Sheffield schoolboy writes poem about life under coronavirus lockdown

Lincoln, 11, from Sheffield has created a poem depicting what life is like for a young person in the city during the coronavirus lockdown.

The schoolboy who enjoys maths and science, was invited to take part in the Save the Children project which aims to highlight the difficulties children face globally because of Covid-19.

Young people from 14 other countries have written about their varying lockdown experiences in individual poems, ranging from what life is like in the UK to the conflict in Gaza and living in a Za’taari refugee camp.

Lincoln, who has been quarantined with his mum, Kerry and younger sister, Isha, shared how he has missed seeing his loved ones during lockdown.

A line of the 11-year-old’s inspirational poem reads: “Don’t give up hope, the end is in sight, if we all stick together, we’ll all win this fight.”

The schoolboy explained what challenges he’s faced while the country is still easing its way out of the coronavirus shutdown.

“What I've found difficult about lockdown is adapting to all of the new changes with school and seeing my friends”, he said.

“I don’t like the fact I can't see anyone.

“I can see them but I can't really interact in a way...it's just upsetting.

“And also we can't hug people.”

Lincoln has clapped for NHS workers every Thursday during lockdown to show his appreciation for the key workers putting their lives on the line to combat the virus.

He added: “It's just nice to appreciate all the people who are on the frontlines, like my mum's friends, who are nurses, and it's nice to appreciate all the people who are helping stop, not only the spread of coronavirus, but also stop as many people dying from it.”

Save the Children have helped families access food vouchers and furniture as part of its Emergency Grants Programme to ensure children continue learning from home during lockdown.

Kirsty McNeill, Director of Policy Advocacy and Campaigns at Save the Children commented: “Lincoln’s powerful poem shows the enormous impact that this pandemic has had on children’s lives, as well as their strength, resilience and hopes for the future.

“It is so important we listen to children directly during these unprecedented times – we are not all affected equally, and children are particularly vulnerable.”

"This is not just a health crisis, but a threat to children’s rights all over the world.

“Over 1.5 billion of the world’s children have been out of school for significant periods of time and millions are being driven into extreme poverty and face a very uncertain future. “We’ve made huge progress in the last twenty years on children’s rights and Covid-19 risks reversing this progress.

“Even before the coronavirus outbreak, over four million children lived in poverty in the UK and we can’t let this number rise.

“We’re running an emergency appeal to raise money for our work helping children survive both here in the UK and around the world.

“Together, we’ll help families through this.”