Calls for official Covid-19 memorial wall custodian

Saturday is set to be a poignant day for families whose loved ones are remembered on the national Covid-19 memorial wall in London.

It will be four years since the first heart was painted on the wall, and a woman from Stoke-on-Trent is among those who have been calling for an official custodian to be appointed to take care of it to ensure the hearts do not fade.

Lynn Jones lost her husband Gareth during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.

A government spokesperson has confirmed they were working on plans for the future of the wall.

Mr Jones was a former headteacher at Ormiston Meridian Academy. He was also credited with helping to turn around a host of failing schools over a 40-year career.

He was admitted to the Royal Stoke University Hospital in January 2021 and died in March. He was aged 66.

"There was a real outpouring of grief for Gareth in Stoke-on-Trent," Ms Jones said.

"He made the children believe in themselves. He believed in them, and it was no effort to him; it just came naturally."

She is one of a group of bereaved people who call themselves Friends of the Wall, who help to maintain the unique site that stretches for 500m alongside the River Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament.

There are more than 240,000 individually hand-painted red hearts on the wall, each representing a person who died in the UK linked to Covid-19.

Many of the hearts have individual messages written by the bereaved or by the volunteers who are there every week.

In the early days of her grief, Ms Jones said she found solace there.

"I just thought, 'I need to be here', really, because this is the only place people will actually understand," she said.

Ms Jones went to the capital earlier this month for the fifth anniversary commemorations of the pandemic lockdown.

Friends of the Wall wants an official custodian to be appointed to look after the wall to ensure the heart shapes painted on it do not fade.

"It would be an incredible legacy that the names were still there and that we were part of it," Ms Jones said.

The fact the wall is in view of the Houses of Parliament is a powerful reminder to those running the country, she added.

"Governments have to be careful about decisions because there are consequences."

The Department for Digital, Media, Culture & Sport confirmed they were aware there was a recommendation to preserve the wall.

A spokesperson said: "The government recognises the significance of the National Covid Memorial Wall in London and its special role in supporting bereaved families to remember their loved ones.

"The government is working closely with local partners - including the Friends of the Wall - to consider options for the longer-term preservation of the wall."

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