Appeals for the Appointment of a Custodian for the Official Covid-19 Memorial Wall

All families whose relatives names have been inscribed in the national Covid-19 memorial wall in London will have an emotional Saturday. The date marks the fourth anniversary since the first heart painting on that wall. One woman from Stoke-on-Trent lost her husband to Covid-19 during the second wave of the pandemic in 2021, and among those she goes to join in the push for an official custodian to keep the walls and hearts alive is Lynn Jones. It is confirmed that there are plans being worked on by the government for the future of the wall, as stated by a government spokesperson.


Mr. Jones was formerly a head of Ormiston Meridian Academy, where he is credited with having helped many failing schools in a career spanning more than 40 years. In January, he was brought to the Royal Stoke University Hospital, where he died in March at an age of 66. "There was a real outpouring for Gareth in Stoke-on-Trent," said Ms. Jones. She is one of a few bereaved who call themselves Friends of the Wall, part of the efforts to preserve this unique venue that stretches for about 500m alongside the banks of the River Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament.


The other personal messages are written and sent mostly by the bereaved themselves or by volunteers who come weekly to the site. During those first early days amidst grief and pain, Ms. Jones shared that she had come here to find comfort: "I just thought, 'I need to be here,' really, because this is the only place people will actually understand," she said.


Ms. Jones made the trip to the capital this month to take part in commemorative activities marking five years since the lockdown, which ushered in the pandemic. Friends of the Wall want to plead with Her Majesty to have the wall put under an official custodian to look after it and ensure that the heart-shaped paintings do not fade over time. "It would be an incredible legacy that the names were still there and that we were part of it," Ms. Jones said.


It reminds greased wheels that the country is being run for them because it falls directly outside the Houses of Parliament. "Decisions have consequences; they have to think twice before taking these types of decisions," she added.