IT IS one of the first collections of memories to be put together to record a significant moment of our time.
Words and thoughts which might have been difficult for people affected by loss during the pandemic to find were captured through a simple but effective way of reaching out as part of the creation of Scotland’s Covid memorial.
We received hundred of I remember passages, single sentences, which described thoughts or feelings during the past two years.
Read more: Listen here: I remember: Scotland's Covid Memorial moving audio
Now they have been collated into a special book, I remember, which will be launched to coincide with the official opening of the National Covid Memorial later this month.
The Herald initiated and led the campaign to create a memorial as a fitting tribute to all those who lost their lives during the pandemic and anyone affected by it.
After a two-year campaign and raising close to £250,000, there is now a special place for people to remember loved ones at I remember: Scotland’s Covid Memorial in Glasgow’s Pollok Country Park.
Our Covid memorial artist Alec Finlay reached out to people across Scotland and he describes I remember as a communal memory of the people of Scotland during the pandemic and reflects their shared experiences of Covid.
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Mr Finlay received dozens of the anonymous sentences and collated the I remember contributions, a form which was devised by American artist Joe Brainard.
As well as the book there is an audio version which was read by Scots actor Robert Carlisle. The moving audio was released in March on the second anniversary of the first national lockdown.
Mr Finlay said: “It is a book of memory that is truly representative, which means also touching, quirky, and authentic. There isn’t one author, there are many many authors. I will never forget the night we recorded the audio, and I’m hopeful that it will touch many people, and help us, together, create a truly progressive and kind response to the pandemic.”
The I remembers will be archived by the National Library of Scotland and some were buried in a kist in the grounds of the park.
We raised close to £250,000 to create the memorial and received more than £40,000 from the Scottish Government and several high-profile donations from several of Scotland’s leading entrepreneurs including Sir Tom Hunter, Lord Willie Haughey and John Watson OBE. Readers of The Herald also generously donated to a public fund.
A ceremony, open to all, will be held on Friday, May 27 in Pollok Country Park to mark the opening of the first phase of the memorial which is a series of tree supports throughout Pollok Country Park which naturally form a memorial walk.
The opening ceremony will be held at the first completed part of the memorial, at the Riverside Grove, and will be followed by the first ever memorial walk to the Birch Grove location.
The first ever memorial walk will be led by three people lost loved ones during the pandemic, but who have also been hugely supportive of the campaign.
Connie McCready, Peter McMahon, and Carolyn Murdoch were all bereaved through the pandemic and they will be leading the walk which will be held in silence. Ms McCready lost her fiancé Jim Russell, while Mr McMahon’s wife Debbie died and Mrs Murdoch’s father RAF veteran John Connelly also died from Covid at the age of 104-years-old.
As a thank you to our readers and people who contributed to the book we are offering a discount for the I remember book which can now be pre-ordered from our publishers.
I remember, priced £10 plus £2.50 P&P, is published by Stewed Rhubarb and is released on May 27, 2022.
To pre-order your copy and take advantage of a 30 per cent Herald reader discount go to https://stewedrhubarb.org/product/i-remember-alec-finlay/and enter herald2022 on checkout.
The official opening of I remember: Scotland’s Covid Memorial will be held at 11am on Friday, May 27 at the Riverside Grove, Pollok Country Park, Glasgow.
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