Welcome to the COVID Generosity Project. We are researchers from Sussex University in the Department of Sociology, and we are conducting research about the topic of human giving, during the current pandemic. We are interested in how people think about human giving but also their experiences of it – as givers and receivers. There is no limit to the kinds of things that we could give or receive but some examples are time, money, attention, aid, encouragement, possessions as well as emotional availability.
We think that human giving could be playing an important role in these difficult times, in which there has been such a widespread loss of life, trauma and fundamental changes in how we live. We will be paying attention throughout our research to the broader issues in UK society – for instance, how cuts in social and health services have created inequalities that affect how people are experiencing the current crisis. Overall, we hope our research can develop new knowledge about how human giving can contribute to a post-COVID world.
If you feel you would like to seek some help, advice or support, please contact
organisations such as the Samaritans
(www.samaritans.org / Tel: 08457 909090), MIND
(www.mind.org.uk / Tel: 0300 123 3393) or your local
General Practitioner. Please see here for government
information on COVID - https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
and here for NHS information https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
For local mutual aid organisations see https://covidmutualaid.org/