Matthew Fowler is telling the Covid Inquiry about his father, Ian.

He says his father was a very practical and hardworking individual, who was able to progress both at Jaguar and Land Rover in his career. Fowler says he is following in his father's footsteps himself.

Fowler says that towards the end of his father's career he took voluntary redundancy in 2019.

Asked about his father's health, Fowler says he played many sports including football and cricket and maintained an active lifestyle throughout his 30s and 40s and continued to be an active individual towards the end of his life.

Proceedings are getting under way and we will begin hearing evidence from those representing Covid bereaved families.

Matt Fowler, co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, is first up.

Stay with us as we bring you coverage from the hearing in London and you can watch a live stream by clicking the play button at the top of our page.

Matthew Fowler is the first person we'll be hearing from today.

He lost his father, Ian, to Covid in April 2020 and went on to co-found the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, with the aim of campaigning for lessons to be learned from the pandemic.

Fowler's father contracted the disease a month before he died, before the country went into lockdown.

He has been campaigning since 2020 and went on to paint the first heart on the National Covid Memorial Wall opposite the Houses of Parliament in 2021. Back in March he said the memorial wall should become a permanent tribute to lives lost in the pandemic.

Fowler will soon give evidence to the inquiry on behalf of Covid bereaved families.

The public inquiry into the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic is ongoing.

It was launched by Boris Johnson in May 2021 and it will cover decision-making in Westminster and the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

You might be wondering what the overall aim of a public inquiry is?

Well, it aims to respond to "public concern" about events. Any inquiry has the power to make people appear as witnesses, and to provide evidence. Inquiries are expected to publish conclusions and may make recommendations.

This inquiry is being chaired by former judge and crossbench peer Baroness Heather Hallett.

You can read more about the inquiry process here.

During today's public hearing we'll be hearing from those representing Covid-19 bereaved families across the four nations of the United Kingdom.

From about 10:00 this morning, we'll hear from Matt Fowler, co-founder of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice.

Also giving evidence will be Brenda Doherty, who represents Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice in Northern Ireland.

Anna-Louise Marsh-Rees will give evidence on behalf of the group in Wales, and Jane Morrison will represent Scottish Covid Bereaved.

Andrew Humphrey
Live reporter

Hello and welcome to our live coverage, as we prepare to hear from those representing Covid-19 bereaved families from across the four nations of the UK.

It is the last day of evidence provided to the UK Covid-19 inquiry as part of its resilience and preparedness module, which began on 13 June. The inquiry is split into different modules, the next one will look into core UK decision making and political governance.

Chaired by former judge and crossbench peer Baroness Heather Hallett, the inquiry is about learning lessons. No-one will be found guilty or innocent.

We'll be bringing you the latest from the inquiry alongside analysis from our correspondents. You can watch a stream of proceedings at the top of the page from 10:00 BST.