Covid remembered in a uniquely creative way
The powerful legacy of Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Covid-19 Reflections programme has been revealed on the fifth anniversary of the pandemic.
A telephone exchange, tales of a mythical black dog and a photography project with the local Gypsy and Traveller community were among the ways residents and artists chose to explore the way Covid affected them.
The projects were part of Covid-19 Reflections, which ran during 2023 and was a creative response to the impact of the pandemic on communities.
Newly published accounts of the Covid-19 Reflections projects are being created, highlighting their enduring benefits in a legacy of continuing creativity among residents, improved health and wellbeing, and civic pride.
The accounts can be read on the Covid-19 Reflections at: www.covid19reflections.website/reflections-journey. They have been published to coincide with the fifth national day of commemoration on 9 March.
Cllr Louise Gittins, leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, said:
For many people the pandemic brought sadness, grief and loneliness. But we also saw incredibly uplifting community spirit, determination, selflessness and hope, and together we have come through it. Covid-19 Reflections was an opportunity to take the time to look back and reflect on the pandemic, and even preserve some of our thoughts and experiences for future generations. Although some people would want to move on and forget a bad time, now we can see that the projects not only brought people together in a creative way but that those links have continued. People who might never have drawn before are continuing to draw, youth drama groups are thriving – rather than building a statue, we’ve built a living commemoration.
Projects highlighted in the new accounts include:
- Lost Voices – three photography projects with members of Gypsy and Traveller community, young carers and rural residents, commissioned in partnership with, and exhibited at, Open Eye Gallery
- The Exchange – staff and service users at Vivo Care Choices, which provides support for people with learning disabilities and autism, as well as older people – recorded their Covid stories that were then incorporated into a touring art installation based on a telephone exchange
- The Wezzie and A Dog Called Bear – residents of Westminster in Ellesmere Port created a beautiful, moving graphic book telling the story of Covid through the eyes of a loveable but fierce dog well known locally
- Port Sketch Club - Westminster resident Deb Jones, who showed her artistic ability with A Dog Called Bear, was so inspired that she set up a new sketch club at Ellesmere Port’s Theatre Porto, which is now thriving
- The Drama Droplets and Great Big Little Parade - a group of children aged from seven to 11 created an exuberant parade about the small things in life that mattered most to them, featuring pizza and a giant dice game
- Crosshatch Studios – existing and new groups at the creative makerspace in Winsford embarked on yarn bombing, glass art and other crafts to record Covid stories, all linked to a tree planting scheme.
You can find the new accounts, together with blogs, podcasts and more from the time, at https://www.covid19reflections.website/.