Get arty to honour the victims of Covid

A Sunderland arts and crafts group is encouraging parents and children to take part in the Marie Curie National Day of Reflection as they look back on the last year with a number of activities.

ARTventures, which runs art and craft classes for children across the North East, are asking parents and children to colour in templates of spring flowers and put them in windows to pay tribute to all those who have lost their lives to the pandemic in the last year.

The group worked with Marie Curie to create templates that can be printed off from the charity's website for children to colour in and pay respect to the victims of the pandemic.

The National Day of Reflection takes place today, and marks one year since Boris Johnson announced the country was being placed into its first national lockdown.

Cherry Emmerson, owner of ARTventurers Sunderland West and Washington, said: “The day is an opportunity for the whole nation to come together to remember, grieve and celebrate everyone who has died during this time and show support for our families, friends and colleagues who are grieving.

“We would love as many people as possible to show their support for the day by putting spring flowers in their windows. Yellow is a colour that symbolises hope and positivity.’’

A series of events will be taking place throughout the day, including a minutes silence at noon, online talks and a doorstep vigil at 8pm.

To mark the day, landmarks across Sunderland will be lit yellow.