A film of Gillingham teenagers talking about life in the time of covid has been widely praised. The video Covid and Me was filmed between lockdowns and presented by 18-year-old Alisha Hill, pictured, working with youth support charity The Rendezvous.

Around 30 teens were approached, mainly in the town’s skatepark and asked how they were coping.
 Keeping up with schoolwork online was a problem said many, citing difficulty in concentrating. “You felt more isolated than you would going to school,” said one. “I’m missing out on a lot of education and can’t wait to get back in,” said another. “If I needed help I could normally ask a teacher – but I couldn’t.”

Stress caused by some families not discussing covid-19 was one issue: family tensions rising in lockdown and friends losing jobs were others. “You realise you take a lot of things for granted,” said one boy, saying how much he enjoyed being able to see friends at the park.

Others said how they appreciated being in Gillingham. “I feel safe. Living in a small town, I don’t see the effects you might see in a bigger town,” said one girl. “We’ve got more freedom.”

The film ran to nearly eight minutes and has already been seen by 800 people on YouTube. The editing is excellent, as is the camerawork of Sam King and soundtrack by young Somerset singer Ciara Mill.
The film was also posted on Facebook and has been warmly received. Said one poster: “Well done Alisha, for doing something to show how the young people of Gillingham have been affected. “Makes me feel proud to be part of our town.”
Another, Sam Gamebird, posted: “So often the young get a bad

press but they are a tiny minority. “The majority are good, sensible folk as was shown. Well done Alisha and well done to all those seen and many others unseen… You are a credit to your parents, the school and the town.”

Alisha is studying health and social care in Salisbury, with ambitions to work in midwifery or paediatric nursing, while working part-time at The Udder farm shop in East Stour. She volunteers at The Rendezvous, a Sherborne-based youth resources services charity for 13-25-year-olds which recently began outreach work in Gillingham and is set to extend its work into Shaftesbury.
Alisha said she was “shocked” at the amount of feedback the project has had.

“Personally I would have liked it to have been longer,” she said. “We could have got so many more young people and views.” The Dorset Council-funded film was originally planned to be about promoting Gillingham through interviews. But lockdown shifted thinking towards how young people were coping, said Rendezvous chief executive Helen Da Silva Wood. She said: “The response to filming was really positive and actually ended up linking this vision to the original brief, where people appreciate the benefits of a small town.”

The film’s success has encouraged the charity to consider more video, helping Gillingham Town Council to promote its new orienteering trail while also filming a ‘How to Orientate’ video.
“It’s about young people doing something, giving something back to the community, asking what more can we do,” said Helen. “We also now want to pull in young parents. It’s great for Gillingham.”

Watch the video here: tinyurl.com/y5uu6sot

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