Lockdown Heroes

Stacey Dooley's on lockdown! But she's on the hunt for the everyday heroes of the crisis.

Stuck in her flat but armed with social media and a network of contacts, Stacey reaches out to people across the country in search of those who are trying to help others.

In Wigan, there’s Charlotte, a teacher turned scrubs maker who is making protective equipment and has a backlog of orders to fill. She’s working 14-hour days for free, managing a team of 70 seamstresses, to provide desperately needed equipment to frontline service workers. Those on the front line include people like Serena and Richard, St John Ambulance volunteers who have joined thousands of others to help the health service manage the crisis. Stacey learns what's driving people to such selfless acts up and down the country.

There’s also Elly, a mum to be who has suddenly found herself about to give birth in the middle of a global pandemic. These are crazy times, and Elly can’t quite believe the world she’s bringing her baby into. Being a new mum is hard at the best of times, but Elly is ready to take on the challenge.

While Brits across the world struggled to get home, some chose to stay overseas and help others. Freya was one of them. She decided her charity work was more important than coming home to be with her mother, who is at risk. While people around the world are being urged to stay at home, she is working in Greece to help those who have been forced from their homes by a different but still deadly kind of crisis.

The impact of the disease is taking its toll, but in Croydon, junior doctor Zainab is working to support those struggling with the challenges of lockdown, and those recovering from the shock of being in intensive care. She knew that the workload of a junior doctor can be intense, but she didn’t imagine it would be like this, testing her resilience beyond all expectation. Still, she is determined to rise to the challenge.

Stacey gets in touch with Jonathan in Glasgow. He has hit the streets to support homeless people who were dependent on food handouts that have stopped since the city went into lockdown. In just a few weeks, countless volunteers have got together to provide food every night for the homeless. These people have no home to be safe inside, and now, more than ever, they are dependent on the self-sacrificing kindness of volunteers.

Along the way, Stacey talks us through her lockdown at home in London - how she is keeping sane, and the difficulties of being stuck at home every day. But with every lockdown hero she finds, she becomes more in awe of mankind's ability to meet a crisis with determination, selflessness and compassion.