Touch wood; so far I have been so ridiculously in the 1% during this pandemic. Of course it has been hard for my family but in the grand scheme of things we have had it easy. Nothing illustrates this more than the fact both my husband and I are still in full time employment, both of us working from our spare bedroom. There are plenty of people out there who have been made redundant or furloughed including a friend of mine who has used her time whilst furloughed to set up an ambitious and vitally important non-profit organisation called Furloughed Foodies.

Furloughed Foodies organises volunteers to cook and deliver healthy meals to NHS staff and vulnerable people in the community. It is truly incredible what they have achieved during the last 4 months of lockdown. Not only have they galvanised support, raising over £25,000 in just a few months, deployed dozens of volunteer cooks, drivers and fundraisers, and delivered over 16,000 meals; they have an online shop selling merchandise!

I urge you to support Furloughed Foodies London in any way you are able to as it truly is a great cause.

What I have noticed though is some supporters posting on social media that we should support this cause because the volunteers “put us all to shame”. They are out there helping the community whilst most of the furloughed workforce is sat around in their underwear watching Netflix. Now I don’t think that’s a very fair thing to say and here’s why.

Being furloughed is not a holiday. For many it is setting them on the path to redundancy and they know it. You can put a positive spin on the situation with talk of new beginnings and taking time out to focus on what you want to do next but let’s face it, an historic economic collapse is not a great time to be looking for a new job. For some, 80% of their salary is just not going to cut it. Bills are piling up. Mental health is sinking down. You might be ok if you have savings, few outgoings and no dependents. That is not the reality for everyone. And even if you have all those things, you still might not feel ok about not having any work to do. And that is understandable.

If you are furloughed and want to focus your energy into something positive then give Furloughed Foodies London a call and volunteer. If you are furloughed and need to take some time to sit in your underwear watching Netflix then that’s ok too.

As they say: Put your own mask on first before helping others.