What You Can Do If The Election Result Is Getting You Down

as woken up to another 5 years of Conservative government – the biggest Tory majority since Thatcher’s government. I’ve run this blog for 8 years now and I always said to myself I would never discuss anything too personal or political on here to keep it a lighthearted space, but this year I have been open in discussing my struggle with bereavement and now I guess we are going to have to talk about the state of this country too! From the reactions of my friends the same age – and my social media timelines – I’m not the only one bitterly disappointed. It’s a worrying time for those who are vulnerable and rely on the government for support and I truly can’t believe we’re going to be going into 2020 with bloody Boris and Trump leading the UK and USA.

All-day I’ve been seeing an outcry on social media, particularly Twitter, over the disappointment at the result from my peers, and so I thought I’d share some simple ways you might want to help yourself – and your country – heal over this result and lessen the negative impacts of a Conservative Government. None of these can change the result we have, but if we all made small changes, they would have a big impact.

• Have a cry and a glass of wine (tick!) and then pick yourself back up and get on with making some small changes. If you are feeling motivated by all the campaigning and sharing opinions you have seen recently, then remember that politics doesn’t have to just happen around voting; it can be your ideology to navigate the world and you are allowed to still have hope and make small steps to help your views come to fruition in your local area.

• If you were happy to be taxed a little more under Labour for the benefit of the many, not the few, then perhaps you might like to consider working out how much that would have been for you and saving that money every month to donate to a cause that is close to your heart. Repurposing that money for good.

• Money isn’t the only thing that’s valuable, however, time is too. Arguably even more so. If you have found yourself impassioned to make some changes by the election, consider giving up some time to volunteer for a cause close to your heart. After my Grandma passed away this year, I decided to do something worthwhile in her memory and am now a volunteer for two different charities; Age UK and Pets As Therapy (with my pug, Sonny, of course!). I work a high-pressure full-time job, travel almost every week for work and run this blog alongside my gym schedule and trying to have a social life… So if I can make time to volunteer, I’m sure you can too.

• Consider donating food (or money if you prefer) to a foodbank, since these are now going to be more needed than ever. Either lookout for a food bank ‘basket’ at your local supermarket or use this service to find your local one to drop some items off at, or if you do decide to donate money, I would recommend using Trussel Trust rather than using the Foodbank app which both charges charities a subscription fee and is owned by newly elected tory MP Miriam Cates.

• Order a compost bin for the garden or a food waste bin if you don’t already have one. Remember to put your paper recycling in the blue bin and your glass and plastic in the brown (if those are the right colours for you, of course!).

• Have a think about reducing your meat impact (both for the sake of the environment and the animals!). I am not vegan and I am no longer 100% vegetarian (occasionally I will eat steak for a special dinner out), but you really don’t need to go the whole hog… Excuse the pun! In fact, estimations show that if a family decided to cut down on meat by just one day a week, it would have the equivalent positive environmental effect of taking your car off the road for 5 weeks!

• Help out a homeless charity. In Manchester, especially, homelessness is at crisis point and it breaks my heart to see so many people living on the streets every single day. Crisis and Shelter both do great work, but it may also be worth researching any local charities that might need some extra support over Christmas.

• Speaking of which, if you don’t have much time or money to assist charities with, you can always volunteer your skills to help our a worthy cause. For instance, as well as the scheme I am a volunteer for with Age UK, I made them aware that I work in Marketing and so they are now able to call on me should they ever want any advice or consultation; it’s something that my local branch are underresourced with and a skill I use every single day – doing a little extra would be no skin off my nose! Perhaps you’re good at accounting or social media or can even give up a few minutes to assist in using Google in finding extra resources for your local charitable cause.

• Check-in on your friends. Make sure they’re doing okay. Mental health services have already been especially impacted by the tories (I am experiencing this impact currently), and it’s now likely that with a combination of lack of resources and an increased right-wing narrative, that vulnerable communities (such as LGBTQ+, the disabled, unemployed, sick, elderly and those with mental health illnesses) are going to be feeling the impact of this even more in the coming years. Just a gentle reminder for us at this time to be kinder to each other… And ourselves.

Of course, these ideas can’t change the end result, but they might be able to slightly lessen the impact that this General Election 2019 will have on yourselves and your loved ones. Let’s just hope none of us get sick because the NHS ain’t gonna be here in the future and there’s not much we can do about that one!

Oh, and I’ve included some cute pictures of my pug, Sonny, who took some time out of his busy festive schedule to take part in #dogsatpollingstations for good measure. Because pet pics always help, right?