Memorial to Telford Covid victims unveiled

Joseph Hillier said distilling people's experiences into a piece of art had been "really difficult"

A large sculpture has been unveiled to remember those who lost their lives in Telford due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It has been created by artist Joseph Hillier, who worked with bereaved families on the design.

Commissioned by Telford and Wrekin Council, the piece is standing in the newly-created Covid Memorial Garden in the Shropshire town.

Mr Hillier said the design represented people's connection with nature.

He said the idea of the work was that "it feels a bit like a tree and then you recognise there's a sort of human presence with a head".

He put nine prospective designs to the families after holding a series of workshops and said people found their relatives' passing not only a difficult memory but one which provoked some anger, explaining: "To go away and try to distil that into a piece of sculpture was really difficult."

The sculpture was designed to have leaves representing the people of Telford who died due to the pandemic

Mr Hillier said the piece was about representing something breathing which during Covid "was obviously a major issue", he added, describing the face as "something intimate".

He said he wanted to explore the "connection to nature which we had during lockdown and that strange spring where everything was so still and calm and yet the world was falling apart around us".

"It felt that mother nature was rearing her head and we were all subject to the forces of nature again."

The Telford Covid Memorial Garden opened to the public in May.

The local authority said it wanted to create "a calm and soothing space, dedicated to the memory of loved ones lost during the pandemic, for those who are still experiencing the impact of Covid, whether through bereavement, long-term illness or trauma".