[AD] Spring Is Here. Let’s Keep Wales Safe/Diogelu Cymru This Easter

I have been working with the Welsh Government and their Keep Wales Safe/Diogelu Cymru campaign. The keep Wales safe campaign is the Welsh Government’s official response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The keep Wales safe campaign is to make sure that we follow the current guidelines set out by the Welsh Government so that coronavirus is kept under control. This is centred around the idea of working together as one nation to keep Wales safe.

There is now finally some light at the end of the tunnel as we can all see the current spike of coronavirus is slowly but surely being brought under control, and those hopes and dreams that we are all wishing for is finally becoming a reality. Here’s hoping that some sort of normality will return to our lives soon. Of course this will depend in all honesty on our behaviour and making sure we follow the guidelines to ensure we continue to manage the levels of COVID-19.

My nine year old twin girls returned to school in mid March which was fantastic for them to finally return to the school environment and be around their friends and quite simply just enjoy school life. The decision for children to return to school was a difficult decision because of the extra mixing of not only children but parents as well so it’s vital that parents follow the guidelines on the school run.

Springtime is now well and truly underway and of course this means that the days are getting warmer and longer. This will encourage many of us to get out and about and as restrictions are eased then many more outdoor facilities will be opening. This will consequently encourage parents to have a more active time and socialise with friends more especially over the Easter holidays.

When our children went back to school there was definitely a potential that parents would change their behaviours. This will also apply to the Easter holidays where our behaviour as parents will change as more mixing between households is allowed and restrictions   are gradually eased. We will as parents still need to adhere to the current guidelines,  socialising outside with up to six people from a maximum of two households. It’s so important that if you are going to socialise with friends and family that it is done outdoors This will keep meet-ups safer and will minimise the risk of spreading the virus and keep transmission at a low level. Although we will be able to socialise outdoors with more people, social distancing must still be practiced and you cannot meet indoors – this is important to bear in mind when considering the toilet situation.

With restrictions being eased it will mean that we can as a family start getting out and about and start meeting up with the girls friends at places such as the local park during the Easter holidays. It will also mean that I can hopefully meet up with my best friend to socialise and hopefully take a walk around our local park. This will be truly awesome as we have only seen each other in person just a handful of times in the last 12 months. 

The girls have only been in school for two weeks and then they will have finished for the Easter break for two weeks, so it’s going be very important that they keep in touch with their friends during the Easter break. We have been thinking about how we can have meet-ups with their friends that is safe and adheres to the Welsh Government’s official COVID-19 guidelines.

Springtime means the weather is going to be warmer and hopefully the sun will be shining bright. We are very fortunate to have a good sized back garden. So one thing we have planned for the Easter break is that the girls have one of their friends around for a the day to play and have a picnic which is something of course we can do in the back garden in accordance with the Welsh Government’s guidelines and we will be in the knowledge that we are keeping Wales safe.

Over the last year it’s been very difficult to see family and my wife, myself and our twin girls have at times struggled with the lack of family contact. My wife has a twin sister and they have a very close relationship and it has only been just a few occasions that they have seen each other. In addition our twin girls have really missed their cousins. So we will be meeting up with them on another day which could be either in ours or their back garden or perhaps meet up at a park and make a day of it. This is long overdue and something that we are all very excited to do over the Easter break.

Of course the Easter break is two weeks long so filling the whole two weeks is going to be difficult, especially as socialising is only allowed outdoors so I will be hoping that it stays sunny for two weeks. If we are lucky to have two weeks of sunshine to keep the girls active and occupied I will be organising a springtime treasure hunt with them and hopefully we can get their friends involved. 

Spring is a beautiful time of the year when the flowers start to bloom again and our bare trees start to grow their leaves and the local wildlife starts re-appear after winter.

We are very lucky to live in an area that has lots of green space and much of this green space is left untouched which means there is a wide variety of wildflowers coming through in the local wooded areas which is truly beautiful.

So my plan for my twin girls and a couple of their friends is to create a springtime wildflower treasure hunt. I will give them a list and pictures of wildflowers that I know grow in our area and they can then go off on a springtime wildflower treasure hunt and see how many they can find and identify. It’s the perfect fun activity for the Easter holidays and really educational for them so it’s win win. Most importantly it’s outdoors which is sticking to the COVID-19 guidelines.

It’s so important this Easter that when we’re able to socialise more that we don’t let all the hard work that as a nation we have been doing compromise the effort we’ve made.

It’s vital as parents that we continue to follow the Welsh Government’s guidelines. We need to work together as a community to keep each other safe and to always think of your close family and friends when you are socialising so that you are following the guidelines which together means we will Keep Wales Safe. Remember we are in this together. Let’s look after one another. To recap on the Welsh Government’s guidelines, it’s socialising outside only – with up to six people from a maximum of two households and no meeting of households indoors. 

To see all of the Welsh Government’s coronavirus guidelines just visit: gov.wales/coronavirus

What are your plans for the Easter holidays? I would love to hear in the comments below.

This is a paid collaboration with the Welsh Government.

#KeepWalesSafe #Diogelucymru