“The films that the other participants have made are all inspirational – anything is possible if you put your mind to it” – Participant, 2021
Active in Lockdown was a project run by Dr Melanie Chalder and Professor Martin Hurcombe from the University of Bristol with Knowle West Media Centre. Together we recorded and saved for posterity one of the few positive aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic: the huge surge in active leisure in Bristol (cycling, running, walking, or any other form of human-powered mobility). The project had two aims: The first was to start building an archive of individuals’ and community groups’ social media posts, photos, videos and other media recording their outdoor adventures and experiences. The second was to record the stories of a group of individuals who’d embraced outdoor exercise during the pandemic as they tried to maintain momentum through what turned out to be a third national lockdown.
The Project
From March to July 2021, Knowle West Media Centre ran a series of online workshops with a group of local people to support and guide them through the process of creating their own short-films to share their personal experiences. From storyboarding to editing on iMovie, the workshops were fun and engaging, with activities that brought the group together similar to a real life session. All workshops were as accessible as possible, adapting where necessary and all participants shot footage for their films using their mobile phones. There were challenges due to COVID-19 and restrictions at the time and people’s varying availability, however we overcame them by being flexible with everyone’s varying needs throughout. You can watch the final films created by the group below.
“It has pushed me to start running again after the winter… and also start these conversations elsewhere” – Participant, 2021
“It’s been nice to have the solidarity of that shared experience and meet other people who have had a similar journey, which has given me confidence” – Participant, 2021
Our Vision
We wanted to create a digital and freely available archive of people’s stories and experiences to learn some immediate lessons from them, but also to have a historical record of how the pandemic transformed lives in the area and our relationship to the world around us. We used the stories to evaluate the physical and emotional benefits of active leisure, but also the difficulties of maintaining levels of activity since the first lockdown ended. Ultimately, we’d like to translate this into policy recommendations for Bristol City Council, WECA, regional public health organisations, and other bodies interested in improving residents’ quality of life.
Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this project.
To find out more you can have a look at Positive Spin: Stories of Active Leisure and watch some of the AIL films we have made on our Positive Spin Youtube Channel.