Archive

Tag: take action

Support Merlows

Help keep independent journalism alive.

Tees, commemorative coins, gift vouchers and supporter memberships. Every order goes straight back into fearless, on-the-ground reporting.

Shop & Support Us
BlitzSpirit 9 Dec 2025 Carry On4 min

The Quiet Strength of Keeping a Journal Through Hard Times

BlitzSpirit: How writing through adversity – from wartime diaries to modern resilience journals – helps us carry on. The chipped Formica table held a chipped mug, lukewarm tea, and a small, blue notebook. It’s 1941, London. Air raid sirens wail in the distance, a familiar, dreadful song. Elsie, a young woman working as a telephone […]

Read Dispatch
BlitzSpirit 29 Nov 2025 Carry On4 min

Your Part to Play: Reviving the ‘Make Do and Mend’ Spirit

BlitzSpirit: How community repair cafés embody a wartime ethic of resilience and resourcefulness. The air raid siren’s wail was a call not just to shelter, but to ingenuity. When bombs rained down, supply chains fractured, and new goods became scarce, Britain didn’t simply crumble. It made do. From patching clothes with salvaged fabric to repairing […]

Read Dispatch
BlitzSpirit 24 Nov 2025 Carry On5 min

Passing It On: The Quiet Resilience of Skills & Mentorship

BlitzSpirit: How the spirit of wartime ingenuity lives on through sharing practical knowledge with the next generation. The blackout was absolute. Not just the absence of streetlights, but a creeping darkness that seemed to press in from all sides. But within the gloom, life continued. Makeshift repairs to bombed-out homes, ingenious solutions for rationing, digging […]

Read Dispatch
BlitzSpirit 19 Nov 2025 Carry On5 min

Dimming the Lights, Strengthening the Spirit: Wartime Habits for a Modern Energy Crisis

BlitzSpirit: How lessons learned during blackouts and rationing offer surprising solutions for today’s energy challenges. The air raid siren’s wail. The sudden, swallowing darkness. Not a terror of bombs, but a practised routine. During the Second World War, Britain didn’t just fight a war against darkness; it embraced a deliberate dimming. Blackouts weren’t simply about […]

Read Dispatch
BlitzSpirit 14 Nov 2025 Carry On4 min

Make Do and Mend: Wartime Resourcefulness in a Throwaway Culture

BlitzSpirit: From Utility to Upcycling – reviving a lost art of resourceful living. The chipped floral teacup, carefully glued. The patched woollen jumper, a testament to nimble fingers and dwindling supplies. These weren’t signs of poverty during the Second World War, but badges of honour. In a nation facing shortages and rationing, ‘Make Do and […]

Read Dispatch
BlitzSpirit 9 Nov 2025 Carry On4 min

When the Lines Went Quiet: Neighbourly Networks in Wartime & Beyond

BlitzSpirit: Reclaiming a lost art of local connection in an age of isolation. The air raid siren’s wail. A familiar, terrifying sound. But what came after the all-clear? Beyond the rubble and the rescue efforts, a quieter, almost invisible network sprang into action. Not a formal organisation, but something woven from necessity and neighbourliness: the […]

Read Dispatch
BlitzSpirit 4 Nov 2025 Carry On5 min

When the Waters Rise: Remembering Britain’s Flood Resilience

BlitzSpirit: Beyond ‘Keep Calm’ – preparing for, and helping neighbours through, the inevitable. The rain lashed against the windowpane, a relentless drumming that echoed the rising anxiety. Not for bombs this time, but for water. Images flickered across the news: submerged streets in Hull, sandbag walls straining in Somerset, families evacuated from their homes in […]

Read Dispatch
BlitzSpirit 30 Oct 2025 Carry On5 min

Plant a Tree, Remember a Loss: The Quiet Resilience of Wartime Gardens

BlitzSpirit: How digging for victory bloomed into a lasting act of remembrance and renewal. The photograph is grainy, black and white. A woman, sleeves rolled up, is carefully transplanting a seedling in what was once a perfectly manicured lawn. Behind her, smoke still curls from bomb damage, a stark reminder of the night before. It’s […]

Read Dispatch
BlitzSpirit 25 Oct 2025 Carry On5 min

Strength in Silence: Remembering Those Who Endured on Remembrance Sunday

BlitzSpirit: Beyond the poppy, a moment to reflect on collective grief and quiet resilience. The November air bites with a chill that feels, on Remembrance Sunday, less seasonal and more…historical. Standing amongst the hushed crowds gathered around a war memorial, you notice it isn’t necessarily the grand pronouncements or military displays that hold the weight […]

Read Dispatch
×
×
Install Merlows Add to your home screen for the full app experience.