Covid: 'I worked on Priscilla - now I'm a bin man'

James Marsh had built a 15-year career as a sound engineer for big productions and other live events.

But when theatres closed during the UK lockdown in March, he had to rethink his plans.

Now James is a "bin man" and said he was grateful to have a job.

While Wales saw the highest rate of unemployment between August and October of any nation or region of the UK, many people have taken on completely new jobs to sustain their income.

In the UK, 6.1% of employed people changed their occupation in the first half of this year, compared with 5.7% in the same period last year, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Before lockdown, James, 35, from Cardiff, was working on the extravagant touring UK musical, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert.

On 16 March, the show was cancelled and James started looking for other work.

After months of rejections, he was employed by Vale of Glamorgan council as a refuse collector in September.

It was a big change, with earlier shifts and a more physical working day.

"You're on your feet and you can do up to about 20km a day and it's hard work," said James.

While James appreciates having a job while many other struggle to find work, he feels many of the skills he developed from his career are being "wasted".

According to the Welsh campaign group We Make Events, about 10,000 live events could be lost before the sector recovers from Covid.

Amy Buckle from Cardiff started her online store, Buckle and Boo Printhouse, from home.

The 38-year-old mother of two started making uplifting decorative prints two years ago to help her cope, following a number of tragedies.

In 2018, her mother died in an accident and the following year she lost her baby daughter, Hope, who was born at 21 weeks with a range of conditions.

"I noticed during this time the profound effect that words had on helping me get through," she said.

Amy's husband, Dan, works in recruitment. During the lockdown much of his work disappeared so Amy decided to start making money from her craft.

"After a lot of chatting through with my husband we decided to take the plunge and invest in a high-end printer which would allow me to provide high class professional prints.

"So we used the lockdown to set up a business plan… I've had quite a lot of repeat business which is lovely because that gives you a bit of confidence to keep going."

Rhys Maule, 25, has felt the sting of the sector shutdown as the owner of Pro LX Productions, a Cwmbran-based company which provides technical services for big events.

In October he decided to use some of the skills from his day job in a different field and became a digger driver for an agency.

"We already use plant machinery on festivals like telehandler and forklifts and things like that so it wasn't a massive jump," he said.

Rhys has been operating excavation machinery on a variety of sites, from new housing projects to archaeological digs.

He enjoyed the break from running a business full-time but said "nothing will ever beat the adrenaline rush of a live crowd during a gig".

For others, the lockdown served as a stepping stone towards running a business.

For more than 10 years, Tumi Williams has been setting up gigs in Cardiff, as well as touring festivals with his hip-hop band Afro Cluster.

As the shutdown kicked in, he found the impact on him was not just the loss of income. To find a creative outlet and make some money he turned to cooking, starting a business called Jollof House Party, cooking vegan food from his Nigerian heritage.

Tumi now does takeaway from home, selling through his social media accounts, and cooks at food markets and other events. He is also moving into new premises in the new year to expand his business. When lockdown ends he hopes to continue cooking and start playing live music again.

Tumi, whose first baby is due in the next few weeks, said: "When the baby comes I want to be at the top of my game. I want to be the best father I can be.

"I am optimistic that I can be at a festival, running my store and then run to play a set, and then come back to work while baby and mummy are enjoying themselves in the festival.

"Next summer could be me cooking and playing gigs, which for me sounds like the life."