A memorial event to mark the second COVID day of reflection was held at Balm Green Gardens on Sunday. 

A series of speeches commemorated all those lost during the pandemic, and those who still suffer today. 

Members of the public created leaves to hang from the permanent willow tree memorial.

Councillor Tom Hunt, leader of the Sheffield City Council, said: “Coming together this way feels particularly poignant when coming together in person was the thing that we weren’t able to do.”

Coun Hunt honoured the “commitment, kindness and dedication” of the essential workers who put themselves in harm’s way to keep services running. He said these individuals were often low-paid and had no choice but to work. 

He added: “It shouldn’t have been like that. It didn’t have to be like that, and now it won’t be like that.”

Olivier Tsemo, chief executive of the Sheffield and District African Caribbean Community Association (SADACCA) commented on how the pandemic exposed inequalities.

SADACCA delivered over 2500 food parcels, and curated culturally appropriate resources and information to reduce COVID misinformation.

Mr Tsemo said: “We must ensure that Sheffield continues to be a place where no-one is left behind, where healthcare is truly accessible, and where policies are designed with equity and fairness at their core.

“Reflection is important, but action is what truly honours the past.”

Naureen Khan, Muslim chaplain at St Luke’s hospice, said St Luke’s “helped the most vulnerable people not to feel alone”. 

Between April 2020 and March 2021, the hospice conducted 4848 in-person visits to patients. Multi-lingual video calls supported those struggling with isolation. 

She said: “They say time can heal and even now, after just a few years, the norm of actually being able to visit a loved one in a health setting has been rediscovered.”

A recording by Fran Haddock, who is housebound due to long COVID, was played.

She said the “relentless and torturous symptoms” left her completely reliant on others for daily care. 

Ms Haddock said: “I have met people who have suffered shameful neglect, gaslighting and mistreatment with this disease by anyone from their closest family to medical professionals to politicians to society itself.”