Stay home, save lives

We’re staying home to save lives; it’s the single most important action we can all take during the COVID-19 outbreak. So how can we promote the ‘new normal’ lifestyle we find ourselves in? Staying both physically and mentally active is super important for our health and wellbeing, so I wanted to spark some ideas by sharing the ways the team at Manifesto are getting creative in their new found time at home.

Staying in touch

Saturday night saw the first ‘Saturday Night Live’ remote dinner & drinks with my friends. We dressed up and sat down to dinner through MS Teams at 7pm, laptops on kitchen counters or cast to the TV. It was interesting to see that the usual habits of who was on time versus who was late remained the same! After dinner we played a game of bingo and chatted until the early hours over a few drinks.

MS Teams is easily accessible via web browser on a laptop or via an app on your phone. Whilst Zoom only allows for 40 minutes of free video calls, MS Teams supported our 7 hour catch up and games!

Staying social

From Bingo to a Pub Quiz, our Digital Production Manager Ryan hosted a virtual Pub Quiz for his hockey club which saw 58 people battle it out, with 40 questions over 4 rounds. Ryan is best known for his extensive music knowledge when we attend the Sounds Familiar Music Quiz. But from a seasoned quiz winner to an undoubtably entertaining host, Ryan used Google Slides to create the quiz and hosted it over Zoom to bring his team together for some much needed fun.

Staying creative

UX Consultant Hélène joined in on the playdough fun with her little one last weekend (either that or her son is very talented for such a young age!). You can make your own playdough using this recipe – why not make it green and try out this caterpillar (pretty sure adults have as much fun here too right!)?

Our Designer Ilinca has been experimenting with printing textiles. With her very own lino block printed material (more amazing designs here) she created a drawstring tote bag! I tried my hand at some beginner level origami, maybe by the end of this social distancing I’ll make it to the pro ones? There’s some great starter ideas here. Tip – it’s advised to learn the different folds first!

Staying handy

Our home environments may well be having a review amongst all this. Whilst we can’t get out and check the local shops for soft furnishings, why not try your hand at upcycling? There’s a whole host of fantastic upcycling ideas on Upcycle That.

Developer Sian and partner, Sarah, had to have a new boiler installed last week and were left with an ugly palette that they couldn’t take to the dump. So they built this wonderful planter from it- clever! Looking forward to seeing the fruits of their labour.

Service Design Lead Neil has turned what was once a hole under the stairs into a cupboard, but we’re yet to know what for… And Project Manager Mika busted out the power tools at the weekend to dismantle her furniture ready for moving house and looking forward to life post-Covid.

Staying green

Aren’t we all wishing we had a garden?! Some lucky folks have been out enjoying theirs, but there’s still enjoyable gardening that can be done inside. Senior Designer Kate started a mini indoor farm of seedlings which include sage and lavender – mmm.

Staying healthy(ish)

Can anyone find eggs? It seems to be the single most difficult thing to get hold of and I wonder if it’s because everyone is keen to get in the kitchen to do some baking? Perhaps encouraged even more so with the Stand Up to Cancer Celebrity Bake Off (which is thoroughly entertaining FYI).

Once we did get hold of eggs we made these delicious breakfast blueberry and banana muffins, really easy. We weren’t the only ones in the kitchen, our COO Rebecca made some ‘Happiness Balls’ (or as Rebecca called them, Balls of Happiness) from a Melissa Hemsley recipe book. They were so good that Rebecca didn’t get a photo of them, but here’s what Melissa thinks they should look like!

On a slightly more healthy note, some of us are joining the live PE with Joe sessions, weekday mornings at 9am on YouTube. Granted they are aimed at children but they are a great starter for anyone that hasn’t been doing high intensity daily exercise. It’s also quite refreshing to have a laugh first thing in the morning, and feel part of a larger community.

Yes, that is Spiderman… it was dress up day!

It’s great to see the creativity and positive moments that are arising from such a difficult time. Please share your ideas in the comments, we’d love to hear them and maybe we can give them a go!