Clutha: Victims remembered one year on

Hundreds gathered in Glasgow's Cathedral yesterday for the memorial service to mark the first anniversary of the Clutha helicopter tragedy.

One year ago, a police helicopter fell out of the sky on to one of the city's best-loved pubs, The Clutha, near the River Clyde, killing 10 people and injuring more than 30 others.

Politicians, church leaders, members of the emergency services, dogs from the Trossachs Search and Rescue team which searched the rubble and the families of those who died all gathered for the special service on the eve of St Andrew's Day.

So much has happened in Glasgow and Scotland in the last 12 months, but the passing year cannot have been nearly long enough to diminish the families' grief. The public glare of the accident has perhaps denied the families the solitude and the privacy necessary to mourn. But it also means that there is a whole city, a whole country, grieving with them, trying their best to offer comfort.

At yesterday's service that grief was evident. Among the readings from politicians and church ­leaders, in between the music from the Chamber Choir of The High School of Glasgow and the St Mungo Singers, the most emotional part came when the families of those who died carried a candle to place on the altar of Glasgow Cathedral.

Father David Wallace, chairman of Glasgow Churches Together, had called for family members or representatives of the dead to collect a candle and bring it forward during the service, and in the end there was someone there for all 10.

The families came through the transept of the cathedral, past the congregation. One by one they placed the candles on the altar.

The father of David Traill, the helicopter pilot, broke down in tears as he brought the candle for his son; his weeping audible above the sound of Fauré's Pie Jesu.

One could feel the hundreds of people in the congregation mentally reach out to comfort him. Lord Provost of Glasgow Sadie Docherty went to him and held his hand.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon read Letter to the Ephesians 4:1-6, a reading chosen for her by the Rev Dr Laurence AB Whitley, the minister of Glasgow Cathedral, to emphasise the "family" of Glasgow. Throughout the service, mentions were made of the indomitable spirit of Glasgow and Glaswegians.

Afterwards, Sturgeon said: "It's difficult to find the words, none of us can imagine what it must be like for those most directly affected by this, and I think it was very obvious for many of them, for all of them, it's still very raw, it's still very recent. All we can hope is that having this service and having people there wanting to show their support was of some comfort."

Jim Murphy, the MP for Eastwood and Scottish Labour leadership contender, was also at the service. Last year, he had been nearby at the time of the accident and was one of the first on the scene, helping to get people trapped out of the building. He tweeted after the ceremony: "This evening on 1st anniversary of Clutha disaster our thoughts should be with bereaved families & thanks with the brave emergency services."

In his homily, Archbishop of Glasgow Philip Tartaglia urged the congregation to remember the spirit of Glasgow in the immediate aftermath of the crash. He said: "Out of the tragedy we are called to be better, more compassionate, more understanding human beings and I would hope we could turn that genuine memory into a lasting legacy. A legacy that would honour the victims of the Clutha Vaults tragedy."

In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, more than £500,000 was raised for the Lord Provost's Clutha Appeal Fund, which aimed to support anyone facing hardship as a result of the tragedy.

Meanwhile, Alan Crossan, the bar's owner, has launched a Clutha Trust to help disadvantaged young people get involved in music. The pub - or at least a pub called The Clutha - will reopen in 2015.

This was the official memorial to the Clutha, but many of Glasgow's pubs grew quiet at 10.22pm, as drinkers and gig-goers paid their own tribute to those who died.