The one with my lockdown heroes

Hi guys,

First off, a huge thank you to all of you out there who got in touch and shared the list of everything I learnt during lockdown. I really enjoyed putting it together and loved seeing how different things resonated with different people. 

This week is a follow-up...

Throughout lockdown, there were countless stories of people doing incredible things. People who were doing their best to make the most out of the situation, who were trying to help others even when they were suffering themselves, and who had the courage to keep moving forward.

They were bastions of sanity in a world that felt (and still feels) increasingly crazy and divided.

It made me think: who are my lockdown heroes? Who has inspired me, has been a light of hope, and who - through their actions - has helped me do positive things?

These awesome humans are my lockdown heroes:

Drew Martin & Lisa Tan from Chiro London - for being the masters of glorious food, booze and for making the most out of the situation. Their approach to lockdown life was one I could really get on board with. If I wasn’t locked down with Polly and Gracie, then I’d want it to be with these guys.  Oh, and Lisa makes incredible hats that look like this.

Rob & Andrea Edlin from Niddocks - for setting up a digital support group to help businesses through lockdown despite their own business being hit particularly hard and not receiving any help from the government. Rob also speaks incredibly eloquently about doing the right things, for the right reasons - something I’ve got a huge amount of respect and a lot of time for. And they also have a very cute puppy.

Sue & Sandy Gibson from Jolly Sailor CrossFit and BeKarma Yoga - for being inspiring and motivating, for embodying everything they stand for, and for leading by doing. Simply put, they’re brilliant (as are the rest of the JS family - special shout out to Tegan Pryce who rowed over a million metres on the rowing machine in lockdown!)   

Matt Thomasson & Giles Wooley from Sing Choir - for setting up a Patreon page so quickly and building an online platform all the choir members love. It looks incredible, what they are producing is top quality, and it’s become invaluable to members of the choir, many of whom are elderly and isolated.

Lauren Syrett (and Unicorn) from The Dance Initiative - for the doorstep dance parties on Saturday mornings!   

Craig McLean & Luke Brady also from Chiro London - from the weekly check in calls to Quarantini master classes and cycling adventures.

Lynn Stonehouse from Cut by Beam - for delivering bags of off-cuts (think pieces of wood and acrylic in all different shapes and sizes) for Gracie to play and craft with. We made necklaces, jewels, faces, towers, and most things in between - it was great.

Howard from Bango Kitchen - Purely for sending me his bao bun recipe!

Ellen O’Rourke from Falmouth University - for her drive, work ethic and all-round good nature. She had the last few months of her student days (and a summer working in France) taken away from her but had the grace and drive to set up her own blog, find a job, rebuild her website, and get onto a Masters course. So much for lazy students.

Jess from NUDE Canteen - for turning the cafe into a mini-farmshop and delivering amazing food boxes, complete with the best poke bowls, straight to the door. Hero.

Tariq from The Supplement Review - for his DIY cable machine video and for genuinely helping at a time when so many people were exploiting the demand for weights and fitness equipment with insanely high prices. The Supplement Review is a gains train you’re going to want to hop on.

Carly Geach (and Tilly) from We Train Cornwall - for the genius use of TikTok and all the laughs!

Debbie and Sammy from the road I live on - for being rays of sunshine (in the sunshine) and always having time for a chat and a laugh while holding court on their sun loungers. Just brilliant.

Stafford Sumner from Jarrang - for his calm, cool, measured approach to dealing with business in lockdown and for creating content designed to help businesses get through it.

Mikaela Clavel from Quinyx - for the weekly calls, being brilliant to work with, and never failing to make me laugh.

Isabell Aaverik and Tom Levin from Sitoo - for believing in me and bringing much needed doses of normality into my work life during a crazy time. 

Polly and Gracie from Team Tonkins - for being my everything and making me want to be a better person every single day.

I could go on. It’s a strange time. There’s a lot of anger, fear, and division in the world right now. But there’s love too. There’s still good. And there’s people who make the world a better place to be in. I count myself incredibly lucky and very grateful to have so many people like this in my life.

Have a great weekend - I’ve got my birthday on Saturday and Father’s Day so I’m hoping I will!

Until next time,

TT x