Editor's column - It is people, not numbers, and you are making a difference

We have all felt helpless at some point over the last month, perhaps even the last hour.
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The number of people who have died in this country, let alone across the world, is simply incomprehensible.

It is human nature to want to be able to reach out and make a difference. Sitting at home and doing nothing but watch the numbers increase goes against our instincts and feels heartbreakingly wrong.

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That is why so many individuals have signed up to volunteer and support our health workers. That is why people are using whatever talents they have to create PPE and whatever is needed.

21 Nov 2013....Sheffield skyline SM1001/27a21 Nov 2013....Sheffield skyline SM1001/27a
21 Nov 2013....Sheffield skyline SM1001/27a

That is why we are donating what we can to the charities that matter now more than ever.

But it isn’t always about the big gestures, in fact, it rarely is. It is the small things that sometimes really get to us and bring tears to our eyes.

It is the elderly who have spent a lifetime helping others, caring for children and grandchildren, and providing a rock of others to lean on. Hearing how helpless they feel stuck at home really pulls the heartstrings.

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It shouldn’t, of course. That completely understandable and unavoidable emotion doesn’t speak to the facts, even though it is an overwhelming feeling. The truth is they – and we – are being a bigger help than anybody can imagine. Keeping ourselves safe and out of hospital is the largest and most important contribution of all.

As council leader Julie Dore and head of public health Greg Fell have both agreed – we will never know the numbers of lives saved but we are saving lives, right now.

Be gentle with yourself and try to remember that. Remind all your friends and loved ones of that whenever they are having a wobble. We all get upset and we are all struggling, but we are also doing the right thing … sitting in our armchairs, weeding our garden, chatting on the phone, doing the crossword, baking cakes – all within our own homes.

The true stories to be told are nothing to do with numbers. It is about every single individual, no matter how simple our actions may seem. In staying home we are forming an army of support, wrapping those on the frontline in love and neverending thanks.

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