Frankie Lyall (5), her mother Sonia Lyall (not pictured) has been confined to her home on the Byker estate with her three children. A single mother on benefits, she has struggled with home-schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. In order to print out homework she was required to buy a printer and ink for GBP 150 which ate into the family's already meagre budget.

The Byker community has been blighted by the impact of decades of unemployment and underinvestment. Earlier this month figures released by the Office for National Statistics found the north-east of England had become the area with the highest proportion of deaths linked to COVID-19, with a rate double that of London. And there are fears the economic aftershock could be even more severe.