One year on from awful events at Arena

THE nation collectively came to a standstill on Tuesday, May 22 to remember the 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena attack that took place a year before.

It’s still hard to believe that a year has passed since the awful events of that night.

There were so many individual stories that emerged that it’s understandable that today our city is still recovering from the emotional scars of that night.

Though the events of that day are a vivid reminder of the extreme adversity faced by the families and young people involved, it is also a reminder of the immense collective spirit shown by Greater Manchester and how as a community we came together to overcome adversity.

Our heroic emergency services responded with courage and bravery in the face of unimaginable suffering.

Doctors, nurses, paramedics and first responders, police and community support officers as well as the fire and rescue service all collectively ran towards the danger with no thought in their mind other than to help.

Each and every one of them is a hero and will be rightly remembered as such.

To this day I’m immensely proud of the response of all those emergency service personnel who were on the scene that night - their commitment and sacrifice still remains an inspiration to many of us today.

More widely, the response from the community at large was inspiring.

In the face of the worst attack in Britain since 2005 Mancunians came together like never before to show a strength and resilience that filled so many of us with pride and respect.

I’m a proud Mancunian and the response of the people of Manchester was something many of us will never forget.

In every community across our conurbation we saw neighbours and friends standing shoulder to shoulder against fear and intimidation, but also in solemn respect for those who lost their lives.

A year on and it’s evident how deep this tragedy runs for our communities with so many people visibly devastated at memorial events held across Greater Manchester several weeks ago.

We will always remember those who lost their lives on that dark day, and will continue to support those families who have lost loved ones.

We are one city, we are united.