The evening of Monday 23rd March was a sobering one for us all. Boris came on screen and announced lock down in the UK. Schools had closed on the Friday, I'd started working from home, as a consultant, on the Thursday and Monday night finally saw the closure of all pubs, cafes and restaurants. Whilst I'd been fully expecting it, the finality of the announcement and what it might mean for us all, hit hard. The prospect of an indefinite period of time alone in a city we'd only moved to 6 months ago was daunting. We'd been making friends since our move, but had no reliable support network and for the very first time, my single parent status seemed to matter disproportionately - what would happen if I got ill; who would look after Eliza and how would I feed her? A new friend came to the rescue and offered for us to join her and her son, in a cottage on her friend's farm in Wales. I debated the rights and wrongs of relocating. With no advice for single parents or individuals on how they should approach isolation in the UK, I looked further afield for guidance. New Zealand advised their single parents to co habit and isolate with a buddy. And so the next morning we packed up and went to join our friends in the beautiful Welsh countryside. So much luckier than many, we had farmland and another adult and child as we all found ourselves in the strange new world of Corona.
