Catch up with more of our furloughed colleagues in part two of our Furlough Diaries.

ANIKA BLAKE from Stagecoach
When I was asked to write about what I’ve been up to during furlough, I had to take myself back 8 weeks, which seems more like 8 months now. Initially it felt really strange not having to log on to my work laptop every morning, so I instantly realised that I had to come up with my own daily routine so I wouldn’t get caught up in watching breakfast TV (then daytime TV before switching to Netflix for the evening).

As the schools are closed and I have my 10-year-old daughter at home we try to stick to a school-like time-table which starts at 9am with a Joe Wicks work-out before she goes online to do her work set out by the school while I am in the background, cleaning up after our pets (we have a dog, a cat and two guinea pigs), ready to jump in when she needs help. Thank goodness “Alexa” is also able to help out occasionally!

During the first few weeks of furlough I found myself trying to recreate any delicious looking meals that I saw on Instagram, however the reality mostly didn’t turn out like the photos. Now I am keeping it real again with sandwiches, pasta bolognaise, the odd Pot Noodle for lunch and even a trip to the McDonalds drive-through (and yes, it was totally worth queuing half an hour in the car for a couple of Quarter Pounder with Cheese meals!)

Like the rest of the country I suddenly felt the urge to bake banana bread and found this great recipe on Instagram for a vegan version together with another vegan recipe for chocolate breakfast pancakes, which both turned out to be a disaster. As much as I admire all you vegans out there, I think I will continue sticking to eggs and butter for now.

However, it hasn’t all just been about food. Early on in the year I started training as a yoga teacher. Luckily this training is continuing online, so I’ve been able to use this extra time that I have to fully immerse myself in doing yoga every day, studying anatomy and taking classes and workshops with some of the best yoga teachers around the globe, as pretty much everything yoga has moved online and it doesn’t matter where you are in the world anymore.

Luckily the lock-down restrictions are slowly easing off and I am spending most of my day in the garden, cycling along the Thames, with the dog in the park and also recently started meeting friends outside again.

I am really missing my work colleagues and the routine working life brings, but at the same time fully understand the decision the business had to take in making the most of the support the government offers. Nothing lasts forever and before we know it we’ll be back to some kind of “normal” so in the meantime we just have to stay positive and make the most of the situation we’re in. Can’t wait to see you all soon!

HELEN HARDY from Stagecoach
My friends have always laughed at my two hobbies and how opposing they are: Football and Musicals! Until this Furlough experience I could never see any cross over between the two worlds. However, over the last 8 weeks I’ve felt the beating heart of the sports industry. Football & Theatre are all about communities. The coming together of people that share a love of something. They’re full of passionate people who genuinely care about one another.

Over the month of May I decided to support a Women’s Football Charity Organisation: The One Goal. The aim of the charity is to auction famous autographed Women’s Footballers items (gloves, boots, jerseys) to raise money for Women’s Football Grassroots causes. In May 2020 we decided to launch our biggest ever Campaign: #TOGetherAgainstCorona which would raise money for The World Health Organisation to support COVID19 research.

They asked me to Manage the entire campaign and utilise my skills in Content Management, Marketing (understanding of the football industry, demographics of the audience & then reaching out to those target markets) and also my experience in leading a team.

Together with an incredible group of graphic designers, social media experts, writers & admin assistants from all over the World (USA, Malaysia, Switzerland, Sweden, Brazil and many more) we have started raffling off 20 signed & worn women’s match jerseys given to us by some of the World’s best players. So far we’ve raised almost £15,000 and we’re hoping to beat £20,000 before the lines close on 2 June. What an incredibly opportunity and experience!