastings Borough Council said: “Coronavirus (COVID-19) has transformed every part of our lives in just a few weeks.

“We are experiencing restrictions on our daily lives that have never happened at any point in our country’s history before.

“As this is such an important point in our history, we believe it’s essential for the museum to start recording what’s happening.

“We’re recruiting volunteers to keep a journal about their experience of living through the Coronavirus crisis.”

According to museum staff, they are interested in people’s individual experiences of living through the COVID- 19 crisis, and how this is impacting on their work, hobbies, relationships, emotions and perspectives on life.

The journals would be kept as part of the museum’s collection, potentially being used in future collections 

A spokesman for the museum said: “We’re asking participants to write as much or as little as they feel like each day, but we would like them to write something every day.

“The journals, we hope, will show the happy experiences as well as the difficult bits.

We are asking people to donate their journal to the museum collection when the pandemic is over. 

“This means it will become part of our collections and be used in the future to help people understand what this experience was like for ordinary people. 

“The journals may get used in future exhibitions and online to explain what it was like in Hastings during the COVID-19 crisis.”

If you live in or around Hastings, and are interested in taking part, email [email protected] for more details.

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

Thank you for reading this story on our website.

But I also have an urgent plea to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality local news on this free-to-read site and in print, please purchase a copy of our newspaper as well. With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on our town centres and many of our valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you buying a copy.

Our journalists are highly trained by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards anywhere in the world. Our content is universally trusted - as all independent research proves.

As Baroness Barran said in a House of Lords debate this week on the importance of journalists: “Not only are they a trusted source of facts, but they will have a role to play in rallying communities and getting the message across about how we can keep ourselves and our families safe, and protect our NHS. Undoubtedly, they have a critical role.”

But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis. In return we will continue to forensically cover the local news - not only the impact of the virus but all the positive and uplifting news happening in these dark days.

In addition, please write to your MP urging the Government to provide some additional financial support for local newspapers and their websites like this one and ensuring that supermarkets continue to stock them. I cannot stress enough how important such an intervention would be.

We thank all our readers and advertisers for their understanding and support - and we wish YOU all the best in the coming weeks. Keep safe, and follow the Government advice. Thank you.