Covid tiles for Stoke memorial 'an expression of grief and healing'
Families in Stoke-on-Trent are creating ceramic tiles to form a memorial bench for those who died during the Covid-19 pandemic. The project, led by Lynn Jones, aims to provide a space for grief, healing, and community connection.
Why it matters
Public memorials serve as important cultural touchstones for communities processing collective trauma and loss.
Share Save Add as preferred on Google Lee Bottomley Stoke BBC Lynn Jones MBE campaigned for a Covid memorial in Stoke-on-Trent following the death of her husband Families in Stoke-on-Trent who lost loved ones during the Covid pandemic have been creating ceramic tiles in their memory.
The individual tributes will be incorporated into a permanent ceramic memorial bench which is set to be installed in Hanley's Bethesda Gardens in 2027.
Lynn Jones MBE campaigned for a memorial following the death of her husband Gareth Jones, in 2021 , and described the process of tile making as "in itself an expression of grief and healing."
The first creative session was at Spode Works in Stoke, which Jones said was a wonderful location for it "because it unites the grief and the local character of Stoke-on-Trent, which is our ceramics industry."
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