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The coronavirus wellbeing guide
It is a difficult time for many customers with concerns over finances, employment and the guidance around social distancing. To ease some of the stress, we’ve pulled together a handy guide which details lots of great tips, support and advice.
The coronavirus wellbeing guide showcases some of the top activities to keep your family entertained such as learning languages, teaching yourself how to draw, taking virtual tours of zoos and aquariums, and accessing a whole host of free concerts and music online. It also includes advice around anxiety, mental health, and isolation as well as signposting to additional telephone befriending services for those at risk of loneliness.
Remember to get in contact with your neighbourhood coach if you have any questions or queries and you can find out who your coach is by using the neighbourhood coach search. Alternatively, you will probably find the answer you are looking for on our frequently asked questions (FAQs) section.
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Anxiety, mental health and loneliness
Samaritans: Whatever you're going through, don't suffer alone. A friendly ear available 24/7, 365 days a year.
How to reduce high anxiety now: Thinking about past pleasant memories may help some people with immediate stress (article)
The school of life: Some great, life-affirming short videos from a collective of psychologists, philosophers, and writers devoted to helping people lead calmer and more resilient lives.
Free, daily meditation sessions online
WHO guidance to support mental health during this time
MIND coronavirus and your wellbeing
9 ways to stay positive during this period
Blog from Anna Mathur, Psychotherapist - dealing with Coronavirus anxiety
Sensory stuck at home - support group on Facebook for adults
Telephone befriending service for the elderly
Living life to the full - Free online course to change your life for the better
Autistic Health and Wellbeing - a space for autistic people to share the things that they have found helpful and healing
Self-Help Resources for those with mental health conditions
Get Sober - Free, online support for anyone struggling with alcohol addiction and staying sober during this period
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Take a virtual tour
Arctic Travel Experts created 'virtual lights over Lapland' tour
Museums from around the world - Virtual, online tours
Access to 500 Museums & Art Galleries - Free, online
How to explore London's top museums at home
How to explore London's top art galleries at home
Future Learn - Explore the architecture and history of Rome, walking around a 3D digital model of the ancient city, with this free online course.
Aquarium – Georgia aquarium allowing you to tour under the sea, live cams - otters, sea lions, pirana, jellyfish, etc.
Virtual farm trips - American dairy association
Virtual field trips - Created for children, but they look great for adults too!
Edinburgh Zoo - Live streams: Panda Cam / Tiger Cam / Penguin Cam / Rock Hopper Penguin Cam / Koala Cam
Chester Zoo Virtual tours - Via Facebook
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Take an online course
Open Culture - 1,500 free courses from top universities
450 Ivy League courses - you can take online FREE!
Open Culture - learn 48 different languages online – FREE
DuoLingo – Learn languages via this free app
University of Alabama - Free online archaeology and Egyptology Uni courses (create an account to log on)
Open Learn - Free, online courses, Open university
BBC languages - Learn languages online free
FrenchTeacher.Net - Free French study packs
Sociology courses - Free online study
Creative courses - Free online study
A range of short, free online courses - from FutureLearn
Cambridge University Press - All 700 textbooks are currently available FREE in HTML format
Cambridge university - Higher education/Undergraduate courses and resources
Royal institute - Christmas lectures. A series of lectures presenting scientific subjects to a general audience in an entertaining manner.
Learn 10 useful things to say in...
o French
o Portuguese
o German
o Italian
o SpanishMilan Presse - French magazines available to download
Periodic videos - Science-related YouTube videos
Infobase databases and video streaming collections
Username: JCS_Distance and Password: learning to access:
o Modern World History
o Ancient and Medieval History
o Science Online
o Bloom’s Literature
o World ReligionsiDEA - An international programme that helps you develop/demonstrate your digital, enterprise and employability skills for free
U3A - Online courses for mature students
Blocky games - Games to help beginners learn computer programming skills
Scratch - Beginners computer programming games/projects
T.K.S.S.T - Smart videos for curious minds of all ages
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Geography, nature and history
Tutorful - Top Geography websites, YouTube videos, and resources
Project Noah – Global site where you can view and share wildlife
Seterra - Free world geography, online quizzes
Online film festival - Resistance in the Rainforest
Kent Wildlife association - Simple ideas you can do in the garden to help wildlife
World games - Geography games
The relationship between humans and animals - podcast
UK parliament - Politics, history, citizenship, etc. Written for children and young people, but lots of very interesting information, including how laws are made.
Historical association - Learn about 20th Century history
13.8 billion years of history, online – FREE
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Music
Check the location/time zones of live-streamed concerts to calculate the UK start time. Time Zone calculator
Rotterdam Philharmonic musicians team up online to play Beethoven's 9th
Free Opera - Metropolitan Opera online, nightly streams
Berlin Philharmonic orchestra - Live streams and performance archive
Livestream concerts list for artists and bands
Bands and artists - streaming performances
Full-length concerts - watch online free
Celebrities performing on social media
Facebook Virtual Choir - Duet with a choir online
Chris Martin (Coldplay) streaming from his home – YouTube
BBC Sounds - An array of BBC radio stations, podcasts, playlists, mixes and more.
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Arts and culture
J P Brewer - View classic paintings online
Walter's Museum - houses the highest artistic achievements from nearly every corner of the world. View some of the past, present, and future exhibitions
Rob Biddulph an artist posting draw-along videos via Twitter
Google Arts and culture - Learn something new every day!
British Museum - Free videosBBC Radio 4 - The History of the world - podcasts
50 things that made modern economy - Podcasts
Marquee TV - streaming arts and culture
Teaching history - 100 objects from museums across the UK with resources, information and teaching ideas to inspire your students’ interest in history
Exploration of the day - Artistic website connecting people from around the world
Drama Online - Online theatrical performances
Black history - Telling the story of the black British experience
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Literature
Gutenburg - Download free books, e.g. Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, Frankenstein, etc.
Listening books.org - For people with Parkinson's Disease, visual impairment, fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, mental health difficulty or learning difficulty such as Dyslexia, which impacts the ability to read or hold a book
Solomon Kingsnorth - Childrens books in PDF, Word and audiobook format - Alice in Wonderland / Wind in the Willows / The Railway Children / The Jungle Book / Peter Pan / Black Beauty
Read great literature online - Free Ebooks, poetry, classic literature
Read Free Literature - also includes study guides
50,000 free ebooks - arranged by genre
Open Library Access - Free
Audible - Available in 6 languages
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Learn a new skill or develop a current one
Teach yourself to draw - Advice / Where to start? / Drawing tricks / Sketching-basics / How to get the proportions right - faces / How to draw faces
Free, 3 months lessons online - Guitar, Fender, Base, Ukulele
Teach yourself to sing - 14-day free trial
Music lessons with Myleen Klass - YouTube / Instagram
Teach yourself to dance - Tap dance / Salsa dance / Dance Physique (dance fitness) / Take dance classes with Oti Mabuse - Facebook / Learn to Body-Beat with daily classes online
Tai-Chi - the moves and the method – BrightEducation
Craft projects - Sew, Knit, Crotchet, quilt, and fun for the family too!
How to grow food at home from food scraps - DIY and crafts
Improve your memory - Click the link and scroll down for a few free videos in this series
Learn to touch-type - Free access
SkillShare - Unlock a passion, side hustle, or new professional skill with thousands of classes in design, business and more
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Miscellaneous and entertainment
NASA's complete media library - now available online
Expeditions App - Free virtual Reality Augmentation app for all ages, to take virtual trips around the world to hundreds of destinations.
Podcasts - Free to download
Geopolitics - podcast
A HUGE list of fitness classes - taking place online
Musicals, shows, and movies:
o 10 best Broadway shows to watch online free
o 76 free Musicals and theatre productions streaming online
o Wind in The Willows - How to stream the West End performance free
o National Theatre - Streaming shows on YouTube every Thursday
o Open culture - 1,150 Free movies to watch onlineJamie Oliver - helps the nation with easy recipes, cooking tips, and ingenious hacks whilst many of us are staying at home.Watch Keep Cooking and Carry On here on All 4
James Dyson foundation - Challenge cards - how many can you complete?
Fun, accessible, activity and game Apps for people with disabilities
Board Game arena - Play board games online free
Roll20 - Build your own game - or play games with others online
Latest free stuff - UK site (if you are outside of the UK, google 'latest free stuff' and add your location)
Holiday Pirates - Updated Coronavirus information on travel
Staying Put: A guide to planning for, arranging and funding care in your own home in old age including how new technology can help improve your lifestyle (Free on KindleUnlimited or £0.99 and £2.99 paperback)
Kurzgesagt - Fascinating short videos that explains life, the universe, and our existence one short video at a time.