“THE last year has been a hard test of our collective resilience. Loss and hardship have touched many, but we have seen the very best of people as they look out for others too.”

These are the words of Sally Hawken, 51, a Town and Cornwall Councillor for Liskeard, who in this last pandemic year has held possibly one of the most challenging and busy positions on Cornwall’s cabinet, with responsibility for Children, Wellbeing and Public Health.

A councillor for around eight years, she has held a Cabinet role for almost four of those.

Here, Sally looks back on a year where, quite simply – everything changed.

“As Portfolio Holder for Public Health my awareness of coronavirus was probably earlier than for many.

“Our Director of Public Health was updating cabinet on Public Health England (PHE) briefings, particularly as it began to impact Italy.

“Those early views that came through from national authorities were sadly well out of step with what we have learnt since – that it would be gone as the weather warmed up, that our flu epidemic planning would be adequate and that wearing masks was not necessary. We have all had to learn very quickly.

“By the time we shut down in March it was pretty clear that lockdown was an absolute necessity and arguably should have been sooner.

“Cornwall Council swung into action with incredible speed, with an analysis of which essential services would be continuing and where staff could be diverted to support the emergency response.

“Everything changed. I will never forget how hard those in the council, NHS and voluntary sector partners worked to find new ways to manage the tasks ahead and particularly to meet the needs of vulnerable people.

“In my own job, all activity not directly related to managing the COVID-19 response and essential services disappeared from my diary, and like many, I had to adapt to working virtually from home.

“I was part of daily COVID briefings with the Leader, Deputy Leader and senior officers as we worked through each new set of challenges.

“Fast-moving and changing information has been a huge challenge.

“Weekly media briefings were one way we looked at getting messages out and we had a good link-up across the South West on communications.

“We worked well with Visit Cornwall, Business leaders and NHS colleagues to make sure messages were joined up for Cornwall’s residents.

“There were daily bulletins for different sectors such as schools to help them process all that rapidly changing information.

“We used Facebook Live extensively to respond directly to questions from the public.

“Cornwall should feel very proud of its Public Health team and, indeed, the wider council, who have kept rigorous focus throughout and worked with relentless determination to control infection and keep residents safe.”

Sally added: “Picking out just some of the challenges is hard, it has been a long year of them.

“PPE did get to a dangerously low point, and the council spent considerable time and resources supplementing the supply that came through erratically from national sources.

“A great deal of new work for those struggling to buy food had to take place, from parcels for shielding residents, to resourcing community groups to meet the need of those who had no money coming in to feed their families.

“We saw time and time again, expensive national systems put in place that didn’t work as promised.

“Often councils found out key decisions at the same time as the public and the detail for how they would be implemented would follow some time after.

“I wish the Government had valued the expertise and knowledge of local authorities throughout.

“The tragic consequences of relaxations for Christmas will never be forgotten.

“In Cornwall, our pandemic response has gone above and beyond the national Test and Trace programme and we were one of the first areas in the country to begin case review services, often referred to as contact tracing.

“This was used to great effect when following up the Tulip/Pilgrim’s Pride outbreak.”

Sally continued: “Over the last 12 months, walks outside in the very local area have been the best way for me to keep myself on track.

“I lost my old dog this year, and it takes a special kind of diligence to walk whatever the weather without him, but there is no doubt the physical and mental benefits of fresh air are enormous.

“I am really pleased to see how many have found the joy of being outdoors and appreciating what can be seen of changing seasons and light in the space immediately around us.

“I believe there will be no going back on some of the changes we have all made.

“Virtual working has released many of us from commutes, saving time and impact on the planet. I would hope we will find good hybrid forms of working as we go forward.

“I will be continuing for the next month and a bit in my role as Lead Member for Children and Public Health, and of course, with local work for the division of Liskeard East.

“After that I am looking forward to a break and finding new challenges in the world outside local politics.

“It has been a great honour to represent Liskeard, and I have taken very seriously the huge responsibility of my roles of the last year, but my garden looks a wilderness and I’m planning to be able to cut through the brambles and plant some things this year!”

We’ve been publishing stories about how the year of lockdown has affected people’s lives and work - look out for more in the coming edition of The Cornish Times