Bracknell Leverkusen Friends Meet Online

News from Bracknell March 26, 2021

On Wednesday we had our first Zoom meeting between friends in Bracknell and our twin city of Leverkusen. It was lovely to see everyone again and to catch up on our news.
This has been a hard year for us all.
We had to cancel our much-anticipated trip to Germany to meet up with everyone again, last June. We now hope this will take place in June 2022

We, in the UK, are just coming out of another Covid-19 lockdown. We must work at home if possible, only travel locally, not mix with any other households indoors or in gardens. The children are still in school but secondary students must give themselves a lateral flow test twice a week to see if they are Covid positive. These test kits are provided by the schools.
Parents and other family members are expected to test twice a week too with tests from local testing centres.
We must wear masks on public transport and in the few essential shops that are open. We do not have to wear them just walking about, but many do.
Our lovely new Bracknell shopping centre- open just two years ago- is deserted. Some of the large stores will never reopen as their companies have folded.
Return to ‘normal’ is to be a slow process, with shops opening in the middle of April. Pubs will only be able to serve in gardens and then only two families of up to six people in one group.
Most people over 50 have now been vaccinated with their first vaccination.
It was really good to meet by zoom and we will do so again in May.

Mary Temperton
Chair of Bracknell Twinning Association.