Community spirit in the time of Coronavirus
Fight boredom – build community
Tips on how you can swap real-life getting together with friends, dinner dates, movie nights and fitness classes for the stay-at-home version, all the while doing your bit for your community.
• Video chat apps like Skype, Zoom or Whereby help to overcome physical distance. So your weekly visit to grandma or plan to meet a friend can still take place, online.
• Risk, Monopoly, Scattergories and other board games have all gone digital. Not only are they free to access but your friends and family can join you online.


• Delivery service: More and more cafés and restaurants in Germany and Austria are moving online and working together to deliver hot meals to customers. What’s on offer ranges from cool cocktails to gourmet menus to be enjoyed in the comfort of your home.
• Ingredients delivered to your door: some large supermarket chains are offering delivery, collection and postal services, but local farm shops and organic markets are also switching to delivery. There are also online food delivery companies like Hello Fresh or Lieferando.




• Theatre and opera in your home: the big theatres and opera houses are offering a 24-hour streaming service through their websites. Culture is only a click away.
• Galleries and museums: large galleries like the Akademie der Künste in Berlin are providing online access to some of their exhibitions. You can also learn about specific artists’ thoughts on and reactions to the current crisis via their websites.
• Clubbing in your living room: dance culture has gone online. You can party to a range of DJ sets streamed live every weekend.


• Live online classes: the SPORTUNION platform (https://sportunion.at/digitalsports/) lists live stream sport classes from clubs across Austria that don’t cost anything to join.
• Fitness on social media: some influencers are offering free live sessions, that you can join in from your own living room, for example @poschstyle (yoga flows), @heatherrobertsoncom (full-body workouts), @amandabisk (mobility and body control)
• Local sessions: even the gyms in your neighbourhood are expanding their offerings into the digital realm. These should be your first port of call.


Solidarity – WE can make a difference!
Forget everything you had planned for the next few weeks! A great way of improving your wellbeing is to let a spirit of community take priority. There are many opportunities to really support those who need help in your neighbourhood.
• #supportyourlocals isn’t just a hashtag: we should be supporting the many small shops and businesses that we love in our area. You can find out more about what they are offering on their respective websites and social media channels.
• Little gestures like tipping at the supermarket checkout, your delivery driver or the waiter when collecting from a restaurant are concrete displays of the humanity, kindness and financial cooperation that will get us through this crisis.
• Keep paying membership fees: those who can afford to should keep paying their local gym subscription or renew their monthly tennis pass. This could make all the difference for many small business owners at risk of closure.
• Hold on to pre-booked concert and theatre tickets: instead of requesting an immediate refund for cancelled events, another act of solidarity is to consider the price of the tickets you’ve already bought as a donation to the cultural community.
• #NachbarschaftsChallenge: using this hashtag, committed members of the public are calling for solidarity and neighbourly aid on social media; they’re also putting up notices in their buildings offering to help neighbours with shopping, childcare or simply lending a sympathetic ear. Why not get involved?
• Offer your own support: make a donation or offer your time and skills. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!
#stayathome
#stayhealthy
#hogllove