Social care bodies across the country organised the Social Care Day of Remembrance and Reflection to honour the adult social care workforce – and remember those who lost their lives during the pandemic.
The council staged a special commemorative event at the Civic Centre, attended by members of the city's social care workforce, family carers and the relatives and friends of service users.
It began with a period of silent remembrance before Craig Bood and Everton Simpson, from the council’s Neil Dougherty Centre, were invited to lay memorial wreaths. They were accompanied by members of the City of Wolverhampton Choir who performed a rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, in recognition of the rainbow which became a symbol of the efforts of health and social care staff and other keyworkers in the early stages of the pandemic.
Professor David Loughton, Chief Executive of The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, paid warm tribute to the efforts of carers, both paid and unpaid, in supporting the city's most vulnerable residents, and Kuli Kholi, Wolverhampton’s Poet Laureate, read a poem written to celebrate the support offered by social care providers over the last two years. The event ended with a minute’s applause dedicated to everyone in the social care sector.
Becky Wilkinson, Director of Adult Social Services, said: "The past two years have been incredibly difficult for everyone working in adult social care, and we were pleased to support the Social Care Day of Remembrance and Reflection.
"This was an opportunity to both remember the people we have sadly lost during pandemic, and to reflect on the vital work the social care sector has done, and continues to do, to keep some of the most vulnerable people in our city safe and well.
"Despite huge pressures, people working across social care have shown incredible skill and tenacity providing high quality care in the most trying of circumstances, and it's only right that we recognised their kindness, bravery and dedication in this way.”
The Care Workers' Charity has created an online Memorial Wall and Thank You Wall where people can leave a tribute to a lost loved one, a thank you to a care worker who has provided vital support to them or someone they know, or a well done to a colleague who worked hard to help keep the people they support safe during the pandemic.
People can share a tribute or thank you to anyone working across social care including those in frontline care roles, managerial roles, administrative roles, maintenance roles, and more. For details, visit Memorial for Adult Social Care.
The Wolverhampton Cares initiative, launched by the council and key partners last autumn, has seen a package of help and support put in place to help the local health and social care sector through the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. To find out more please visit Wolverhampton Cares.
