Lifestyle

31 Mar 2020

The Coutts guide to getting through lockdown

From the 80 best novels of all time to the 70 best films of all time, read our handy guides to help you get through the coronavirus outbreak.

5 min read

handy guides to keep you busy

Coutts Concierge ordinarily helps Coutts Silk cardholders with everything from restaurant bookings to travel arrangements. But during this unprecedented period, we’re making available to all our clients – whether Silk cardholders or not – a range of handy guides from our concierge partners at Ten Lifestyle Group. We hope they help keep you and your loved ones active, entertained and happy.

Here’s what’s already available – click on the link to see each guide – and more will be published over the coming weeks. You can also find out more about how we’re supporting clients and working to minimise any disruption to our service during these challenging times by clicking here.

Entertaining your children at home

Making the most of your outdoor space

The best streamable stand-up, musicals, sport and more

The 80 best novels of all time

The 70 best films of all time

The 30 best video games of all time

The must-have home fitness accessories

The best grocery deliveries across the UK

Food and travel: Cornwall

food and travel: Norfolk and Suffolk

a staycation guide to the cotswolds

the top five staycations close to london

a staycation guide to the new forest

James Clarry, Chief Operating Officer at Coutts, says, “First and foremost we are focused on supporting our clients’ financial needs, ensuring we are in a position to continue to provide our banking, lending and investing services at this difficult time. But we are more than just a bank and we take great pride in the various, additional ways we can support them, enhancing their lives beyond their finances. The helpful guides Coutts Concierge has made widely available are a great example of this."

Six ways to beat the stay-at-home blues

A selection of top tips to keep boredom at bay, taken from Ten’s guides

1) Turn your young one into a household scientist

Your home is full of simple ingredients perfect for household ‘experiments’. Look around for the elements you need to make, for example, an indoor volcano (soap, white vinegar, baking soda, food colouring and water).

2) Grow your own fruit and vegetables

Think about planting your own herbs, fruit and vegetables. Not only can it be extremely rewarding, it can also reduce your shopping list.

3) See some stand-up

Need cheering up? Multi-award winning comedian Sarah Millican’s fourth stand-up show, Outsider Live, is streaming on Amazon Prime. Hear her frank take on morning routines, bonding with your cat and being the lady of the house.

4) Read a classic

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley all feature in Ten’s best novels list. Whether you’ve read them before or are delving into them for the first time, now’s definitely a good time to get lost in a good book.

5) Watch The Shawshank Redemption

Possibly the most uplifting film ever made, even if it is set amid the cold, grey walls of a prison. A film about hope, friendship and…well…redemption, this’ll fill a couple of hours very nicely and leave you feeling warm inside.

6) Slay a monster

Videogame The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, lauded by critics, is a fantastic way to lose yourself in another world for many, many hours. Based on the novels of Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski, you play as genetically-modified monster hunter Geralt of Rivia. And if you like it, you can stream the Netflix adaptation too. (Caution – contains violence, adults only).

We’re committed to supporting clients who may be affected by coronavirus and have robust plans in place to minimise any disruption to our service.

Find out more here