Families gathered in Liverpool to pay their respects to loved ones who died during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thursday (March 23) marked the three year anniversary of the first lockdown. To mark the date and the Marie-Curie National Day of Reflection, Covid19FamiliesUk organised a memorial trip on the Mersey Ferry for people to remember the victims of the pandemic.
People came from across the UK to take the journey on the ferry, which paused for a minute silence before stopping in the middle of the river to allow people to drop rose petals overboard in tribute to those who died from covid.
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Volunteer Claire Linnane, 42, from West Derby spoke to the ECHO about the importance of people gathering together to pay their respects.
She said: "I volunteered at today's event purely because I wanted to give something back. I lost my mum at the age of 59 in January 2021 to covid.
"It's caused complete devastation to the whole of our family and it's something that we'll never get over. I thought it was nice to come down today, particularly with the commemoration event being held in Liverpool, to reflect on each of our loved ones. That's why I'm here.
"It's good that people have come together. This affected a number of families in Liverpool alone and it is nice to see people from other parts of the UK coming together to remember each of our loved ones."
Carole Anne Stewart travelled from Glasgow to remember her brother Derek, who died from covid at the age of 57, and her fiance, who died from a brain aneurysm during the pandemic. Carole was joined by members of Covid-19 Families Scotland – one of many groups to come to Liverpool to join the memorial.
Carole told the ECHO: "It's good to have people here as we all pay our respects. I think it's a lovely thing they're doing down the Mersey.
"Five of us have travelled down from Glasgow, from the Scottish Covid Memorial Group. We'll be doing it every year. Every single one of us will be doing this every year – they'll never be forgotten, never."
While on board, Debbie Lewis – the founder of Covid-19FamiliesUK gave a speech, before Pete Price paid his respects to covid victims. Marie Curie chaplain Ruth Pryce also led a prayer.
About the message of the day, Ruth told the ECHO: "Today is all about reflecting on people who have died in the last three years and beyond – to think about them, to remember, to be together – I think it's important that people are together in their grief. A lot of people I've spoken to today have felt quite alone these last three years, so these sort of events give people that feeling of togetherness and connection with each other."
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