Sam Parrington, 53, Mildmay Community Centre Outreach Worker

"I’ve always been creative since I can remember - at school, I always liked art, drama and music. I’ve got a lot of friends who are artists and it’s always been around me and in my life. It’s fun and a way to relax. I did a bit of painting over the lockdown and I did some writing, a bit of mosaicing.

It’s just a hobby, there’s no money in art unless you are really lucky. I need to pay my rent and pay my bills, I’m a single mum.

I do creative writing too, it’s not published but I like to write short stories. I’ve got a couple of pieces of my artwork up around my house, or I give it away, or it’s in a big pile on the floor. But I’m quite private about it.

I’ve been in a Samba band for 11 years and we normally do a big performance at the Summer Solstice at the Avebury Stone Circle but we didn't get to do it this year - the first year in 25 years because of Covid-19.

In contrast, I work three part-time jobs, but I suppose they are quite creative in some ways. I work at a stay and play in Highbury Fields where I do a lot of art activities there with the children.

At Mildmay Community Centre, Covid-19 has put a bit of a strain on the projects I wanted to do so I’ve been focusing more on food hubs and feeding people. But hopefully, when we come back I want to engage more again with youth and get the art projects up and running.

So many people are feeling isolated at the moment so something I’m looking forward to is getting everybody back in."