Online book of remembrance will pay tribute to the victims of Covid-19
- Partnership between Manchester Cathedral and GMCA to launch with interfaith service
- Bereaved families and friends invited to leave personal and public tributes
- Memorial will recognise the sacrifice of health and social care workers
Lives lost to the Covid-19 pandemic in Greater Manchester are to be remembered and honoured in an online memorial book, created in partnership with Manchester Cathedral and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
The memorial will launch with a Manchester Cathedral interfaith online service on 16 July.
People bereaved by the virus will be able to submit the name of the person they have lost, a photo and messages about them as well as view other entries in the book of remembrance.
The memorial will offer the opportunity to pay particular tribute to loved ones who died from Covid-19 while working on the frontline in the NHS and social care.
At a meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority today the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham announced that the Cathedral and Combined Authority would work in partnership to develop the memorial.
Staff at Reason Digital have volunteered their services to develop the online memorial website.
More than 2,800 people have died of Covid-19 in Greater Manchester.
The Very Rev’d Rogers Govender MBE, Dean of Manchester, said: “The pandemic has taken the lives of so many who are dear to us and our communities. So many people have lost their husbands, wives, partners, parents, grandparents, their family, their friends and their colleagues.
“Worse still, we have not been able to provide normal funeral gatherings, so people have not been able to provide that comfort and sharing in loss that is a normal part of bereavement.
“This online memorial is a place to remember all those who have died as a result of the pandemic in Greater Manchester, those of all faiths and of none.”
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “All of us in public life have been deeply touched by the individual stories of loss that we have heard far too often over the past few months.
“In the middle of a crisis that has affected tens of thousands of people it has sometimes been too easy to forget that every single person who died is mourned and has left behind family and friends in grief.
“As a community we wish to express our compassion and support for those who suffer loss, to remember the sorrows and sacrifices of others and express gratitude for the memories we treasure.
“The memorial will also offer the opportunity to pay particular tribute to the frontline health and social care staff who put themselves at risk and too often paid the ultimate price through their care for others. We will never forget what they did.
“I hope that through this online memorial we will be able to pay tribute and remember with affection every person who died of Covid-19 in Greater Manchester.”
Further information will be provided about the online Manchester Cathedral memorial service and remembrance book in due course.
Article Published: 26/06/2020 10:25 AM