Good Days and Bad D

aysD

uring Lockdown

Having a bad day

Having a good day

Good D

ays and Bad D

ays During Lockdow

n

Having a bad day

1. Jasmine is bored – so are her M

um and D

ad. They are watching TV

but Jasm

ine wants to go out. S

he says, “I am going to play badm

inton.” Her

parents say , “No!”

2. James sm

ashes up his bedroom. H

e feels angry. He runs out of the house,

but a friendly policeman stops him

. He w

alks home w

ith him and listens to

him. Jam

es says, “I just need some exercise.”

3. Kali is fed up. S

he has a lea!et about a fair. She w

ants to go, but she can’t. S

he throws it in the bin.

4. Lisa goes for her daily walk. S

he says someone sitting dow

n reading and goes to say hello. That’s not social distancing! The w

oman gets up quickly

and rushes off. Lisa rings a friend when she gets hom

e and talks about about how

she feels.

Having a good day

1. Susie

Susie w

akes after a good night’s sleep. She looks forw

ard to a day at home. S

he has som

e breakfast and then washes up. S

he looks at her timetable for the day

– she loves dancing so the plan is to join in an online dance class (like the ones by D

ance Syndrome!). It’s tim

e to relax with a cup of tea, chatting to her M

um,

then she watches som

e TV. Susie has a relaxing bath ready for bed. S

he has eaten w

ell, had some exercise, learnt som

ething new and done ordinary everyday things.

Importantly she helped her M

um/ carer in the kitchen and had tim

e for a chat.

2. George

George and his cat w

ake up. George gets w

ashed and shaved. He helps M

um

put his dirty clothes in the washing m

achine and she irons the clean clothes before he puts them

on. George has planned his day – usually he goes running

with his friends, but he m

ust go for a walk on his ow

n until lockdown ends. H

is m

um w

aves goodbye and says, “Don’t get close to anyone – see you soon.”

George has a relaxing bath before bed.

3. Janet and Kim

Janet and Kim

think about their boyfriends and keeping in touch with them

. They decide to use the phone but they could use an online video app or a m

essaging app.

4. PhilPhil reads a w

ordless book with his M

um. H

e loves music and teaches him

self to play guitar. H

is sister claps along.

5. FredFred and Louisa prepare and enjoy a m

eal together. Later, Fred gets some

exercise in the garden.

These short stories show how

to look after our mental health and w

ellbeing, and how

important it is to be connected to other people and to belong.

The BELO

NG

Manifesto rem

inds us of the six things we can do each day to keep

well. Plan your day around these six things and help the people you care about

to plan too. Som

e of the activities suggested in the manifesto aren’t allow

ed during lockdow

n (like swim

ming and hugging), but there are still lots of other

choices.

This is especially especially important during periods of isolation and lockdow

n, as being lonely can affect both m

ental and physical health. This might include

being irritable, sad or angry or might lead to the person stopping com

municating

or neglecting healthy sleep, exercise, regular meal tim

es or spending all the tim

e playing games on a phone or com

puter or watching N

ews.

The Books B

eyond Words series

All our stories are available as paperbacks and ebooks, so you can read them

w

herever you are. Here are som

e stories you might enjoy w

hile you’re staying at hom

e:

Belonging (2018) S

heila Hollins, Valerie S

inason and Access A

ll Areas artists,

illustrated by Lucy Bergonzi. K

ali is lonely. She has no real friends and no reason

to leave the house to socialise; comm

unity activities seem rem

ote and pointless to her. W

hen things go wrong, K

ali "nds herself in a position to help Stefan, another

vulnerable and lonely person. In the aftermath, they forge a friendship and begin

to "nd themselves in the centre of a com

mun-ity w

here they feel they belong.

Speaking U

p for Myself (reprinted 2017) by S

heila Hollins, Jackie D

owner, Linnett

Farquarson and Oyepeju R

aji, illustrated by Lisa Kopper. H

aving an intellectual disability and being from

an ethnic minority group can m

ake it hard to get good services. N

atalie learns to "x problems by being assertive and getting help from

som

eone she trusts.

Making Friends and H

ug Me, Touch M

e (both 2015, 2nd edition) by Sheila H

ollins and Terry R

oth, illustrated by Beth W

ebb. These books tell the stories of Neil and

Janet who w

ant to get to know new

people but go about it in the wrong w

ay. The stories tell how

they learn when you can and can’t touch other people.

The Dram

a Group (2015) by H

ugh Grant, S

heila Hollins and N

igel Hollins,

illustrated by Lisa Kopper. D

ean goes to the theatre with his fam

ily. He enjoys

it so much his friend Jam

es encourages him to go to a dram

a group. He’s very

nervous and "nds it hard to join in at "rst. But once he gets to know

people he has a really good tim

e, doing both backstage roles and acting.

Falling in Love (1999) by Sheila H

ollins, Wendy Perez and A

dam A

bdelnoor, illustrated by B

eth Webb. This story follow

s the relationship between M

ike and Janet from

their "rst date through to deciding to become engaged to be m

arried.

This work is licensed under the C

reative Com

mons A

ttribution-NonC

omm

ercial-S

hareAlike

4.0 International

License. To view

a

copy of

this license,

visit http://creativecom

mons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

or send

a letter

to C

reative C

omm

ons, PO B

ox 1866, Mountain V

iew, C

A 94042, U

SA.

A N

ew H

ome in the C

omm

unity (2015, 2nd edition) by Sheila H

ollins and Deborah

Hutchinson, illustrated by B

eth Webb. S

imon has to leave his long-stay hospital

for a group home w

here he soon discovers that his new friends are there to help.

This book is designed to help people with intellectual disabilities m

ake a happy transition to a new

home.

George G

ets Sm

art (2001) by Sheila H

ollins, Margaret Flynn and Philippa R

ussell, illustrated by C

atherine Brighton. G

eorge’s life changes when he learns how

to keep clean and sm

art. People no longer avoid being with him

and he enjoys the com

pany of his work m

ates and friends.