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Virtual hangouts, online tutorials and remote raves: ways to stay connected while social distancing

By Holly O'Mahony on 13/4/2020

Events have been cancelled, mass gatherings are suspended and the government is strongly recommending social distancing where possible. But in times of self-isolation, we’ll crave the company of others more than ever to keep our morale up and our anxiety levels down. The good news is, no sooner were the new restrictions brought into place than a spate of new initiatives popped up to help us socialise online.
From online choirs to Netflix parties, kitchen raves to virtual wine tasting (with very real samples!), your new online social life awaits.

The online comedy club: Comedy at The Covid Arms

Hosted by comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Comedy at The Covid Arms is your answer to live(ish) comedy in the times of social distancing. The inaugural virtual gig on 28 March raised more than £13,500 for The Trussell Trust, a charity committed to ending hunger and poverty in the UK, and was watched by 3,000 people. Since then, it’s become a weekly event – held via Zoom at 7PM on Saturday evenings – with big names on the comedy circuit including Aisling Bea, Nish Kumar and Mark Watson taking part from their living rooms. To laugh along from your own sofa, all you need to do is donate as little as £2, and a link to the event will be sent to you an hour or so before it begins.

Virtual wine tasting: Quality Wines

Quality Wines in Farringdon is hosting regular online wine tasting sessions via Instagram Live. Participants must order the wines in advance (by Thursday at 8pm to be delivered by the following Friday or Saturday). If you miss the deadline, check out the company’s Instagram Story for recommended bottles with similar taste notes. Times and dates of the various wine tasting events will also be posted here. Then, all that's left to do is tune in for an evening of virtual wine tasting from the comfort of your home. Cheers to that!

Online bingo: Bongo’s Bingo

Self-described as ‘the original bingo rave’, Bongo’s Bingo can be credited for taking the oldies’ favourite night out and repackaging it for millennials (with more drinking, music and raucous entertainment). While live events are off the cards for now, you can still play along online – free – via Twitch.tv. All you need is a mobile phone, a pen and some paper. Dates are announced via Bongo’s Bingo Instagram page and shows usually begin at 8pm. And the line-up? Expect the usual medley of quizzes, sing-a-longs and, of course, plenty of chances to scream ‘bingo!’.

Digital baking tutorials: Bread Ahead

Gourmet bakery Bread Ahead is hosting daily baking workshops via Instagram Live in response to the social distancing restrictions. Led by Bread Ahead founder Matthew Jones and Manuel Monade, who oversaw the brand’s bakery school prior to the outbreak, the classes are held daily at 2pm, with the day’s recipe and list of ingredients released on Bread Ahead's Instagram Stories beforehand. The workshops offer the chance to make some of the bakery’s signature creations, from rosemary focaccia to cinnamon buns and those Insta-famous doughnuts.

The stay-at-home choir: The Sofa Singers

No sooner had the ban on mass gatherings come into place than vocal leader James Sills provided an answer for the thousands of Londoners who were members of recreational choirs: The Sofa Singers. The free online choir comes together once a week for 45 minutes of singing from the sofa, led by Sills, who acts as the choir’s conductor. The sessions are followed by a virtual tea break for those who want to stick around and socialise. The choir’s first meeting saw over 500 keen singers log on to learn a song together – a number only set to rise over the coming weeks.

Virtual speed dating: Speed Dater and Original Dating

Single? Your dating life doesn’t have to be put on hold just because you’re self-isolating. Two of London’s most popular speed-dating companies, Speed Dater and Original Dating, are now offering virtual speed-dating events via their websites. Much like their regular nights, events are categorised by age and city, with Original Dating taking things one step further and offering Londoners the chance to book onto events exclusive to those living in the north, south, east or west of the city, to keep things closer to home. Original Dating is more transparent, guaranteeing the chance to meet 10 to 15 people per speed-dating event. While both companies’ offerings are heavily weighted towards heterosexual events, Speed Dater also offers gay speed-dating nights. Speed Dater’s events cost £5-£10, while Original Dating charges £10-£15.

Online games nights

Thankfully, social distancing doesn’t mean an end to heated games nights, because many of your favourite board games can be played online. Whether you fancy an evening of clocking up properties in Monopoly, testing your vocabulary with a round of Scrabble, screaming Uno when you match a pair, or forming phrases that would make your mother wince in Cards Against Humanity, search your favourite games in the App store and invite fellow gamers to play along with you.

Home workouts: various

Even before the coronavirus outbreak, the online workout market was pretty well saturated. Instructions such as Adriene Mishler (Yoga with Adriene) and Joe Wicks (The Body Coach) have built their entire business models around online, at-home workouts, and have sizable followings around the world. The latter has even gone on to become the face of children's fitness during these times with his daily P.E. with Joe Wicks classes.

The recent closure of gyms up and down the country has seen many more instructors move their offering online. Our advice? If your regular classes and favourite instructors are offering their lessons online, do the right thing and support them – they’ll need your business over the coming weeks. But if you’re looking for new, inspiring online fitness lessons from world-class gyms, read on...

Instagram drawing tutorials: Luke Adam Hawker

London-based artist Luke Adam Hawker was offering tips and advice for sketching prominent London landmarks long before the virus hit. If your regular drawing class has been cancelled, or the extra time on your hands has spurred you on to set up an easel, check out his Instagram and find inspiration for drawing the likes of St Paul’s, the Electric Cinema in Soho or the trees in your local park.

Dance classes for over-55s: Royal Academy of Dance

In a bid to keep older citizens active and social, the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) has launched a weekly series of free online ballet classes, tailored for over-55s, bringing the group’s popular Silver Swans classes to the homes of millions across the UK. Classes are aired at 1pm on Wednesdays via RAD’s social media channels and are accompanied with a Spotify playlist to set the tone.

Virtual karaoke: Karafun

You can’t hit the karaoke bar right now, but there's nothing to stop you from creating one in your home instead. Whether you’re isolating with friends or using this alone time to practise belting out some tunes, karaoke app Karafun has you covered with its impressive catalogue of 35,000 songs. Find your favourites in categories ranging from 80s hits to Disney classics, or sing to your strengths with the app’s ranking of easy-to-sing songs for men or women. A party pass costs £4.99 and gives you unlimited access to the database – including on and offline playlists – for two days, while a monthly pass costs £6.99.

Remote movie nights: Netflix and Facebook Parties

Sitting in front of a screen can be lonely. Luckily, different viewing platforms are shaking things up to help recreate the sociable experience of watching something with friends, while you are in different places. A Netflix extension called Netflix Party makes the binge-watching experience communal by syncing the video playback for multiple viewers on different devices, while a group-chat function allows you to dissect the dramas unfolding on screen as they happen.

Facebook also has a function to mimic a movie night. Facebook Watch Party allows you to watch any public videos in real time with your friends.

Online pub quizzes: Goose’s Quizzes

Sorely missing your weekly pub quiz? You won’t be for long: Goose’s Quizzes in Edinburgh is live-streaming a pub-style quiz every night via Twitch. As well as offering a host of carefully curated rounds, the software allows players to engage in the usual pub quiz banter via a chat function. The quiz kicks off at 7pm every night, and players submit their answers via a Google Form answer sheet, with the results announced on the following night’s live-stream.

Virtual club nights: kitchen raves

Our desire to let our hair down at the end of the week doesn’t vanish just because we’re self-isolating – if anything, we’re craving a rave more than ever. And while we might not be partying in person right now, no one can stop us from dancing around the kitchen to our favourite club anthems while our friends do the same from the comfort of their own homes. Canadian DJ duo Blond:ish has launched Quaran:stream, a live-streaming of their mixes which can be enjoyed via Twitch. Meanwhile American DJ Diplo is streaming his sets via Youtube, Instagram and Twitch. Why not download the Houseparty app, or set up a Skype, Zoom or Facetime video call with your friends, so you can drink and dance together, remotely?

(Pictured: Diplo)