Introduced by newsreader, presenter, and Barnardo's president Natasha Kaplinsky, Letters From Lockdown features 100+ letters from celebrity names, COVID heroes, and a diverse range of members of the public, all answering the question - 'What was lockdown like for you?' Contributors include: Paul McCartney · Joe Wicks · Malala · Ed Sheeran · Helen Mirren · Mary Berry · Richard Branson · Andy Murray · Helena Bonham Carter · Lenny Henry · Romesh Ranganathan · The family of Captain Tom · Bear Grylls · Dr Alex George · Jacqueline Wilson · Matt Lucas · Bill Gates · Sir Mo Farah and many more. The publisher will donate all profits, which will be a minimum of £1.50 for each copy of the book sold, to Barnardo's (registered charity in England and Wales no. 216250), who do important work to protect and support the UK's most vulnerable children. The letter writers include doctors and nurses, care home staff and vaccinators, train drivers, teachers and environmentalists - people who have been on the frontline tackling the pandemic, or in trying to get the world back on its feet. Other letters document the unforgettable lighter moments of the past year: interviews crashed by children, TikTok disasters, and goats joining Zoom meetings. Each offers their unique perspective on the year everything changed. As we keep our fingers crossed that this summer will bring a safe end to restrictions, this mixture of funny, sad, heart-warming, heroic and honest experiences will mark the start of a period of reflection. Adrian Packer, Al Gore, Alex George, Alexandra Shulman, Ali Mercer, Alice M Greenwald, Ali Joy, Andy Murray, Antony Cauvin, Anushua Gupta, Bear Grylls, Benjie and Georgia Ingram-Moore, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, Bob Wilson, Boris Johnson, Bruno Tonioli, Buckingham Palace, Charly Cox, Chimwemwe Chiweza, Chris and Vicki Agar, Chris Van Dusen, Clare Wenham, Colette Moreira-Henocq, Cressida Cowell, Davey Glover, Davina McCall, Dawn Bilbrough, Dot McCarthy, Ed Balls, Ed Sheeran, Elliot Jacobs, Emma Freud and Richard Curtis, Fergus Llewellyn, George Alagiah, Gill Edwards, Hayden Kays, Helen Mirren, Helena Bonham Carter, Hollie Long, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Jacqueline Wilson, Jacquie Jenkins, James Graham, Jenny Messenger, Jo Malone, Joan Collins, Joe Wicks, John Vincent, Josie Naughton, Kathryn England, Karen Pollock, Karl Jones, Keir Starmer, Kelly Holmes, Laura Elliott, Lenny Henry, Lindsay Hoyle, Maff Potts, Maia Elliott, Malala Yousafzai, Margaret Keenan, Marie Benton, Mark Ronson, Maro Itoje, The Marsh Family, Mary Berry, Matt Lucas, Meggie Foster, Michele Walter, Mo Farah, Monica Galetti, Mr Men's Mr Happy, Neera Butt, Nicola Adams, Nina Raingold, Patricia Daley, Paul Atherton, Paul McCartney, Paul Morrison, Paula Talman, Peppa Pig, Philippa Craddock, Raymond Blanc, Rene Germain, Richard Branson, Roja Dove, Romesh Ranganathan, Rosie Jones, Rosie Mitchell, Sandi Procter, Scott Evans, Sean Fitzpatrick, Sharna Jackson, Sita Brahmachari, Sophie Gonzales, Tamara Rojo, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Tessa Mattholie Butunoi, Tim Peake, Tim Steiner, Toby Regbo, Trevor McDonald, Will Shu, Woody, Zoe Burke

During the first months of the coronavirus lockdown, Claire Foster-Gilbert, director of Westminster Abbey Institute, wrote twelve weekly letters to Britain’s public servants. Intended to strengthen their response to the rapidly changing needs of an increasingly unfamiliar world, these letters chart a heroic journey through initial uncertainty and crushing trials toward unprecedented unity and transformed resolve. Rather than bunker down, she asks us to consider: what might we discover, imagine, and change for the better as a result of the pandemic? Letters from the Lockdown presents the twelve original letters alongside new, deeply personal accounts from public servants on the job. Together, this collection provides an opportunity to reflect on how public values meet practice as the global crisis unfolds.

A remarkable collection of 'Covid Chronicles' -- stories from lockdown sent in from listeners to BBC Radio 4 -- making a deeply moving people's history of the pandemic. On 23 March 2020, as the deadly virus spread around the world, the UK went into lockdown. In the following weeks and months, it became clear that in many ways we were all in this together, but the illness and the long period of isolation would hit people in entirely different ways. When BBC Radio 4's PM Programme launched the 'Covid Chronicles' series, listeners from across the country - and beyond - began sending in their lockdown stories to be aired on the show. The results are astonishing: moving, profound, funny, powerful and an invaluable record of our collective experiences. Ranging from the everyday (the thrill of booking a food delivery) to the momentous (a wedding on Zoom), we hear about birth and death, loneliness and loss, community and kindness, as well as remarkable stories from those working in the NHS on the front line. This book is a collection of some of these Chronicles, written in the midst of one of the most unexpected and intense moments in our history. Together they give us an unforgettable portrait of ordinary people caught in extraordinary times, with all the humour and tragedy and uncertainty we've been through. 'It's inspiring that so many people have shared their stories - some everyday, some life-changing, but all very human. This is a wonderful collection of experiences, to record and remember this devastating year' Christie Watson, bestselling author of The Language of Kindness

The author takes a voyage through the past, the present, the players, and the ponderings of her lifeNsending love letters all along the way. Can letters change a life? They have already changed the life of the author and touched the hearts of the thousands of people around the world who have read her blog.

When fourteen-year-old Alex is framed for murder, he becomes an inmate in the Furnace Penitentiary, where brutal inmates and sadistic guards reign, boys who disappear in the middle of the night sometimes return weirdly altered, and escape might just be possible.

“Evan consumes so much content and then knows how to DJ it to inspire people.” —Gary Vaynerchuk, New York Times bestselling author of #AskGaryVee and Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook In this bold and empowering guide, entrepreneur and social media sensation Evan Carmichael shares the secret to turbo-charging your path to success on your own terms. With thought-provoking questions and inspiring, instructive examples, Your One Word will help you nail down your personal mottos - the word that captures your purpose and passion. With this operating philosophy in hand, you will then learn how to leverage this powerful tool to create the business and future of your dreams. Aimed at entrepreneurs as well as intrapreneurs, managers, and anyone else who wants to achieve success in a powerfully meaningful way, Your One Word more than just a useful tool. It's also an inspiring and enlightening read.

A compelling collection of anonymous postcards sent during lockdown, revealing hilarious, salacious, relatable and sometimes heartbreaking secret confessions. In the thick of the 2021 coronavirus lockdown, designer and shopowner Eleanor Tattersfield put out a call on Instagram: 'I'll send you a postcard, you send me a secret'. Lockdown Secrets is an astonishing record of what happened next. Postcards poured in, some beautifully decorated, some simply handwritten, but each one anonymously sharing a very personal confession. They came from people of all ages and all walks of life, including some celebrities. Prominent themes began to emerge: relationships, sex, masturbation, food, rebellion, loneliness and, surprisingly, a lot of love for lockdown itself. This beautiful book brings together the best of the postcards Eleanor received, and all human life is here: furtive infidelities, bad behaviour in the local bakery, sneaking off for baths during a busy homeschooling schedule, rediscovered marital bliss, and, occasionally, poignant moments of sadness and despair. We've all been through the lockdown experience, and every reader will find something to relate to in this fascinating collection, a perfect snapshot of an extraordinary time.

Some days it's just easier not to go to school at all. Adam has been slacking off lately, but today he stuck around to see his girlfriend. When Josh, who has been bullied mercilessly, brings a gun to school, the building is locked down and Adam is forced to risk everything to save himself and to find Zoe before Josh does. Calling on reserves he didn't know he had, Adam could end up a hero—or a victim.

Hilarious, poignant, witty and wise - Letters from Lockdown: Friendship Going Viral takes you not only inside the brilliant and quirky mind of Elaine Farmer, but also on a journey around the world. Farmer draws on her rich and varied experience to offer her reader a smorgasbord of insights into love and friendship, family, diplomacy, theology, psychology, hospitality, travel, sickness and death, all suffused with joy and more than a touch of defiance. These are letters you've always wished someone would write to you, and now she has! They might even inspire you to write some of your own.

As the world is shaken by a virus, Shobhaa De – a writer who understands the human heart and how it beats – felt the need to document not just what she is going through personally but what the entire world is experiencing. And out of this need emerged many unique narratives ... Lockdown Liaisons is a collection of short stories, from the varying perspectives of both men and women – young and old, brave and cowardly, cheerful and weighed down – each story an unique offering from a writer who understands how very fragile human relationships can be as they break, suffer and are redefined under trying circumstances. Explore, read and understand the subterranean world of shifting emotions during Covid-19, through stories that will speak to you. There is a woman with a young child who discovers that she doesn’t love her husband after all, there is a migrant worker who has to make a tough choice as he gets ready to walk hundreds of uncertain kilometres homewards. And many more. But what binds these stories together is love. These are stories that show how Covid-19 is affecting the hearts of hundreds of people as they struggle to make sense of altered circumstances, of the ‘new normal’ that will emerge in a post-Covid world.