Every Story Matters

The Inquiry has published a summary of the listening exercise, Every Story Matters, alongside an open letter from Ben Connah, Secretary to the Inquiry.

These are available to read via the official Covid-19 Inquiry website which can be accessed here.

Every Story Matters is the chosen mechanism to provide an opportunity for individuals to tell the Covid-19 Inquiry about their experiences of the pandemic. To support the Inquiry’s investigations and help the Chair of the Inquiry make recommendations for the future, by providing evidence about the human impact of the pandemic on the UK population.

The Inquiry has stated that every story shared will be anonymised and analysed before being turned into themed reports. These reports will be submitted to each relevant Module as evidence. They will be used to identify trends and themes, as well as particular experiences, which will contribute to the Inquiry’s investigations and findings.

For those who cannot use the online form to share their story alternatives will be made available – including paper versions and a telephone line. It has been announced that members of the Inquiry team will also be travelling across the UK so that individuals can share their experiences in person at community events.

The inquiry has stated that new form has been designed to incorporate the following feedback from people across the UK:

• There are text boxes to enable people to tell us their story in their own words.
• Personal details such as names and addresses cannot be shared, however there is a survey section which asks for demographic and other information such as their age range, gender and postcode. With more information, the Inquiry aim to better identify trends and regional differences.
• Participants can save the form and continue later if they want to take a break or reflect.
• There will be a “Check your answers” page which will aide amendments before submission.
• Inquiry have revised the categories for experience so they are clearer and include new topics such as pregnancy.
• A new “Are you ok?” feature will appear after 10 minutes of inactivity which will include a link to support organisations.