Southsea Lifestyle – Free Magazine for Southsea, Old Portsmouth, Eastney & Gunwharf Quays

June / July 2020

Hello, it’s good to be back. Re-reading my intro to our last edition February/March, I talked in glowing terms about the year ahead. Little did I know… It’s not all lost of course, and as we begin to emerge from the lockdown blinking into the light, with our strange hairstyles and sanitised hands, life is much the same, just a little bit different. I’ve grown used to the queues and the masks, but I still feel surprised when someone crosses the street as I come towards them, it’s all done very politely of course, as though they’ve always wanted to check out the telegraph pole on the other side of the road, but I guess that’s part of the ’new normal’ that we hear so much about.

As we embark on this new world, do we go back to madly making up for lost time and lost wages, or do we begin to see a value in taking more time to look after others, ourselves and the planet? We asked 6 people from various sectors in the city for their thoughts (p.41), while local GP, Penny Wilson, talks about new ways of looking after patients – plus Penny gives some health advice (p.38).

A young student Sienna Chin talks about the Black Lives Matter movement, her experience of racism and her hopes for a better future (p.17). We may have strong opinions about history, statues and TV programmes from the 1970s, but if we put these cultural symbols to one side, it is how we perceive and treat people that really counts, if nothing else, let’s hope that will be the ’new normal’.

Kevin John Dean


Posted in: Back Issues