10 positive things that came out of 2020

2020 may well go down in history as the year we’d most like to forget, but despite the turmoil and challenges the world has faced, there have been some glimmers of hope too.

From the environment benefiting from a slowed society to a much-needed spotlight being shone on the Black Lives Matter movement, 2020 was the year the world changed for good and bad.

Here are 10 of the most positive things to have come out of 2020, so that as this difficult year draws to a close, we can remember all bright spots of 2020 amongst the darkness.

During the first lockdown air pollution fell by up to 50% in London, Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff, greenhouse gas emissions were slashed world-wide and we got a taste of the air we might breathe in a low-carbon future.

Prince William launched the £50m Earth Shot Prize to fund creative solutions to help repair our planet and Sir David Attenborough (who is one of the judges) joined Instagram.

He racked up 1 million followers in just over four hours, breaking a Guinness World Record and Jennifer Aniston’s debut by 32 minutes.

"While I may be the first woman in this office, I won’t be the last," said Vice-President-Elect Kamala Harris as she introduced President-Elect Joe Biden during their victory speeches in Delaware.

It was a message that resonated with young girls everywhere, as Harris made history when the Democrats won one of the most important US elections of our time.She will be the first woman to hold a presidential role in the United States, and as the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, the first Black woman and the first South Asian woman.

Her husband, Douglas Emhoff, will be the first Second Gentleman, and the first Jewish presidential spouse.

The huge day of history-making came after four tumultuous years of US politics and five agonising days of vote-counting. As Harris said: "You chose hope, unity, decency, science and, yes, truth," and we can’t wait to see what they do next.

COVID-19 has given millions of working parents the chance to prove that working from home and around family commitments can be just as productive, if not better, than being tied to the 9-5.

A recent CBI/Ipsos MORI poll found almost half of British companies think their staff will be allowed to continue flexible working in the future and CBI deputy director-general Josh Hardie said: "Remote working has brought huge benefits. Lost travel time has disappeared, together with the stress and carbon emissions of the morning commute."

Twitter have already announced their staff can work from home permanently, Facebook is planning to implement more remote working and Google, Uber and Airbnb are also extending their working from home policies. #flextheUK, a campaign by Working Families, was also launched to try and make flexible working the rule, not the exception.

People watched a lot more TV during lockdown and arthouse shows, which might have been lost otherwise, became huge hits.

The Repair Shop got record viewing figures.

Grayson Perry's Grayson's Art Club helped unleash our collective creativity while making art more accessible, and The Queen's Gambit, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, got every game right with the help of Garry Kasparaov, probably the best-known chess player in the world.

The adaption of Sally Rooney’s bestselling novel Normal People, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal, was praised for celebrating consent and Michaela Cole’s series (based on her own experiences) showed what happens when it’s taken away.

Whilst COVID-19 has meant the closure of high street chains including Monsoon, Oasis, Cath Kidston and Laura Ashley, it also encouraged us to reflect on the way we consume and make more meaningful choices.

Research by Nationwide Building Society shows we’re now trying to shop locally, mindfully, sustainably and cost-consciously, with 80% of us choosing to support independent businesses over larger chains. And although 6 million of these experienced financial difficulties this year, many survived by changing direction.

Here at Country Living we held three super successful online Artisan Pop-Up Markets to help makers and crafters through a difficult year. Find out more here.

10 million of us tuned in to watch former Olympic boxer (and gold medal winner), Nicola Adams, dance with professional partner Katya Jones, for the first time.

Nicola, who requested a same-sex partnership, said of the move: "It's time to be more diverse, and while it's scary to do anything for the first time, someone has to take the initial step and make a change."

The ‘rough sex gone wrong’ defence will be outlawed once the 2019-21 Domestic Abuse Bill goes through the House of Lords later this year.

Activist group We Can’t Consent To This, who have campaigned to have the defence, also known as the Fifty Shades of Grey excuse, banned, say its been used to justify the death of at least 60 women during violent sex with 45% of these cases resulting in lesser manslaughter charges.

Economic abuse, including controlling and abusing someone else’s finances, will also now be recognised.

Women were around a third more likely to work in a sector that was shut during lockdown and 47% more likely to have lost or quit their job. But when did something like that stop us?

According to female-only members club All Bright, one in four women set up their own business during the Coronavirus crisis, many for the first time.

With women-owned businesses already contributing £105 billion to the UK each year, watch this space.

On May 25th, a video was released showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of a Black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The world watched in horror as Floyd was killed, after repeatedly telling the officers, ‘I can’t breathe.’

It was a tragedy that ignited a movement.Between 15 and 26 million people participated in global Black Lives Matter protests, spanning more than 60 countries and 2,000 cities. The protests called for the arrest of the officer, Derek Chauvin, and the three other officers who were involved (which did eventually happen) but ran much deeper.

Black Lives Matter is also about dismantling the institutional structures of white supremacy and racism. On June 2nd, black squares dominated Instagram in an expression of solidarity and anti-racist books have topped bestseller lists, as we’ve all tried to address our own prejudices.

The 22-year-old Manchester United player teamed up with the charity FareShare in March and raised over £20m to help end child food poverty. But he didn’t stop there.

After writing a moving open letter in June, Marcus managed to convince the government to provide free school meals for vulnerable children throughout the summer holidays. "This was something I had experienced," Rashford explained at the time. "If I didn’t put myself out there and say, 'This is not OK and it needs to change,' I would have failed my 10-year-old self."

And while the Conservatives voted against a motion to continue free school meals until Easter 2021, more than 2,000 business have pledged to help supply them including McDonald's, the Co-op and restaurant chain, Big Smoke Brewery Co.