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Rolling Stones release first new song since 2012

Image caption Mick Jagger said he was “devastated” to be postponing the US tour

The Rolling Stones have released their first new single in eight years, Living In A Ghost Town.

The sparse blues track references the coronavirus crisis, with Sir Mick Jagger singing: “Life was so beautiful, now we all got locked down / Feel like a ghost, living in a ghost town.“

In a statement, the band said the track was initially recorded a year ago in LA but was “finished in lockdown”.

“We thought would resonate through the times we’re living in,” Sir Mick said.

Speaking to Apple Music, the singer revealed the track had been written “in 10 minutes” during a jam session last February.

“It wasn’t written for now but it was written about being in a place which was full of life, and then now that’s all bereft of life, so to speak,” he told Zane Lowe.

“And when I went back to what I’d written originally lyrically, it was all full of plague terms and things like that.

“Keith Richards and I both had the idea that we should release it. But I said, ‘Well I’ve got to rewrite it – some of it is not going to work and some of it was a bit weird and a bit too dark’.”

Richards said the song had been completed “via satellite” before being released on Thursday.

“It’s sort of eerie when suddenly it’s coming to life,” he said. “We sort of did it from outer space. But I actually liked the way it turned out.

‘I’m very hard on myself’

Living In A Ghost Town is the first original song the band have released since two new tracks – Doom and Gloom and One More Shot – featured on their 2012 Greatest Hits album Grrr!

Before that, their last album of new material was 2005’s A Bigger Bang.

“Yeah, it was so long,” Sir Mick told Apple. “And I think one of the problems I personally have with it is that it’s suddenly that you want it to be really good.

“So I don’t just want it to be a good album, I want it to be great. You know? Yes, I’m very hard on myself. If I write something or if I write something with Keith Richards or whatever, it’s going to be great. It can’t just be good.”

Image caption The band headlined Glastonbury festival in 2013

The singer said he hoped to finish more tracks while in isolation, but added: “there’s obviously no substitute for being together”.

He also acknowledged it was hard to say when the band would be able to resume their world tour, which was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The whole touring thing, we don’t know what’s going to be happening,” he said. “We don’t know when there’s going to be the next football match. We don’t know when the next tour outside’s going to be.

“You would imagine that playing outside would be more healthy than playing inside, but you don’t know… This is all in the realm of conjecture.”

The Stones were last seen on the One World: Together At Home concert last weekend, playing together from four separate locations – although drummer Charlie Watts did not appear to have a drum kit in his house.

Instead, he banged on flight cases and the arm of a sofa for their rendition of You Can’t Always Get What You Want.

Reflecting on the current situation, Sir Mick said he was “very aware of how lucky I am.”

“A lot of people lost their jobs and it’s not your fault. It’s circumstances completely out of your control. It’s not as though I did a bad job or I screwed up on my job and got fired,” he said.

“And also the less money you have, the more worries you have. So for lots of people, it’s really tough.

“It’s been a horrible time for everyone. But some people worse than others.”

Follow us on Facebook, or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

11 highlights from BBC’s Big Night In fundraiser

Media captionPeter Kay’s corona appropriate music video update

The stars of Doctor Who, The Vicar of Dibley and Miranda sent messages of hope and support on BBC One charity special The Big Night In, which has raised nearly £27.4m.

The three-hour show saw Children in Need and Comic Relief join forces for the first time, with the government promising to double the total raised.

Peter Kay, Catherine Tate and the Little Britain duo also took part along with the EastEnders cast, while the Duke of Cambridge did a surprise sketch with Stephen Fry.

The money will go to causes that support vulnerable people around the UK whose lives have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Big Night In website

Simon Antrobus, the chief executive of BBC Children in Need, thanked the public for their donations, and said people across the UK had “come together in a beautiful way”.

The fundraising show was watched by an average of 6.7 million viewers, the BBC said, with a peak audience of 8.5 million.

Ruth Davison, Comic Relief’s chief executive, echoed his thanks and said the funding would “help projects around the country that are doing vital work to support vulnerable, isolated people throughout the pandemic”.

11 highlights from The Big Night In:

1. The return of Little Britain

Matt Lucas and David Walliams brought their iconic show back to screens for the first time in a decade, taking a whistle-stop trip to visit their classic characters in lockdown.

First up were Lou and Andy, who had his mind set on eating bat for his tea.

Lucas and Walliams had to improvise with home-made costumes and wigs – using the cardboard from toilet rolls for Emily and Florence’s curly hair and a brush to give Dafydd a Mohican.

2. Doctor Who actors assemble (virtually)

Ten stars who have played the lead role in Doctor Who over the past 50 years recorded a message of thanks for real doctors and health workers.

“Tonight, we have all come together for one important reason,” said the actors, who ranged from Tom Baker to Jodie Whittaker.

“To praise, salute and give heartfelt thanks to real-life, special doctors, nurses and everyone working on the front lines in our NHS and care homes and hospices.”

3. Prince William on Tiger King

The Duke of Cambridge took part in a spoof Zoom call with Stephen Fry, who was playing Lord Melchett – a descendent of his character in sitcom Blackadder.

The prince complained that royal home schooling was “a bit of a nightmare”, and asked: “Have you seen anything good on TV? It’s hell without EastEnders.”

When Melchett suggested Netflix phenomenon Tiger King, William replied: “I avoid shows about royalty.”

4. The Vicar of Dibley’s sermon

Dawn French revived The Vicar of Dibley to deliver a message to viewers. “Life goes on, and this will pass,” she said. “It’s right, really, that we shouldn’t dwell too much on the sadness, but try and think about all the happiness.”

She added: “Please be safe. Be kind. Eat chocolate. Praise the Lord. And praise the NHS.”

5. Miranda: ‘Love wins’

Miranda Hart performed a virtual sketch with her sitcom co-stars before reflecting on the current “strange time”.

Wearing a T-shirt bearing the words “Love wins”, she said: “Much like your nan’s Christmas cake, there are going to be tough moments and parts that are hard to swallow. But we’ll get through it.

“Remember, it’s OK if you’re struggling. It’s OK if you’re bored. It’s OK if you’re OK. It’s OK if you’re not OK. Be kind to yourself, be kind to others, and, remember love wins.”

6. Catherine Tate’s still not bovvered

Tate brought back surly schoolgirl Lauren for a virtual home learning session with her teacher, played by David Tennant.

After running rings around him in an argument about coronavirus – with lines like “Are you Chris Whitty though?” (referring to the UK chief medical officer) and “Is my face mask bovvered?” – she persuaded him to take part in a Tik Tok duet of I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me).

7. Peter Kay goes back to Amarillo

Fifteen years after getting to number one with (Is This The Way To) Amarillo for Comic Relief, Kay made a rare TV appearance to unveil a new version of the video, now featuring key workers and members of the public doing the famous march.

He was also praised on social media for telling viewers there was no pressure to donate. “Listen, if you can help tonight, there’s a number on screen,” he said. “If you can’t, then don’t worry about it. You’ve got enough going on.”

8. Joe Sugg’s hairdressing fail

The YouTuber attempted to give his girlfriend and former Strictly Come Dancing partner Dianne Buswell a live lockdown haircut.

When it was revealed, host Davina McCall cried: “Oh no! It’s completely lopsided!” Sir Lenny Henry consoled her with the words: “It’s bad… You look like Billie Eilish’s gran.”

9. Paloma Faith’s ironing board cover

The show included the premiere of the video for the official charity single – a cover of Foo Fighters’ track Times Like These, recorded by stars like Dua Lipa, Chris Martin, Ellie Goulding, Jess Glynne, Paloma Faith, Mabel and Rag ‘N’ Bone Man.

The musicians recorded their parts in quarantine – and the video gives an insight into their lockdown lives, with Brit Award winner Mabel appearing with her dog and Paloma Faith singing next to her ironing board.

They were joined on the track by Foos frontman Dave Grohl, who told the programme: “I came in last minute after they were almost all finished, and it is amazing.”

10. EastEnders Zoom quiz

They may not be filming regular episodes at the moment, but the cast of EastEnders got together for a comedy Zoom quiz, hosted by Ian Beale.

But it was Zoom-bombed by Liz McDonald from rival soap Coronation Street, leading the Queen Vic’s landlady Linda Carter to utter the words: “Get out of my virtual pub, you’re barred!”

11. Jason Manford’s bookshelves

The comedian didn’t have the obligatory backdrop for his video, so instead stuck hand-written signs saying “bookshelves” behind him on his wall.

Follow us on Facebook, or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

How radio is providing ‘friendship and escapism’

Image caption Bruce has been a presenter on BBC Radio 2 since 1980

You wouldn’t normally hear a tractor driving past or birds tweeting in the background of Ken Bruce’s BBC Radio 2 show.

But, if you listen closely, those are just a few sounds you might be able to pick up on now the presenter is broadcasting from his Oxfordshire home.

“I do live in dread of the binmen arriving or the Royal Air Force flying over in extremely noisy Chinooks as they do sometimes,” Bruce laughs. “But so far it’s been fine.”

Bruce’s mid-morning show on Radio 2 – which he has hosted continuously since 1992, following an earlier stint in the 1980s – is particularly popular at the moment as more listeners turn to the radio while confined to their homes.

“At a time like this, people want to hear the news, but they don’t want it all day,” Bruce says. “From my point of view, I’ll pay attention to one news broadcast a day, and after that I don’t really want to know too much unless it’s a major development.

“So escapism is a big part of keeping people feeling right during this and I think we provide a certain amount of that, a chance to put the worries of the world to one side.”

Image caption Radio programmes have seen a significant increase in texts and emails from listeners

Any surge in listening won’t be reflected in official figures for a few months, but the BBC says there has been a significant increase in live radio listening via the BBC Sounds app since lockdown measures came into force.

Not that Bruce needed any help attracting listeners. With an audience of 8.27 million, his is the most popular show in the UK – a particularly impressive accolade given that he doesn’t host the breakfast show, traditionally a radio station’s flagship programme.

Bruce is one of countless radio presenters currently broadcasting from home, but technical advances make this much easier than it used to be.

Many listeners won’t even have noticed a change – as was the case when the presenters of Radio 4’s Today programme began broadcasting from home last month.

“It sounded so good that we’ve actually had some people calling in asking, ‘Why is everybody in the same studio? They should be socially distancing’,” the BBC’s director of radio and education, James Purnell, told Radio 4’s Feedback.

“We’ve told [presenters] to explain [that they’re at home] because actually the sound makes it seem like they’re all in the same place, when they’re very much not.”

For the Today programme’s male hosts, the familiar home environment has at least given them the ideal opportunity to start growing a beard.

Image caption Today host Justin Webb is normally studio based and beard free

“I admit I have embraced a slightly more relaxed approach to the morning,” Justin Webb wrote this week in the Radio Times. “I’m not shaving, largely to compete with Nick Robinson, who came back from a holiday last year looking like a Mills & Boon romantic hero.”

Wherever the presenters are, radio is proving to be a valuable source of entertainment now many people are working from home.

“Radio does provide friendship, companionship, in an undemanding kind of way, so strong relationships are formed between listener and broadcaster on radio, and I think that will only increase as time goes on,” Bruce says.

“We’re certainly aware of more people listening and taking part in Popmaster, for example, than before, and the texts and emails have massively grown, so I think there will be a general rediscovery of radio and how important it can be at times like this.”

Petroc Trelawny, who hosts Radio 3’s breakfast show, agrees there has been a surge in listening to music-based programmes as the public seek companionship and escapism from the news agenda.

“R3 listeners send several hundred emails, tweets and texts to Breakfast every morning, a significant percentage coming from those taking refuge from Today and news-based breakfast shows on 5 Live and LBC,” he said earlier this week.

But there will be some delay before the industry can ascertain how big the increase in listening has been.

Last month, industry body Rajar told RadioToday it’s reviewing ways it can continue monitoring listening habits as collecting data from members of the public has been made trickier under lockdown.

Image caption Bruce was pictured with fellow Radio 2 DJs Sara Cox and Claudia Winkleman at the BBC’s Biggest Weekend in 2018

Bruce embraces the benefits of working from home (which include being able to eat a slice of lemon drizzle cake during the 11 o’clock news bulletin). When lockdown restrictions are eventually lifted, will more DJs actively choose to continue broadcasting from home?

“There may be a slight move towards that. However I do know that there is something about being in a particular building, there’s that sort of collegiate feeling of being at Radio 2 or wherever it is, and you take in the culture of the organisation almost by osmosis as you’re in there,” he says.

“You get to see everybody else or hear the gossip, not that that’s important, but you get the general feel of what’s going on while you’re there.”

Popmaster’s popularity

One specific feature within Bruce’s show which has seen a significant increase in engagement is the famous quiz broadcast at 10:30 every morning.

“We’re hearing a lot about the Popmaster effect,” says Bruce’s producer Ricky Marshall.

“It’s always been an appointment to listen, but I think now more than ever it’s really ramping up – families are sitting down to do Popmaster, people are saying they’re playing along with their friends on a Zoom call.

“The hashtag seems to trend most days with people all joining in together, so I think there’s a real sense of online community around the quiz which is quite nice.”

Popmaster sees two callers face a series of (often quite difficult) music questions. If they hesitate for too long, a five-second countdown begins, which adds to the pressure.

“With the five-second counter, you’ve got to feel it,” Bruce says. “You don’t play it too soon on the early questions, and if you think somebody might be getting a little assistance, shall we say, then you can slam the five-second countdown clock down quite quickly. So it’s a question of touch and feel.”

On the unrelenting difficulty of the questions, Marshall says: “It’s fine if you hit that sweet spot of your era or your area, but some of the questions I look at and I don’t have a clue. It’s only worrying if Ken doesn’t know the answer, then you know you’re in trouble! He’s generally seen it all over the years.”

Image caption Rob Brydon’s impression of Bruce left listeners in hysterics in 2011

Bruce recently told the MediaMasters podcast he’s only had one day off sick in the last 34 years, although there was one occasion where listeners may have noticed he didn’t sound like his usual self.

On April Fools Day 2011, comedian Rob Brydon (whose impression of Bruce is uncanny) famously stood in for him – with hilarious results.

If, God forbid, Bruce became ill himself in the next few months and had to take a few days off work, is there any chance Brydon could cover for him again?

“Well yes, I’m sure he could,” Bruce laughs, “but I don’t think the BBC could afford him.”

Ken Bruce presents on BBC Radio 2 from 09:30 until 12:00 BST every weekday morning.

How to homeschool in a language you don’t speak

Image caption Riley, eight, and Harley, five, do school work at home – their mum does not speak Welsh

Until a few weeks ago, non-Welsh speaking parents who had chosen Welsh-medium education assumed their children would spend about 30 hours a week immersed in the language – at school.

Now attempting to “home school” in a language they don’t speak, they face an extra layer of challenge.

In Cardiff, for example, about 63% of pupils in Welsh-medium schools come from homes where no Welsh is spoken.

On top of anxiety about coronavirus and general concern about education, some parents are worried their children’s Welsh language skills will suffer.

Debbie from Cardiff is one of them. She is learning Welsh, but feels she does not know enough to help her two young sons, Riley, eight, and Harley five, with their school work.

“I can only help them in English and I’m worried they’ll fall behind with their Welsh language skills, compared to the kids who get Welsh at home every day,” she said.

She said the boys had been watching a lot of Cyw children’s programmes on S4C and playing games on Duolingo and other apps. But she wishes they could do more.

Ceri Anwen James, assistant headteacher at Ysgol Gyfun Bro Edern, in Penylan, Cardiff, said: “We know that the vast majority of our parents don’t speak Welsh.

“When they made the decision, many moons ago, to educate their child through the medium of Welsh, they hardly thought that one day their child would be educated in Welsh from their kitchen or lounge, due to a pandemic lockdown, with them having to navigate the intricacies of a Welsh-medium curriculum.”

She said the school had tried to keep tasks as straightforward as possible and given pupils plenty of links and activities to stay in touch with the Welsh language.

“It’s essential that they have as much contact as possible with the Welsh language while they are away from school,” he said.

To help parents like Debbie, a number of Welsh-speaking parents and others have come forward to help by developing new content to ensure children can have fun at home, as well as do their school work in Welsh.

Ukulele lessons

Cardiff-based musician Mei Gwynedd has started ukulele lessons on his YouTube channel every Tuesday and Thursday morning.

“I think music should be available for everyone,” he said, adding that he’s trying to secure funding to provide subtitles to help non-Welsh speaking families follow along as well.

Illustration

Cartoonist Huw Aaron provides daily videos to help kids get creative every weekday on YouTube. He said he was motivated partly by his worry about how the lockdown could affect non-Welsh-speaking families.

“If there’s no fun, interesting content for kids in Welsh, they might not hear the language much at all for…. months?”

“I hope that five or 10 minutes of following simple instructions on how to illustrate a monkey or robots might be helpful to families with long empty days ahead of them for who knows how long.”

Keeping fit

Joe Wicks might be calling himself the UK’s PE teacher, but Rae Carpenter from Ffit Cymru on S4C is trying to challenge him. She’s doing daily sessions at 09:00 BST.

For children who prefer to exercise in the afternoon, Lleucu Ifans posts her Facebook videos at 13:00 BST.

“If anything positive comes out of this, it’s that kids will have sport as part of their daily life,” she said.

“I just want to keep everyone moving, not just children.”

Welsh lessons for families

Aran Jones from Say Something in Welsh spotted the need to help parents early on during the coronavirus crisis, and started new daily lessons to help families learn Welsh together called Bedtime Welsh.

“We have two-minute lessons on the phone, and videos on our YouTube channel. We’re keeping it quite short and hope families have fun doing it,” he said.

“We have at least 300 involved on our Slack group at the moment. Anyone’s free to join in.”

Mr Jones has since started a new venture to help teach the Welsh national anthem by asking famous faces to take part in the video lessons.

S4C and BBC

Image caption “Ysgol Cyw” is a collection of S4C’s new resources for kids

S4C has gathered all of its educational children’s programmes together to create Ysgol Cyw so that parents can be assured their children are watching educational programmes at home.

The BBC has a variety of educational material available in Welsh too, including Bitesize. From 20 April onwards, a daily service called Bitesize Dyddiol will be available including short films and animations for pupils aged 3-14 years.

Image caption CBeebies Cymraeg includes Welsh language games and jigsaws featuring characters including the Teletubbies and the GoJetters.

Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish and Paul McCartney to play coronavirus benefit

April 25, 2020 – 9:48 am
Posted in Ep4Records Music
Tagged Alanis Morissette, BBC, BBC One, Billie Eilish, Coronavirus outbreak, Culture, Green Day, Infectious diseases, J Balvin, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Lady Gaga, Lizzo, Media, Music, Paul McCartney, Stephen Colbert, Stevie Wonder, Television & radio, US news, world health organization, World news
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One World: Together at Home, streamed live on 18 April, will support UN response fund

Lady Gaga is to curate One World: Together at Home, a live-streamed and televised benefit concert in support of the World Health Organizations Covid-19 solidarity response fund and in celebration of health workers around the world.

The lineup includes Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas, Lizzo, J Balvin, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Alanis Morissette, Burna Boy, Andrea Bocelli, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Elton John, John Legend, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban and Lang Lang.

The US talk show hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert will host the event, which broadcasts live across the US television networks ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as being streamed online, at 8pm EST on 18 April.

BBC One will show an adapted version of the concert on 19 April, including exclusive performances from UK artists and interviews with frontline health workers. The details of the broadcast are yet to be announced.

Other celebrities expected to appear include David Beckham, Idris and Sabrina Elba, Kerry Washington, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Shah Rukh Khan and Sesame Street cast members.

The WHO and the social action platform Global Citizen have partnered to produce the event. The latters Together at Home series, launched last month, has featured performances from artists in isolation including Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello and Rufus Wainwright.

In a WHO press conference, Lady Gaga said she had helped to raise $35m (28m) for Global Citizen in the past week. She clarified that One World was not a fundraising telethon and would focus on entertainment and messages of solidarity, with philanthropists and businesses urged to donate to the Covid-19 solidarity response fund ahead of the event.

The WHOs general director, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said:We may have to be apart physically for a little while, but we can still come together virtually to enjoy great music. The One World: Together at Home concert represents a powerful show of solidarity against a common threat.

This article was amended on 6 April 2020. Lady Gaga stated that philanthropists and businesses were being urged to donate to the organisation, rather than fans as an earlier version said. This has been corrected.

Pubs turn to punters to survive lockdown

Image caption Barge East in Hackney Wick is one of several venues subject to a crowdfunding appeal

Pubs and restaurants around the UK are turning to crowdfunding websites to survive the lockdown.

Village locals and inner-city craft beer bars are among those asking for pledges of up to £30,000.

Nick Antona, chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), said many venues have had to become takeaways or shops to pay the bills.

But some, faced with rent, rates and cellars of lost stock, are having to ask for help as a last resort.

The BBC found at least 15 active appeals on the website Crowdfunder.co.uk raising funds for pubs, restaurants and music venues to help them through the lockdown, though there are likely to be dozens more.

Some are using other sites such as GoFundMe, or are launching donation schemes locally.

‘We will get through this’

Image caption Tommo Thomson, Ryan Craig and Robert Bland of the Barge East have raised £32,000 so far.

Barge East, a floating pub and restaurant in Hackney Wick, has carved out a reputation as one of London’s top-rated venues on Trip Advisor.

But co-owner ‘Tommo’ Thomson said it would only survive until June without some form of emergency funding.

He and his two business partners launched an appeal the day after pubs were closed on 23 March.

Since then, the venue has raised £32,000 in just under a month, £5,000 more than the target.

“It really has helped secure our future,” said Mr Thomson, 34. “It means that, providing this crisis doesn’t go on for the next year, we will survive as a business – we will get through this.”

Those pledging will effectively receive vouchers for use in the restaurant on a 19th Century Dutch barge.

But other “gifts” are available for those pledging more. For £500, the head chef will cook at a house for up to six people.

Crowdfunding during the pandemic

The word “covid” appeared more than any other in a sample of 1,000 titles of appeals hosted on the Crowdfunder website.

People have been turning to crowdfunding sites to help raise money for the NHS, most notably 99-year-old Captain Tom Moore, who raised tens of millions of pounds through Just Giving, but there are also lots of requests for funding to help “save” businesses and venues or help them “survive”.

Over £7m has been raised by projects during the COVID-19 lockdown – £3m of that by small businesses through the site’s Pay it Forward scheme. This encourages people to buy products or vouchers in advance and claim them when the business reopens.

Mr Antona said about 2,000 pubs across the country have moved to “effectively becoming off-licences or takeaway restaurants”.

Some, particularly those with an on-site micro-brewery, were even thriving during the pandemic by delivering produce.

“Unfortunately, others have had to resort to things like crowdfunding to keep money coming in and pay the bills,” said Mr Antona.

“If people are there to support their local pubs it’s a great initiative – and it really goes to show how much we love our pubs.”

The 15 pubs around the UK contained in the sample are asking for £296,000 worth of funding.

As of last week, their combined campaigns had amassed £97,672.

Cities around the country, including Bristol, Manchester and Newcastle, have launched voucher schemes to try to encourage people to buy meal and drink tokens for use when the lockdown lifts.

But some smaller communities around the UK face losing their only public building if their local pub does not survive.

‘This is our life, our home’

Image caption Bradley and Charlotte Marchant were on course for their best trading year at the Abinger Hatch.

Bradley and Charlotte Marchant, who run the Abinger Hatch in Surrey, were on course to have their best trading year since taking over in 2018.

Their pub is the centre of village life in Abinger Common, which sits miles away from the nearest shop.

However, the lockdown has forced the couple to ask for a month’s worth of costs – £16,000 – through Crowdfunder.

“For my wife and I this is our life, this is our home,” said Mr Marchant, 30. “We live above the pub and we love being part of the community.

“We’ve gone from having a good income to having nothing coming through the door.”

As it stands the couple are still shy of the £16,000 they are hoping for and their premises is just too large to apply for the government’s £25,000 supporting loan.

Though they have started a food home delivery service using their suppliers, the venture is just covering costs.

Even with their 17 staff on furlough, the couple say they can only last until the end of May without support.

“We get new emails coming though every time there is a new donation and it has made us cry nearly every time,” said Mr Marchant.

“A name will pop up and we will say ‘I know that person’. The support has been amazing.”

The rules of the Crowdfunder site require a campaign to reach its project total or the funds are not paid.

‘It’s come at the worst time’

Image caption James and Debra Bolam need to raise £10,000 to help the Cottage Inn re-stock after the lockdown.

On the Northumberland coastline, James and Debra Bolam are hoping to raise £10,000 to see The Cottage Inn through the lockdown.

The pub in Dunstan village relies largely on passing holiday trade through the summer season.

“The lockdown has come at the worst possible time,” said Mrs Bolam, 55. “We were fully booked up on our rooms from mid-March through to June.

“The Easter period usually kicks off our finances for the year, but we have lost all of that.”

The Bolams also find themselves with a premises that is too large to apply for any discretionary help through the government while their insurance policy only covers outbreaks of a small range of infectious illnesses.

They are about £9,000 short of their total and are seeing their utility bills and rent stack up.

All of their cellar beer will have to be returned before they reopen as it will be out of date.

“We have to make this work as this is our home as well as our business. We will hang on as best as we can but we will have difficulty re-stocking before opening again.”

How Liam Payne and Alesso made a video in lockdown

Liam Payne and Alesso managed to record their new single Midnight before coronavirus restrictions came in across Europe and the US.

Unfortunately they didn’t make a music video before lockdown – but they decided not to let social distancing get in the way of that.

Liam got on the phone to Conor Butler, a video producer who’s made behind-the-scenes videos for him in the past.

“It would have been easier for us to make a lyric video,” 25-year-old Conor tells Radio 1 Newsbeat from his home in Bradford.

“But being a creative type, I thought it’d be really good if we could come together and get some sort of content for this.”

This is what they came up with.

Conor spoke to Alesso’s team in Los Angeles and Liam in London.

Making music videos usually involves long days and big budgets – but this one was a much simpler process.

There was one person holding the camera in Alesso’s studio and another at Liam’s house – both the people they are in lockdown with.

Image caption Liam Payne on his balcony in a London

Conor was giving directions to the two musicians on the end of the phone.

“You have to lose an aspect of control at that point and put the responsibility in other people’s hands a little bit,” he explains.

“I was quite excited just to see what was going to come back when the shots had been done, because you are not physically there to see how each one looks.”

When it came to what fans would see in the video, Conor only had their two houses to play with. He’s good friends with Liam, so knew the layout of his house.

“I didn’t know the layout of Alesso’s home but with him being a producer I assumed he must have a studio,” he explained.

“So I just kept sending messages and having phone calls with ideas for imagery, like having Alesso dancing to the song and playing with buttons in the studio.

“I wanted to see him producing a song so it felt as real as possible.”

That was how both Alesso and Liam wanted it to feel too – authentic, but not too glossy.

Image caption Alesso’s studio is still pretty glamourous

But even though there are no exotic locations in the video, pop-star houses tend to be quite nice and the video is still a polished production.

“It just needed to feel real, like they made the track and then they couldn’t get out the house so the both came together to make a video the best they could,” Conor says.

It took about a week to turn the music video around and get it onto YouTube.

“I think the message was to try and stay focused and stay creative without all this bringing a halt to your creative workflow,” he adds.

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Estate in row over ‘shadowy’ dossier on opponents

Image caption Opponents to the sale of land have been listed with their personal interests in an estate document

A cash-strapped country estate selling land for housing has compiled a “shadowy list” of personal information on objectors, it has emerged.

The list of Save Dartington members included information on personal relationships and interests.

Save Dartington accused the Dartington Hall estate in Devon of “becoming increasingly paranoid” about those opposed to the sale of land.

The trust, which accepted it was a trust document, declined to comment.

Image caption In 2019 the trust listed a number of measures to try and balance the books

The Dartington Hall estate, a centre for learning, ecology and the arts, was created in 1925 when American heiress Dorothy Elmhirst and husband Leonard bought the 1,200 acres of land and buildings dating back to the 14th Century.

In 2019 the Dartington Hall Trust said it was losing about £8,000 a day and listed a number of measures to try to balance the books.

Among the measures was the sale of parcels of land for housing, which has attracted opposition from campaigners Save Dartington.

In a document seen by campaigners, more than 20 members were listed alongside details of where they lived, membership of organisations such as local authorities and other groups including Extinction Rebellion.

Other lines attached to some members included information about personal relationships, where they went to school, former workplaces, interests and activities such as music, art and a gym membership.

Image caption Dorothy Elmhirst and husband Leonard bought the land and historic buildings in 1925

Rob Hopkins, from Save Dartington, said: “I feel really sad that somehow in the culture at the top of that organisation they would prefer to make shadowy lists of our members than to really listen.

“They are sitting in a bunker becoming increasingly paranoid about the people that oppose them.

“It also raises important questions of how people’s personal data is managed and if it was made available to staff, which is quite troubling.”

The estate told staff in February that since the announcement about its financial situation in 2019, “savings of over £1m have been made”.

The indie veteran inspired by Covid-19

Image caption Momus says he experienced the symptoms of a mild case of Covid-19

Singer-songwriter Momus has nearly completed an album of songs written during, and about, the Covid-19 lockdown while recovering from a suspected case of coronavirus.

The Scottish indie musician usually operates at the margins but says the outbreak “puts us all in the same state of existential anguish”.

Nick Currie – who has made music under the alias Momus for more than 30 years – had just finished the first track from his forthcoming album when he started experiencing symptoms of coronavirus.

“Having heard accounts of people who have been through very mild cases, they have had the same symptoms as me – the chills, the fever, the lack of appetite, the raging thirst,” he says.

“At that moment, I was very scared. I really thought – this is it – and started anticipating all the RIP Momus messages people would be posting.”

‘Intense moment’

He spent seven days in bed in his adopted home of Berlin recovering from his illness.

Social media has been full of musicians playing live from their living rooms during the lockdown and a trickle of individual songs have been penned about the pandemic.

But, when he started feeling better, Momus began work on a whole album charting his own and the world’s progress since the day his illness struck on 17 March.

“This is an amazingly intense moment for the whole of mankind and, for a marginal artist like me, it is an extraordinary opportunity to be on the same page as everyone else, to experience what everyone else is experiencing,” he says.

Momus has released 33 albums and published eight books during his career, but the closest he has come to a UK hit was when The Hairstyle of the Devil reached number 94 in the singles chart in 1989.

Image caption Momus has been writing and recording for more than 30 years

“I’m always topical. I’ve been writing about Brexit for the last four years. I think the main difference this time is the emotional resonance,” he says.

“Brexit was very divisive, but Covid-19 puts us all in the same state of existential anguish.”

The song he had written, recorded and released before he started showing symptoms was titled Oblivion, which he described as “a statement of absolute pessimism”.

“It is funny to think that, if indeed this really was Covid-19, the virus was already in me when I made that song and, in a sense, the virus was singing that song Oblivion – and it really does sound like that,” he says.

Since his illness, he has written 11 more songs in the space of 23 days – starting with Optimism, a melancholy track about his own recovery.

‘A very vivid experience’

Other songs include Empty Paris, which explores Europe’s deserted city streets under lockdown, Self-Isolation, Working From Home, Movement and My Corona.

He plans to call the album Vivid, and says: “It has been a very vivid experience, for better or for worse. It is quite extraordinary how a confrontation with your own mortality focuses the mind.”

Momus says the “science fiction” of his lyrics has very quickly turned into “science fact”.

“My visions are extending about three days into the future,” he says.

“Once you had to wait months to release a record and you could never be sure that it would still be relevant when it came out.

“Now, the exact hour and minute you hit ‘publish’ on YouTube can make all the difference.”

Momus usually accompanies his songs with videos often made in his living-room or kitchen, so in some respects the current situation is largely business as usual.

“Shopping, sight-seeing, these things are fun to pass the time when you don’t have anything else to do, but when you really love your work and you can do your work alone at home, social isolation in your apartment is kind of wonderful.”

In pictures: Isolation portraits over the internet

As the lockdown started to take hold, photographer Fran Monks, like many freelancers, found her paid commissions were being postponed. But she really wanted to document this extraordinary time where so many are isolated at home and so set about using her skills as a portrait photographer.

“My professional aim is to use portraiture to celebrate the undercelebrated,” Monks says.

“During this lockdown, everyone who is social distancing is playing an important role.

“And I wanted to highlight that.

“We are all communicating a lot more on video calls.

“And I had long considered this as a potentially interesting way to photograph people.”

Monks began by photographing her subjects over the internet, initially with them quite close to their devices, but slowly began to realise it was much more interesting to include more of the environment in the picture.

“I have to collaborate with people, asking them to position their laptop or tablet on the other side of the room while I direct them from a far,” she says.

“It is a really fun way to work, although bandwidth, webcams and light all present big challenges.

“I decided that I would make the final image by photographing the screen, because I like the strange artefacts which appear.

“Even though the images are made by layer upon layer of digital process, I enjoy the fact that the black border of the computer screen is somewhat reminiscent of a darkroom print from a negative.

“This is Abi on day one of social distancing.

“At the start of the week, she was on a course about the art of social engagement, at University of the Arts (UAL).

“But that obviously got curtailed.

“And now she’s at home with her eight-year-old, getting used to the new reality.

“Teresa is 81.

“She lives on her own in Edinburgh and was not looking forward to having to social distance.

“It was great to get her using Facetime and to connect in this way.

“We will all be needing to do more of this over the months to come.

“And it’s great to feel that while some parts of our lives are shrinking, others can expand.

“Jeb had already been social distancing for about a month before the complete lockdown.

“This is because he is in a vulnerable group and also, as a self-professed Twitterholic, has been reading about the severity of the corona crisis for quite some time.

“Jeb is 68 and retired.

“He used to be a freelance programmer, so says that he would often spend lots of time at home, alone, in front of a computer screen.

“This is Caspar, who had already limited his social contact before the lockdown started in the UK.

“Caspar is working on two new books at the moment.

“One is about the transformation to the zero-carbon economy.

“He had lots of meetings and fieldtrips set up over coming months and they’ve all had to be postponed.

“As a writer, he’s quite used to social isolation.

“But he was looking forward to getting out into the world for a change.

“This is Amelia, who I photographed in her attic in Spain.

“She is British but moved to Spain about two years ago.

“Amelia has a five-year-old and a three-year-old, so the pace at home is fairly relentless.

“Social distancing is a huge challenge to all world-class opera singers, like Dan, with theatres everywhere closed.

“Dan says he’s had a surge of creativity since having to be at home, because lots of performances were postponed or cancelled.

“He’s working on ways to bring opera to a digital audience by helping separated singers to sing together.

“This is Anne, an artist who has had all her upcoming art projects in the community postponed but is thankful that she is also working on a history MA [Master of Arts degree] so can keep herself busy with her studies.

“We had an amusing time placing her laptop in lots of different locations around her flat before finally settling on this kitchen portrait.

“I keep wondering whether it will change how I practise in the real world once we are allowed out again.

“This is my lovely friend Kate, doing her morning pyjama yoga.

“Not only is Kate a yoga teacher but she is also an expert in palliative care, a music therapist, wonderful singer and knows a lot about breath and breathlessness.

“She has all the skills needed in a pandemic lockdown, to be honest.

“This is Kawsar, the proprietor of one of my favourite Oxford restaurants, The Standard Indian.

“I photographed him via Zoom and the help of a very precariously balanced laptop.

“Once the government required that all restaurants closed, The Standard tried a couple of nights of takeaway service and then decided that the safest thing for the community was to close down completely.

“This is Niki.

“He was a great sport, even at the end of three weeks in isolation from his family.

“It had been a really tough time.

“Not only had he been feeling really sick but two of his work associates, who contracted the virus at the same time, had been even sicker.

“They had both ended up on ventilators in hospital.

“Fortunately, everyone is now on the mend.

“Sally lives in Clerkenwell.

“And although she normally works from home one day a week, her company asked them to work from home all the time, before the lockdown started.

“She is inside pretty much all of the time and only goes out for a half-hour walk, at the end of the day.

“This is Tom.

“He’s a conductor.

“Basically, 2020 has been cancelled for him workwise and will now, all being well, happen in 2021.”

All photographs courtesy Fran Monks.

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