Art installation unveiled in Brighton in memory of Covid victims

A memorial dedicated to those who have died from Covid-19 is being officially unveiled in Brighton.

Souls to Paradise takes the form of a giant flock of individually folded paper cranes - with each crane representing a life lost to the virus.

It all began when Brighton GP Dr Christa Beesley started folding cranes during the first lockdown.

"I was thinking about health and care colleagues who were lost during that time," she said.

Dr Beesley added: "It was a really hard time for all of it, wasn't it?"

In ancient Japanese culture, cranes were thought to take the souls of those who had died off to paradise, and in more recent times they are a symbol of hope.

Dr Beesley said: "It wasn't all my work, we opened it out to the public, my patients, children in schools, and other health and care colleagues."

Now thousands of cranes, many with the names of somebody lost tucked in behind the wings, have been brought together into a display.

Local artist Ian Leaver-Blaxstone came up with the design to showcase them as a murmuration, suspended from the ceiling.

The birds, in varying colours, shapes and sizes, will be available to view at The Spire, a creative space inside the Grade II listed former St Mark's Chapel, near the Royal Sussex Hospital for a week.

Since March 2020, 460 people have died in Brighton & Hove due to Covid-19.

Across the country, more than 900 NHS staff have lost their lives caring for others.