Breakfast is served.
We've just had breakfast and got dressed.
I've gone with the quarantine chic today.
This is the start of week three now and in the house for us.
And we haven't left.
[child cries]
This is Rebecca who lives in Leeds with her son Alex. He's autistic.
I have to get it boiling water,
pour all the sauce off and voilá, ravioli with all the best bits off of it.
Because of visa rules, the family is incomplete.
Alex's dad, Rebecca's husband, is thousands of miles away in the Philippines.
I love you. — I love you too!
How is Alex?
Alex, I love you!
I don't have any escape from our problems.
Don't get me wrong, I love being with Alex and spending this time with him
but it's incredibly hard.
How is that sort of reflecting in Alex's behaviour?
He's getting a lot more frustrated and emotional which means he'll hit-out.
No. No, stop. Stop it.
And I don't want people to think that he's like a bad kid because he's not.
It's not him.
[Alex cries]
What are you doing?
Is that your eye?
[laughing]
He makes me laugh.
During the day I'm good at smiling and getting on with things but on a night,
I just feel incredibly lonely.
You know, when I hear people talk about the lockdown, there's often an implication
that it might be difficult but it's really straightforward
and obviously it isn't at all.
For a lot of people it's almost impossible and it's also really, really damaging
and that applies to one group of people in particular — that's children and young people.
When you hear all the advice and orders from the people in charge at the moment,
just about all of it is aimed at adults.
I haven't heard any advice for kids and their lives have been turned upside down.
So the family is central to all of this and not just in terms of parents and
children, I'm also talking about grandparents, I'm talking about people perhaps parenting their parents,
and for the last week that's what we've been immersed in,
that's what this film is about.
It's about quarter past, 20 past 7. We are going to get up.
Today we are going to be making a lava lamp.
Today me and my brothers are making this bottle and put a sock over it
Alex, try please.
Tea is ready.
We've heard from an amazing number and range of families,
from those with toddlers to adults unexpectedly stuck inside with their parents.
Before coronavirus happened, how long did you think you were going to be staying with your parents?
Two weeks.
And now it's going to be at least two months possibly four ...
Should I watch you watch your blood sugar?
15.5.
What is coronavirus?
I don't know but I can't go outside
and I miss my nanny.
And I love my nanny.
Cleaning up, feeding
and mental stimulation continuously.
Many families are struggling to carry on working with their kids at home.
Exhibit A is John, our producer.
I literally, I am not exaggerating, I haven't left the computer yet, at all, until about five minutes ago,
and I have been with my kids for five to ten minutes,
and I had three phone calls from work.
I've got to put it down, endless meetings and chat.
I can't turn this thing off.
You're trapped in this meeting.
[laughing]
There's all sort of kerfuffle about whether or not people go out,
and people's use of parks,
and joggers and people having social gatherings and barbecues and all that.
And what gets completely left out of that conversation: outdoor space
is the most important argument in children and young people
and yet they don't figure in that conversation at all.
In Spain, people people are allowed to take their dogs for a walk but they're told to keep
their children inside.
This is a lifeline for us without having a proper garden.
This is where the kids come to play.
I have a very militant Facebook group in my town.
'Go home, you're killing people, why are you going out,
you're going to make your mum die with her lungs filling up ...'
Like really horrendous messages about going out.
So it just makes me feel really paranoid.
Can I go, can't I go? What's going to happen?
I don't have much space for them to play.
This is their bedroom, this is where the boys would usually play.
As you can see the gates are closed.
There's a real problem for families in overcrowded accommodation.
How many bedrooms are in the flat?
Only one.
God! And how many of you are living in it?
Six.
Wow!
I want to have some privacy
and I don't have no privacy.
It's stressful, it's just,
we want to play games but we can't because it's too small in the room.
And of course, amazing organisations are trying to reinvent how they work with families who need to help.
We normally have a team of 40 to 50 volunteers in this one site
so we've had people working individually on their own during the week.
And what you can see here is 44 packs of essential kit
that is ready to go out this morning.
Right, just doing today's Stay at Home challenge.
A little target practise.
Family Gateway is based near Newcastle.
it works with vulnerable families categorised as being hard to reach.
These are the meals that we're taking to the families.
Obviously we have the car filled up, we've got bread in the front here ...
[knocks on the door]
The people the organisation employs have direct experience of the issues
these families face.
OK, thank you.
I lot of the families I support I mentally ill, so this has big problems with
the issues they face as well.
One of my particular are young families which is Teresa, which I've spoke to today,
her lad is really frightened in case his mum is going to die.
Teresa and Morgan are part of a family that relies on Peter's help.
Teresa lives with three of her five children and has physical and mental health problems,
including lung disease.
Morgan is autistic.
How are you doing? That's the first question.
How are you?
Right.
And at the minute, in the middle of this crisis,
just tell me what it's like, your sort of day to day life.
When I came off the phone to Teresa today,
I suppose the first thing that passed through my mind was that ... I keep reading
about, you know, teach your kids crafts, learn to make chocolate brownies,
learn a foreign language ... — Oh, yeah, I know.
As if this moment is sort of full of opportunities for parents and that's true,
arguably I'm one of those parents myself.
But at the same time what that misses out is that this is almost
impossible for lots and lots of people, right?
And they are suffering.
Definitely, I mean, people like Morgan just, you know, he's doing his own thing anyway.
You know? Whether that's writing on paper. ... And he's constantly worried
but what I'm concerned about is social and emotional basically for a lot of these children
and what lockdown is posing, isn't it?
I mean, a lot of these children are probably gonna be quiet, not going out to interact
and things like that. That's all that sort of going.
I mean, basically all we can do is just hope for the best
and hope things aren't going to get bad.
But, you know, I've got my reservations.
I was up every night of the week crying, last week,
just because it was getting really tough
and being in the house constantly is really hard.
And not getting a break to go see my friends or even just go to school,
I didn't think I'd miss it but I miss it.
I don't know what's happening, like, with my grades ...
You seem amazingly cheerful considering all the stuff that's on your shoulders,
the weight ...
[laughs]
I'm just really good at hiding it.
I don't want to cry on camera.
It's one of those things where I've had to stay strong for my little brother,
so I don't want to cry in front of someone and cause them to cry.
And what are your fears for your mum then?
I'm just scared that if she gets ill, what's going to happen?
Because I know firsthand, and I'm scared to mention it to my brothers,
but if she gets it she could die from it.
She has struggled with pneumonia in the past,
she's got a lot of chest problems ...
I'm worried about things I didn't think I would worry about.
Especially not at my age.
Like, my aunty, she's got a newborn baby I'm worried about that, I'm worried about my aunty
who's pregnant or I think she's just had a baby, I'm not quite sure.
But I am worried about her because she hasn't really spoke to many of us.
I've got an uncle who's in jail at the minute.
I'm worried about him
because he's in a confined space.
And then I'm worried about my 18th birthday but that's just me being worried
about my 18th birthday.
Go worry about that, you've got to somehow celebrate that!
What mum?
Yeah?
Right, I'm going to have to go.
Alright.
Today I feel better, yesterday I was so down,
and depressed.
Why were you so down and depressed yesterday, mum?
Because a lot of people died,
I love to be alive.
But if something happens to me, remember me always ...
Oh my God, nothing is going to happen to you!
OK, I think that's maybe enough for now.
Maybe I'll ask you something later on as well.
I'm ready, when you want me to talk, I'm ready.
OK.
And I love you Waleed, I love you so much.
Pasta for lunch!
Come on, you need to go on your mathletics and do some maths.
I'm going to press all of them, mummy.
The challenge is to get round as quick as you can.
TV presenter: Boris Johnson remains in intensive care in a London hospital
being treated for coronavirus.
How do you feel about what is going on?
I feel sad and happy at the same time.
I feel sad because I don't get to see my friends,
Why do you feel happy?
Because I get to stay at home, have a nice breakfast,
see my mum ...
And play with my brother ...
How is mum?
She's in bed at the moment.
Is she?
Morgan has been up all night.
Alright, OK, then.
How's Morgan doing?
Not very good.
I've dropped a booklet off there that can explain coronavirus to him
and some activity sheets in there for you, all right?
So if you just take them and I'll be back next week but if you have any problems
give me a ring, right?
Anything else ... but there's some footballs to get you over.
OK, you take care.
To all our doctors, pharmacists, nurses,
and all healthcare providers, thank you! We love you!
[clapping]
That made me feel really proud, hearing everybody clapping.
The nation coming together
and me and the guy across the road on my street up clapping anyway.
You, right, you're a key worker!
It doesn't get much more key than teaching kids with special needs ...
Yeah, I'm classes a key worker and they're supposed to be the people
that are supporting the country but not that long ago I'm told,
'no you don't earn enough, you can't have your husband, dear'
and I know once this is all over,
and everything goes back to normal, like it was before,
we'll all be classed unskilled, low paid workers.
No, your husband can't come here.
I know you helped us as a country.
If lots and lots of people entered this crisis in a very fragile state,
then the question has to be, why were they fragile to start with?
And somehow when we emerge from it all, as we begin to emerge from it,
we've got to make their lives less fragile, I suppose.
We owe a lot of people.
Who owes who though?
Well, we owe people who are key workers like Rebecca, you know,
and who can't bring her husband over here because of how little she earns.
We owe people who have been living in overcrowded accommodation,
all along before this happened.
They're bearing the brunt of this.
I totally agree with that, man.
Of course, above all else, maybe to add to the list, we owe young people.
The brilliant piece of music you've heard in this episode is Don't Take My Soul by Jane Weaver,
from her album The Silver Globe.
How in the midst of this crisis is it going and your life as a musician going?
Basically, I was three-quarters of the way through recording my next studio album,
so it had to stop.
How is family life for you in the midst of all this?
I mean my kids are teenagers, you know, when this sort of lockdown started,
I kind of had a routine to make sure they didn't go through the kitchen like locusts ...
They were sort of panicking at first but then since then
they have kind of calmed down somewhat,
and they've realised that, you know, we are, to some intents and purposes,
on rations of certain things.
Are you writing songs at the moment?
I am still continuing writing songs so probably
a lot of dystopian records coming out next year.
Please keep sending us videos, please keep sending us music,
this series carries on.
Thanks so much for watching.