JoinDayofReflection
Dear Editor,
Spring is symbolic of new beginnings. It is a time to begin healing from the scars left by the pandemic.
But for many, these scars run deep. While some will be embracing life returning to normal, others who have been bereaved during the pandemic will still carry the pain of loss.
This is why we are inviting you to take part in the National Day of Reflection on March 23 – two years since the first UK lockdown.
It provides an opportunity for us to remember loved ones who have died and to support our bereaved friends, families, neighbours and colleagues.
Giving each other the time and space to talk about people who have died is incredibly important and can also reassure us that our feelings and thoughts relating to loss and grief are normal. At noon, the nation will come together in a minute’s silence.
People can visit ‘Walls of Reflection’ across the UK, to commemorate loved ones by adding their name, photo or perhaps their favourite song lyric – whatever feels right.
With the news reminding us every day of the value of human life, it is vital to take the time to connect, support each other and remember the people we have loved and lost.
Andrew Reeves, Principal Social Worker, Marie Curie
Dear Editor,
The response to the Disasters
Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal has been inspiring.
In just 10 days, more than £16 million has been raised here in Scotland, with the UK total now past £170 million.
Given the horrendous eyewitness accounts we are seeing on our TV screens and hearing on our radios, perhaps we shouldn’t be that surprised: we all want to do whatever we can.
This uplifting demonstration of global citizenship is hugely appreciated, particularly amid rising living costs here. So, most of all, we’d simply like to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ for your support.
We are also heartened that so many have heeded our messages, shared by the Ukrainian Associations here in Scotland and across the UK, that financial support for the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal is the most effective way of getting the right support to the right people at the right time.
As well as the thousands of cash donations, big and small from the readers of this newspaper and others, along with those from businesses and local government, we must also thank Scotland’s political leaders for standing together to back this vital Appeal.
Thanks too to the Scottish Government for their £2 million donation and to the UK Government for doubling the first £25 million we received from the public.
Thirteen of the DEC’s 15 members, on or near the front lines in Ukraine or at its borders, are now delivering food, water, shelter, healthcare and counselling to people whose lives have been torn apart.
Those fleeing this conflict face a deeply uncertain future.
We pledge to spend this money responsibly with a firm focus on the most urgent needs of all those affected in the months and years to come.
For nearly 60 years, in times of crisis, the DEC has brought the UK’s leading humanitarian charities together to help people in life-and-death situations.
DEC Ukraine Appeal
Dear Editor,
On March 14, hundreds of thousands of people who entered the ballot to run the 2022 TCS London Marathon will find out if they have been successful or not.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is Charity of the Year for the 2022 TCS London Marathon and I am delighted to have taken up the position as Team BHF manager to support all those participants taking part to raise money for this brilliant charity.
I’m urging all those who have secured a place to run and fundraise for the BHF. The charity aims to help heal hearts across the UK by raising £3 million for pioneering research into regenerative medicine that could one day find a cure for heart failure.
There are around 920,000 people living with heart failure in the UK: that is around 18 times the number of people who take part in the London Marathon each year.
Every step our runners take towards the finish live will help the BHF researchers push the boundaries of medicine - hopefully leading to new treatments within a generation.
The race is really on, and you could be part of it. Use your ballot place to join Team BHF. For more information, visit: www.bhf.org.uk/londonmarathon2022 Harry Redknapp, BHF ambassador
DECUkrainethanks
BHFMarathonAppeal