*”The National Covid Memorial Wall” London SE1-on the 5th Anniversary of the 1st Covid-19 Lockdown

*THE NATIONAL COVID MEMORIAL WALL*

This week was the 5^th Anniversary of the UK’s first Covid-19 Lockdown.

At 8:30pm on the 23^rd March 2000 the then UK Prime Minister ‘Boris Johnson’ ordered people to “stay at home” in an attempt to contain and minimalise the further spread of the Covid Pandemic ravaging the country – the instruction to the UK population was to “Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives”.

The British population was instructed to stay home, except for exercise once a day (such as running, walking or cycling), shopping for essential items, any medical need, providing care to a vulnerable person, or travelling to work where the work in question was vital and could not be done from home. Boris Johnson clarified to the nation that the stay-at-home order would be reviewed every three weeks.

As time progressed restrictions were gradually lifted – but not for long, as a 2^nd Lockdown commenced in November 2020 – and a 3^rd Lockdown was put in place in January 2021.

The most deaths attributed to Covid-19 reported on one single day, during the peak pf the pandemic, was on 19 January 2021, when 1,490 deaths were registered

In March 2021 – one year on from the 1^st Covid Lockdown – the campaign group “Led By Donkeys” were formed to help support the “Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice” –  and with the help of volunteers, they hand painted 150,000 red hearts along a third of a mile stretch of wall situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, that runs between Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Bridge–directly opposite the Houses of Parliament (ie the ‘Palace of Westminster’), situated on the other side of the River.

The purpose of the “The National Covid Memorial Wall” was for bereaved families to fill the hearts with messages to, and details of the loved ones that they had lost during the Covid pandemic – each heart being totally unique, just like the loved one lost.

No formal agreement or permission for this wall mural had been given by the local council or any Government department – but it ‘immediately’ gained widespread support and public recognition.

As soon as the ‘Covid Wall’ appeared, the Labour Party’s Keir Starmer the then leader of the opposition – undertook a highly publicised visit to the mural – demanding that Boris Johnson make a visit and engage face to face with the bereaved families. Boris Johnson did eventually visit the mural, for quiet reflection – but it was a late-night visit – an act that caused considerable criticism from the media and the bereaved families.

Today – there are over 240,000 individually painted red hearts on the ‘Covid Wall’– each one of them representing someone who (to date) – has died in the UK where Covid-19 has been mentioned on a death certificate.

The original hearts were all drawn and coloured in with art/felt pens – and, having been subjected to the weather from the London skies above throughout the past 5 years – has meant that a lot of the hearts and messages have started to fade – some more considerably than others.

To prevent some of the names and messages within each of the hearts being lost forever – a team of volunteers known as “Friends of the Wall” was created, and do a fantastic job looking after the mural.

‘Friends of the Wall’ team have all been bereaved because of the Covid-19 pandemic – and every Friday, armed with step ladders, pots of masonry paint and paint brushes etc – they undertake careful maintenance work on those hearts and messages that require a bit of touching up – and what an incredible and worthy job they do.

Understandably and quite rightly – the ‘Covid Wall’ has become one of London’s most visited landmarks, drawing people in not only from the British Isles, but also from all corners of the globe. It is a fitting tribute and memorial to those lost to Covid-19 at what was an unimaginable, unprecedented and unique time in history.

I consider myself very fortunate in that I never suffered the heartache and pain of losing any loved ones close to me, during the pandemic – but Iike most folk, I knew of people who were extremely ill from Covid-19 – and a few folk who sadly never made it through to the other side.

So – this week, with it being the 5^th Anniversary of the first Covid-19 Lockdown, I felt it only fitting that my London Shoes visit the ‘Covid Wall’ to pay my respects to the deceased and to take time to contemplate what was a unique period in history during my lifetime.

I have to be honest and say that I found actually physically being there at the ‘Covid Wall’– viewing the hearts and all the messages contained within them, an extremely emotional experience– far more powerful an emotion than I had expected – and when I got to the section of the Wall that was dedicated to unborn/unnamed babies – I was a complete and utter wreck.

Researching the background to the ‘Friends of the Wall’ group this morning, I came across, what I thought was a beautifully honest overview from someone who had lost their Dad to Covid-19…..and, for me, I think it perfectly sums up the importance of the existence of ‘Covid Wall’ – now, and forever (I quote) :-

“It’s a place of understanding, where everyone has felt heartache. It also feels like all our loved ones have been laid to rest together. I didn’t have the money for a fancy funeral, and never really had a place for my dad to rest. But with his heart on the wall, it’s a place of remembering for me.”

No amount of photographs could do justice to the importance and the power of the ‘National Covid Wall Memorial’ – but I have selected just a few from the many I took, to accompany this Shoes blog article – that I hope give you a feel the respect and emotion created by this poignant and ‘real’ landmark created by ‘real’ people – I just hope that it continues to do so.

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See below the entire gallery of photos taken to support this “National Covid Wall Memorial” blog article