Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Perth city centre memorial will honour loved ones whose funeral plans were blocked by lockdown

Perth city centre during the lockdown earlier this year.
Perth city centre during the lockdown earlier this year.

A permanent memorial to local people who died during the coronavirus pandemic could be built in Perth city centre, The Courier can reveal.

Grieving families are working on the ambitious project with Tayside artists, as part of a scheme spearheaded by Perth and Kinross Council.

The city centre monument is expected to be the first of its kind in Scotland.

Project leaders say they want to show support to families which missed out on full funeral services for their loved ones because of lockdown restrictions.

They also want to honour those whose own funeral wishes went unfulfilled.

The city’s new culture programmes manager Anna Day, who previously led Dundee’s Unesco City of Design project, is fronting the campaign and has urged local families to get in touch.

She envisages a place in Perth city centre, filled with specially-created pieces, where people can visit and pay their respects but she stressed a finalised vision will only be decided after speaking with local families.

“After any big disaster, we know it’s important to tell the stories of those who have been lost,” she said.

“That didn’t seem to be happening. We are given stats and numbers every day, but we’re not hearing the stories of the people who sadly aren’t hear anymore.”

Ms Day, who was brought in by the council to help steer the transformation of Perth City Hall, said: “With this project, we want to bring those people’s stories to the fore.”

The memorial will pay respects to as many local people as possible who have died during the pandemic, not just those who had coronavirus.

“We asked ourselves how can we support the families who have lost someone?

“For them, the result has been the same: they weren’t able to have a funeral in the traditional sense, they weren’t able to gather with loved ones, swap stories or play music.

“We have already spoken to some local families about this, and it has been heartbreaking. Many of their loved ones had their own funeral plans and their own specific ideas about how they wanted to say goodbye.

“That is what has really inspired this project.”

She said the final memorial will be shaped by textile artists, sculptors and poets including artists Esther Kent and Karen Strang and songwriter Finn Anderson.

“We haven’t dictated what it will look like in the end. We want the artists to be as free to work with these families as possible.

“In my head, it will be a space in the city centre with a number of pieces in a room, where people can visit and touch and read the stories and understand what a difficult time this has been for everyone.

“Or it may be that we can bring all of these stories together into one piece. That could work as well.”

Families will have control of their part of the project, Ms Day said. Anyone interested in taking part is urged to contact her at aday@pkc.gov.uk or call 07967 475573.