Spellman Care is inviting the local community to take part in a weekend of remembrance to mark the official COVID-19 Day of Reflection.
In a tribute to those lost during the pandemic, four care homes across the region will welcome residents, staff and families to share messages of remembrance on their ‘Walls of Hearts’.
The COVID-19 Day of Reflection is set to take place on Sunday 8th March, but Spellman Care have extended their event across the entire weekend.
Memorial displays will be placed by main entrances of each home, with messages attached to the glass so visitors can take part without entering the buildings. The care homes taking part include:
- Craven Nursing Home, Skipton
- Ghyll Royd Care Home, Guiseley
- Springbank Care Home, Silsden
- Steeton Court Nursing Home, Steeton
‘We look forward to coming together in kindness, sharing memories, and celebrating the lasting connections that unite us all,’ said a spokesperson for Spellman Care. ‘By placing these memorials by our front doors, we hope to allow everyone to participate in a way that feels most comfortable for them.’
News of the event follows the final set of Covid Inquiry hearings, which took place this week. Since it launched in 2023, the inquiry has taken oral evidence from 381 witnesses in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast and reviewed 60,000 documents from private diary entries to WhatsApp chats.
The final hearings, which took place in Dorland House in London, looked at the impact of the pandemic on society, including the closure of religious and sporting facilities and the treatment of vulnerable groups.
Matt Fowler, the co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK (CBFFJ), told The Guardian: ‘We will continue to fight for the inquiry’s recommendations to be implemented in full, and we will push back against the growing tide of conspiracy theorists that want to ignore the evidence and politicise saving lives.’
Between March 2020 and May 2023 – when the World Health Organisation declared an end to the health emergency – it was revealed more than 227,000 people died with Covid as a cause on their death certificate.
Naomi Fulop, whose 94-year-old mother died in January 2021 after contracting Covid from a home care worker who wasn’t wearing proper PPE, was among the individuals who gathered on the steps of Dorland House during the final hearings.
‘It’s very satisfying to have got the end of an inquiry we fought for,’ and the two reports vindicate what we’ve been saying for years, but there’s also sadness,’ she said to The Guardian. ‘It’s a big moment.
‘There are times when it has been very hard to listen to, but I want everything to be exposed, even if its painful. There are people who came every day. And this is absolutely not the end.’
Images: Spellman Care and Shutterstock
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