RESIDENTS will get the chance to help pen a new book revealing how they are coping with the coronavirus lockdown.

Kate Bartlett is set to deliver an empty 134-page diary to a random home in Braintree tomorrow and has ask the recipient to write about their own experience of being in isolation.

After filling a page with their story, the resident will then be asked to pass the book on to another random home in the town.

The process will continue until all the pages are filled and the diary will then be returned to Kate, who is hoping to publish the book when it is finished.

She said: “If everyone gets involved, there will be stories of 134 people that have lived through this pandemic and one day perhaps a much younger generation will get to read true-life encounters of a nation that survived a pandemic.

“Obviously I’m trusting the last person to fill in the final page can get the book back to me.

“If nothing else it’s a way for whoever receives the book to write down their thoughts and feelings at a time some may feel very alone.”

She added: “I hope it keeps on being random.

“It’s up to each person who gets the book to drop it on another doorstep and so on.

“If anyone is unable to get out they could ask the postman to drop it at a door or text me and I’ll go collect it and pass it on for them on my daily walk.”

Kate came up with the idea after being unable to sleep one night during the lockdown.

She provides care for her husband Mick and admits they have both found the past few weeks difficult.

Kate said: “Like everyone, we are finding it all quite scary and at times very lonely. We miss our family and our friends dearly.

“I was thinking of putting our own story in there but I didn’t want to use a page that someone else may really need at this lonely time.

“I’m trusting 134 different people to write something that in decades to come will be of interest to those who wanted a true insight of life during a pandemic.”

Anyone not wishing not to write in the diary is asked to pass it on to another house or use the contact details in the book to get in touch with Kate.