‘Remembering Together’ will be a Covid legacy

As the Covid pandemic recedes – we hope – into memory, people across the islands are being asked to share experiences and reflections with a project called “Remembering Together”.

Last Friday marked the end of its first phase with an event and exhibition at Macaulay College, the partner organisation in the islands.

An ultimate objective will be to create some form of “community memorial” to mark the losses that were suffered and also celebrate the resilience of communities through these difficult times.

The same is happening in all 32 local authority areas “to co-create collective acts of reflection, remembrance, hope and healing with communities across Scotland”. The programme is managed by Greenspace Scotland with funding support from the Scottish Government.

A lead artist has been appointed in each area to engage with communities, encourage them to share experiences and also feed in creative ideas about the form any memorial might take.

In the Western Isles, the lead artist is Robbie Thomson who told last week’s gathering how the project has progressed so far. Over the past six months, there have been workshops and other events throughout the islands, as well as questionnaire input.

Robbie told the Gazette the “deepest conversations and reflections” had come through workshops. “It’s such a recent thing and experiences were very varied.

“For some people, it had hardly affected them at all while others welcomed the break from their normal routine and an opportunity to re-focus. Then there those who were deeply affected, suffered loss, loneliness or maybe depression.

“There are some who do not see the need for any memorial and a general resistance to anything fixed, in any one place. However, there is wide support for something with lasting benefit for communities, maybe related to the outdoors and the natural world”.

The exhibition at Friday’s event included art work which carried comments reflecting the wide spectrum of views and experiences. A few samples of these n the “technology’ section:

- What’s App village chats created a real sense of community. Some of these are still in use after the pandemic. It made it a lot easier to check in on each other.

- Zoom made the world feel smaller. I kept in contact with clubs and choir and took part in ‘knitting along’ sessions. It opened me up to new personal interests.

- Our mindsets and relationship to technology changed. We all had to get a lot more savvy.

On possible ideas for a memorial:

- Covid hasn’t gone away – it’s still very much part of our lives. We need to help people’s mental health.

- It should be something that doesn’t force people to revisit the time and drag up negative feelings. WE need to focus on the future and positive messages.

- People got to rediscover their local area through walking, finding out local place names and exploring walks. Something that reflects all that.

After the serious part of Friday’s event, Willie Campbell, Stephen Drummond, Jayne Macmillan and D.C. Macmillan provided great entertainment to complete proceedings.