People across Scotland will fall silent to remember those lost to Covid or affected by the pandemic.
A minute's silence will be held at Scotland’s Covid Memorial to mark the third anniversary of the first national lockdown.
It is part of the Marie Curie National Day of Reflection. Members of the public will gather at the memorial in the grounds of Glasgow’s Pollok Country Park at 12 noon on Thursday, March 23.
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They will be joined by Covid memorial artist Alec Finlay and Scotland's Makar Kathleen Jamie.
It comes as work on the national memorial has been completed. The official opening of the first phase of the memorial at the Riverside Grove, close to Pollok House, was held last May.
The event on Thursday is an open invite welcoming anyone affected by the pandemic whether it be the loss of a loved one from Covid or other illnesses, those maybe living with Long Covid or those who seeking healing, to attend.
The Herald initiated and led the campaign to create Scotland’s Covid memorial and Glasgow City Council stepped forward with the offer of Pollok Country Park as a location.
Following the setting up of a steering group, artist and poet Mr Finlay was invited to create the memorial and his vision was I remember: Scotland’s Covid Memorial which is a series of wooden tree supports formed from physical poses of people affected by the pandemic.
He also reached out to people to submit an I remember, a single sentence prompt which allowed people to think about how the impact the pandemic had on them and he received hundreds in response.
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Scotland’s Makar will be joining our artist on the day to read out some of the poignant I remember passages following the minute’s silence. A memorial walk will also be led from Riverside Grove which is connected by supports on the Ash Road, to a second focal point at Birch Grove.
Makar Kathleen Jamie, who was appointed as the national poet in August 2021, said: “For those people who wrote the I remembers, they might not have thought of them as poems, but they are poetic impulse, when we stop and think about language and hold off for a minute.
“When they think about the phrase and they are satisfied by the phrasing of it, that is the way poetry works. So they are like minuscule poems.”
A total of 40 supports will form a memorial walk throughout the park and are linked to audio of I Remember passages that were recorded by actor Robert Carlyle and which are accessible from QR codes on supports.
The Herald initiated and led the campaign to create Scotland’s Covid memorial. A public fund was set up following an initial £5,000 donation from a company in memory of Jim Russell, from Glasgow, who died from Covid in May 2020.
Glasgow City Council stepped forward with the offer of a home for the memorial in Pollok Country Park and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon backed the campaign, saying it would ensure a “fitting and lasting tributes to every life lost to Covod-19 and other illnesses during the pandemic”.
Working with our partner greenspace scotland, a charity and social enterprise that promotes green networks and spaces, an advisory panel was set up that recommended the appointment of artist and poet Mr Finlay.
In May last year, we opened the first phase of the memorial, a series of tree supports that form a memorial walk.
It was attended by Deputy First Minister John Swinney, who reflected in his remarks at the opening of the National Covid Memorial, saying the concept of the memorial “will help us through the recovery.”
The Herald campaign received generous donations from the Scottish Government, The Hunter Foundation, City Charitable Trust, The Watson Foundation, and the Freemasons of Glasgow.
Anyone wishing to attend the minute’s silence on Thursday, March 23 should arrive for 11.45am for 12noon. Some parking is available at the Riverside car park, close to Pollok House, by accessing the park from the Lochinch Road entrance.
For more information on how to access Pollok Country Park go to https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/pollokcountrypark
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