Covid-19: 'I went from boarding passengers to milking heifers'

From furlough to finding new ways to make a living, the first lockdown which began a year ago brought many changes to people's lives, not least to how we work.

Here, four people explain how Covid caused them to reconsider their lives and change their careers.

Multilingual Annabella Barker flew as cabin crew for 17 years which she described as "my dream, my life".

"Then it all changed with the pandemic, so all these dreams stopped."

In August, as the tourism sector continued to suffer from coronavirus, Annabella lost her job with Easyjet, based at Newcastle Airport.

She needed to find something to keep herself "sane" - what she discovered has given a whole new meaning to the term "cattle class".

Annabella now works on a dairy farm in Morpeth, Northumberland.

"I decided to work on a farm because I love cows. They have funny faces and beautiful eyes," she smiled.

She got in touch with the farmer through a mutual friend and "fell in love with the job" on her very first day.

"The job I do here is beautiful because we are in the fresh air and I love to be in the countryside," she added.

Annabella, who speaks seven languages, studied for an online course in dairy cattle farm management and it is now heifers, rather than passengers, that she speaks to in Italian.

"I wake up early in the morning. I love to see my cows instead of my passengers, of course, which I loved before. I pay attention to details like I was doing, keeping calm.

"Do I miss my previous job? If I was thinking about it four months ago, I think I would have gone back to fly.

"Now I am happy here. I found my dream job so I am very happy to stay."

Professional ice skater Adam Miller was touring Europe with Disney on Ice when the pandemic struck.

The 22-year-old, from Ashington, Northumberland, had been due to perform in the UK for the remainder of the tour but while in Berlin his world changed.

"All the madness started to unfold around us and we were told one day we had to go home and the tour was cancelled for the foreseeable future.

"It was very scary because we had no idea how long it was going to last for."

Moving home to his family, he found himself ineligible for government help as he had been employed by a US-based company.

"Mentally it's not the best thing not to be able to support yourself," he said.

"To find yourself without a job is bizarre because when you get a job like Disney on Ice you kind of feel you are set for life.

"It's a very unique opportunity and it gets you a lot of attention."

While on tour, Adam had an idea for an entertainment consultancy business, which he has since set up, offering professional support to aspiring performers.

He said the pandemic had offered new opportunities for people looking to get into the industry, which has experienced its own challenges.

"I was adamant it was going to work out, I want us to walk into the new world with the performers and be a part of it," he said.

The lockdown also meant he was unable to skate for around six months, as his local rink in Whitley Bay closed.

"Having that stripped away has been a massive challenge but it also taught me that I'm quite strong-willed and I can push through things.

"That's a bit of good that has come from it I suppose."

Will Hesler worked at Aspers Casino in Newcastle for 15 years but when the industry was forced to close, the customer services manager was furloughed.

As he swapped shifts for family time, he decided to set up his own business as an electrician.

"Once you get comfortable you get used to a regular wage coming in and everything's OK, then suddenly lockdown just changed everything," the 43-year-old said.

"For quite a while I had been thinking I wanted to get out. I was looking at what I could do and what options were available with the skills I had."

Having trained in electrical engineering, he had worked as an electrical maintenance engineer before starting at the casino.

He then accepted voluntary redundancy which helped to pay for professional training and enabled him to start up on his own.

Eventually, he got his first customer.

"It felt really good. It's very difficult at first in terms of how you price up something, how long it will take and I did find that a bit challenging," said Will, from Whitley Bay.

"Going into people's homes, the customer service skills are transferrable.

"Sometimes you have got to gamble to take the plunge, otherwise you will never know what things could be different.

"I'm not going to suddenly make my first million but the lifestyle is so much better - family time was almost non-existent compared to how it is now."

Serious illness caused Ann McEwan to re-evaluate her life and job during lockdown.

The 59-year-old from Carlisle, who has two grown-up daughters, had sepsis twice in three years.

She had been off work since December 2019 and returned to her customer service job at a construction firm on the day the first lockdown began. She was then furloughed until July.

"I decided I wasn't happy, life is too short to stay anywhere where you aren't very happy.

"I just handed my notice in and decided that was it."

Ann wanted a job where she could help people and after seeking advice started applying for "hundreds" of positions.

She secured work as a debt advisor with Citizens Advice, something which has made her happy.

"I'm still training and I am just starting to do calls now. I love my job, it's massively different.

"It's like another family, everyone is there looking after everybody else although you don't quite get the full extent of that when you are working from home."

Ann also aims to complete a counselling course. She said that while making the change was "financially difficult", having savings helped.

"Don't do what I did and put yourself in such a risky situation but think it out and definitely do it because life is too short.

"You are never too old for education, get yourself educated because it's the way forward."

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