Cambridgeshire - Leicestershire Press

Web developer struggles in COVID-19 pandemic

By Kira Gibson

A web developer has learnt the struggles of being on mandatory lockdown from the government.

Scott Mokler (32) worked as a web developer for Profile Digital Agency in Huntingdon until they announced a temporary closure via their social media channels on March 23rd and let him go the same day via email due to a lack of income from clients.

The company ran off a number of clients bringing in an income and paying their retainers. However, due to the Coronavirus, clients have pulled out and aren’t paying the deposits so unfortunately the company had to make hard cuts as they couldn’t afford to pay a lot of the staff.

Scott is also a parent to five children and is having to deal with the ramifications of having the majority of his children under one roof all of the time.

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Scott Mokler (Photo credit Kirstie Mokler)

He said: “The kids are struggling without the routine of not going to school.”

He added that because of the financial problems coming with being laid off, and companies closing due to this country lockdown, he is “trying to keep busy at home but limited to what we can do really.”

Unfortunately, the restriction on what you can do and where you can go has also had a negative impact on Scott’s mental health which has significantly changed his life.

There are pathways to get help for the mental health side of things but they are hard to access at this particular moment.

Despite all of the troubles that Scott faces being at home and dealing with this crisis, he still manages to smile and make his kids feel less stressed and upset whilst everything is going on.

For any help with your mental health in Cambridgeshire the crisis line is 111 and option 2. In Leicestershire, the crisis line number is 0116 305 0004. This line is open office hours and for an out of hours crisis please call 0116 255 1606. The Samaritans are open 24/7 in all areas on 116 123.

Coronavirus impacts on Pokemon group

By Kira Gibson

Many of the local Pokemon group in March, Cambridgeshire have been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Almost all of the group have started working from home, if possible, and those who can’t have been trying to cope with the early closure of schools and worrying about keeping their families safe.

Laura Collop-Miller, one of the group admins, said: “I’m very fortunate that I can do my job easily from home with no disruptions.

“If anything, it [the outbreak] has increased my productivity.

“Socially it’s a struggle, I live alone and not seeing people for days at a time is not easy.

“I’m a carer for an elderly friend once or twice a week so my main priority is making sure that when I do go out, I’m much more aware of who’s around and how far away.”

There have been a multitude of different responses to the outbreak in the UK with some being frustrated as they’ve lost their job because of everything closing to try and halt the spread of the disease.

A parent in the group, Chantelle Banks-Tahir, said: “It’s not too bad apart from having to entertain the three kids all day long and the issues around food with supply and demand.”

Overall, the group has placed a ban on raiding (battling and catching rare Pokemon in groups) unless it is in keeping with government guidelines as many of the group use the game as an escape and an outlet for their mental health difficulties.