Returning to our old lives is going to be an adjustment – particularly for young people and children / Image: Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash
A sense of relief washed over the country when the roadmap out of lockdown was unveiled last month.
After weeks of uncertainty and speculation, the government’s published exit plan provided some much-needed clarity – and a set of dates on which particular restrictions will be lifted.
All the talk now is about a return to ‘normality’ – but what happens when we get there?
We’ve been social distancing and wearing masks for so long, even the sight of large crowds mingling shoulder-to-shoulder on television can be a briefly unsettling sight.
Returning to our old lives is going to be an adjustment – particularly for young people and children.
According to Dr Michael Barnish, Head of Genetics & Nutrition at REVIV Global Ltd – a worldwide health and wellness organisation with a HQ right here in Manchester – some parents have expressed concerns regarding how their children will adapt.
“Many of my patients have children and their own anxiety is being exacerbated by worrying about their children and how they’re going to cope when they return to normal,” he stated.
“Life has been disrupted for a year now and many people have expressed their worry about being in contact with other people or getting on public transport again but adults can talk about their feelings.
“Children aren’t as well equipped, but they struggle too.”
Dr. Becky Spelman, Psychologist and Clinical Director of Private Therapy Clinic, also believes that younger people could find the shift of surroundings somewhat jarring when the time finally comes to exit lockdown.
Dr. Becky Spelman, Psychologist and Clinical Director of Private Therapy Clinic
Dr Spelman stated: “It’s going to cause anxiety for many of us to return to normal including young people and often younger people are not very good at talking about their emotions – they haven’t learnt how to articulate them just yet.
“You’ll see signs of young people being very quiet and introverted and you might not know what’s wrong. Something to look out for is anxious avoidance: This is when someone is scared or intimidated by a situation and you’ll see a very natural avoidance so that they can keep safe and comfortable in the short term.”
According to Dr Spelman, any children showing signs of anxiety should be “encouraged to confront situations” and “taken out” of these environments if it becomes too much; re-approaching them at a later time.
“If [children] are feeling very anxious encourage them to stay in the situation and reassure them that the anxiety will get better with time,” the doctor stated.
“Also, ask them what they’re feeling, this is a question that parents can forget to ask. But actually, saying what are you feeling?
“Can you describe it? Can you put a label on it? Is it fear, anxiety, sadness? Trying to understand your child’s feelings is important in helping you be able to address it.
“Ultimately, they need confront the situations that are making them feel that way.”
Children may suffer anxiety when surroundings change after lockdown, according to experts / Image: Atoms via Unsplash
Dr Spelman also emphasised that children will become more confident over time.
“If they have bouts of low mood because they haven’t been as active or engaging in social activities as much during lockdown, they definitely need to become more active and regain a more balanced life,” she stated.
“If it is anxiety then they need to learn to sit with those feelings and not avoid situations. Encourage your child to get doing lots of things and with time they will notice they will become more confident.
“If they really don’t want to [visit] certain places the question you need to ask is do they not want to go because they won’t enjoy it? Or they don’t want to go because they’re feeling uncertain of the situation?
“If it’s the latter you will want to encourage them to go regardless and avoidance here isn’t helpful and you want to encourage your child in overcoming that.”
More information and support for young children and mental health is available on the Young Minds website.
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Local brewery J.W. Lees is helping bring back Manchester’s beloved Boddingtons beer
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester, it’s time to rejoice in the return of a cask king, as Boddingtons is coming back in a big way and local brewery J.W. Lees is helping spearhead the revival.
The famous ‘Cream of Manchester’ has slowly dripped away over the decades, being found in fewer places by the year, though some holdouts have remained.
Fortunately, those who are truly passionate about Boddingtons and their love for the delicious golden ale haven’t waned over the years, helping keep it alive on keg in the few Manc pubs still serving it.
But while it was the Keg that kept Boddingtons alive, now, thanks to the native brewers, beer brand and pub chain, the popular beer is being given a fresh start back in its native home of a cask. By’eck – it’s back…
They’re hoping to make sights like this a thing of the past.More of this, please.(Credit: The Manc Eats)
Teaming up with the global Budweiser Brewing Group (BBG), which will now oversee the resurrection of the modern-day ‘Boddies’, J.W. Lees will be bringing the cask ale back to the masses.
Just in time for cosy, autumnal nights in the pub, no less.
Planning to reintroduce it in their pubs across the region, before hopefully taking on the North West and beyond, they’re promising to make it “smoother, creamier, and brewed closer to home than ever before.”
It seems fitting that Lees (founded in 1828) should be entrusted with one of our oldest beers in Boddingtons, which dates back to 1778 and went on to become not just one of the biggest beer brands in the UK but also one of the first to be canned and mass-produced on the shelves across the country.
To toast the return and impending supremacy of Boddies, J.W. Lees Albert Square pub, Founder’s Hall – which replaced the old Duttons when it opened last year – is even hosting a party to celebrate its comeback, featuring some of the very first of the new pints to be poured to the public on 23 September.
This isn’t just a reboot; the new and improved Boddies brand comes with a new 4.0% ABV recipe, looking to join the lineup of premium British ales.
William Lees-Jones, Managing Director J.W. Lees, said: “When I joined JW Lees in 1994, Boddingtons was ‘The Cream of Manchester’ and we were in awe of their position in leading the cask beer revolution.
“We are planning to put Boddingtons back where it rightly deserves to be as one of the leading premium UK cask beers, particularly in our heartland of the North West.
“We also look forward to working with Budweiser Brewing Group with their portfolio of market-leading lagers and premium packaged beers in our pubs.”
Knight has traded in the foggy streets of Birmingham for the back alleys and stately mansions of Dublin – as well as its world-renowned brewery, of course – as House of Guinness is set to whisk audiences back to the 1860s, where the powerful and debaucherous titular Guinness family is ‘on the precipice of greatness’.
Set in 19th-century Dublin and New York, the eight-part series explores an epic story inspired by one of Europe’s most famous and enduring dynasties, and begins immediately after the death of Sir Benjamin Guinness.
The story follows the far-reaching impact of Sir Guinness’s will on the fate of his four adult children, Arthur, Edward, Anne, and Ben, as well as on a group of Dublin characters who work and interact with the phenomenon that is Guinness.
House of Guinness will air on Netflix later this month / Credit: Ben Blackall (via Netflix)
The four Guinness siblings are played by actors Anthony Boyle (Arthur), Louis Partridge (Edward), Emily Fairn (Anne), and Fionn O’Shea (Ben).
Audiences get to watch the Guinnesses experience ‘ecstatic highs’ and heartbreaking lows’ as they work to live up to their birthright of black gold.
The newly-released trailer gives intrigued viewers the chance to see the talented ensemble cast in action, and marvel at the set designs that are like stepping back in time to the 1860s.
Production and filming for House of Guinness commenced from summer 2024 onwards, and some very well-known Greater Manchester places were used as filming locations, such as the Northern Quarter, and Stockport‘s legendary Underbanks.
From the creator of Peaky Blinders, HOUSE OF GUINNESS premieres September 25. Starring Anthony Boyle, Louis Partridge, Emily Fairn, Fionn O’Shea, and James Norton.
The head of the Guinness brewery is dead. Now his children must navigate power, rebellion and scandal…or risk… pic.twitter.com/QzpLNzA842
Mansions in Cheshire and Liverpool were also used as filming locations for the show.
“It’s the extraordinary story of a family who happens to be the inheritors of the biggest brewery in the world,” creator Steven Knight told Netflix.
“They’re young and are given the task of taking on this incredibly successful brand. The first priority is – don’t screw it up. And the second priority is to make Guinness even bigger.”
The Manc -
3rd March 2021 
