Archive: this round-up reports news and announcements from April 2020. Advice, services and offers may have changed.

Here’s our weekly compendium of positive news stories to cheer us up and lift the spirits 💪

We also want to flag up all the positive ways that our readers are finding to deal with the crisis, from good deeds to witty photographs. Please email info@explorebuxton.co.uk with any contributions.

1. Royal Mail marks Captain Tom Moore’s 100th birthday

For Captain Tom Moore’s 100th birthday on 30 April 2020, Royal Mail applied a birthday message to postmarks that week, recognising his fundraising for NHS charities.

2. A London bus stop becomes an art gallery

In 2020, part-time teacher Sarah Lamarr turned a bus stop near Turnham Green in west London into a community art gallery to brighten up lockdown. Local children and adults contributed drawings.

3. Bounce Back Loan scheme announced for small businesses

On 27 April 2020, the government announced the Bounce Back Loan Scheme for smaller businesses. Loans were from £2,000 to £50,000, capped at 25% of turnover. The government guaranteed the loan to the lender, while the borrower remained responsible for the debt. Applications closed on 31 March 2021.

4. Plans for a contact-tracing app

In April 2020, ministers hoped a contact-tracing app could be ready within weeks. An early version was trialled on the Isle of Wight in May; a later NHS COVID-19 app launched across England and Wales on 24 September 2020 and closed on 27 April 2023.

5. A couple hold a virtual wedding warm-up with sweet rings

After postponing their wedding because of lockdown, Sophie Spong and Terry Compton from Wigston held a symbolic “wedding warm-up” on Zoom on 25 April 2020, their original wedding date. More than 50 guests joined, and the couple exchanged Haribo rings. Their legal wedding was postponed.

6. Conservation work helps the shrill carder bee

In April 2020, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust highlighted Lytes Cary Manor in Somerset and RSPB Rainham Marshes in Essex as sites where the rare shrill carder bee was doing well. The trust said the species remained scarce nationally after the loss of flower-rich habitat.

7. Street art thanks NHS workers

In 2020, artists created public tributes to NHS workers. One example was James Cochran’s blue-heart mural in London, inspired by an NHS thank-you campaign.

8. Rare leatherback turtle nests recorded in Thailand

In April 2020, Reuters reported that Thailand had recorded its highest number of leatherback turtle nests in two decades. Conservationists suggested that quieter beaches might have helped, though the report did not establish lockdown as the sole cause.

9. A Nottinghamshire headteacher brings cheer in costume

During lockdown, Sally Maddison, headteacher of Sir John Sherbrooke Junior School in Calverton, wore inflatable costumes, including a dinosaur and a rainbow, to lift pupils’ spirits at virtual assemblies.

10. Oxford begins COVID-19 vaccine trials

Oxford University began human trials of its COVID-19 vaccine in April 2020. The Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine was authorised by the UK medicines regulator on 30 December 2020. Its EU marketing authorisation was withdrawn in 2024 at AstraZeneca’s request.