The people who felt most lonely prior to Covid, have felt even more so during this last year. Physical distancing, shielding and lockdown measures have made social isolation so much worse for so many people.

In Blackpool, LeftCoast and Groundwork have come together to help those who have been living alone and unable to leave their houses for over twelve months due to the risks posed to them by the pandemic. With many of those isolated also being digitally excluded, they came up with an idea for a physical newspaper to be hand delivered to a targeted list of people across Blackpool.

LeftCoast commissioned me to develop the creative direction and editorial content of the newspaper across a series of four limited edition publications, and to put an editorial team together to produce them.

The concept for The Upside, was developed to focus on bringing joy and gentle support to those who need it most as we ease out of lockdown. Content for each issue was built around tackling the symptoms of loneliness and supporting people through the four spheres of social isolation, and distribution was designed as curtain twitching community experiences which encourage doorstop moments with residents and a team of volunteer ‘Upsiders’.

Working with the team at LeftCoast, alongside, designer, Nick Steel, community engagement specialist, Steve Fairclough and illustrator, Cait McEniff, The Upside is now in production. The first issue of The Upside, an eight page broadsheet, has already been delivered and an accessible digital version is now available to read online too.

Read more about the project and take a look at Issue 1 here.