SouthseaScene

A new study suggests that shoppers may be fearful of returning to large enclosed shopping centres when lockdown restrictions ease on 12 April to allow non-essential retail to open. Researchers from the Universities of Portsmouth and Edinburgh in the UK, Saint Xavier University in the United States and the Universidad Externado de Colombia in Bogota, Colombia found that shoppers experience higher levels of stress, lower levels of excitement, and greater difficulty focusing on a shopping task when in the presence of large crowds of other shoppers. Since the Covid-19 outbreak, people have been required to avoid crowded spaces, maintain social distancing in retail stores and shop alone when possible, and to avoid touching public surfaces. These ‘new normal’ behaviours work against enclosed shopping centres in terms of being attractive destinations for shoppers. However, they could be a boost for smaller, independent shops where there are not so many people. Study co-author Dr Jas...

Earlier this month Great British Bake-off contestant and Portsmouth local, Enwezor Nzegwu set-up a crowdfunding campaign to pay for material to make face shields for key workers. Enwezor wanted to get them made as fast as possible to help the fight against COVID-19.  He discovered that if you had access to a laser cutting machine, you could cut out face shields in only about 45 seconds - if only you have the equipment and the money. Thankfully Enwezor made contact with Seb Bagnall, from Etch Technologies, David Youngs, from Live Link Aerospace Technologies, Alan Gingell from Good Directions Ltd. and Richard Wilkins, who all offered their laser cutters & their staff at no cost to help produce face shields. So far, over 6000 face shields have been manufactured and delivered to 109 establishments including, Care homes, adult social care, volunteer groups, GP surgeries, nursing groups, individual care workers, and the local maternity unit. The cro...

Portsmouth residents can enjoy a huge range of entertainment, including music, books, and magazines, while they're staying home. And it's all free. All they need to do is use their library card, or sign up to be a library member online. Because although Portsmouth City Council's library buildings are closed, their digital services are available 24/7. Residents can enjoy all these free services: audiobooks and e-books, including bestsellers and online reading group titles unlimited music streaming, from rock and pop to classical and world music magazines and comics to download and keep or read online, including top national titles hundreds of UK and international newspapers, including The News Plus, whether or not you're a library member, you can get lots of ideas to keep the whole family occupied on the  Official Portsmouth Libraries Facebook page . These include: story videos for younger children ideas for art and craft activities to keep...

There's an eerie quietness as I walked to work this morning. The streets which are normally crowded with kids going to school, parents pushing younger siblings in prams and gossiping in groups, were empty. It's as if Southsea is in a lockdown already. In some sense it has. Restaurants and bars, which a week ago were sending messages of taking good care about cleanliness, now are saying they are closing their doors. The Guildhall is closed, museums such as the Mary Rose are closed, libraries and the council offices are closed. All day at work we were preparing to close the office and work from home. My colleague brought home the 21 pots of plants from the office to look after. We practiced using Google Hangout and put a daily meeting online for the weeks to come. For how long, we don't know. While we rant against those who swiped the supermarket shelves clean of loo rolls and pasta, I secretly worry that there will be no supply in the weeks to come. Friends nervously l...