The three MPs for Brighton and Hove are due to join the mayor for a Day of Compassion to remember more than 500 lives lost locally during the coronavirus pandemic.
MPs Caroline Lucas, Peter Kyle and Lloyd Russell-Moyle are expected to stand side by side with mayor Alan Robins and the people of Brighton and Hove.
The events for the Day of Compassion tomorrow (Sunday 17 October) are intended to honour not just those who have died from covid-19 but all those who cared for them.
The Jubilee Library, in Brighton, offered a foretaste. The library has been hosting a selection of photographs from around Brighton and Hove in lockdown in an exhibition entitled Serene City.
The exhibition was opened by the mayor of Brighton and Hove, Councillor Robins, on Tuesday (12 October) and runs until Sunday 24 October.
The library also houses the city’s Book of Condolence for people to sign.
Tomorrow, the Day of Compassion starts at Fabrica, in Duke Street, Brighton, at 9.30am, with a creative Bereavement Workshop for Children. Tickets are available from Eventbrite.
The Dome will be “A Place for Reflection” from 11am to 2pm, with the covid memorial on show and stalls in the foyer for bereavement, support and meditation services.
There are also events at the Friends’ Meeting House and the Unitarian Church, in Brighton.
The mayor plans to meet Judith Silver and the Companion Voices on the steps of the Unitarian Church at 3.30pm and make their way to the Dome for a service.
The service at the Dome starts at 4pm and will be hosted by Emily Jeffery from the BBC, with readings by the three MPs for Brighton and Hove.
The names of those who died from the virus will be read out during the service as the lives and losses of our city over the past 22 months are honoured. It will be livestreamed on Youtube here.
Entry is free but ticket-only, with tickets available here.
The idea for the Day of Compassion came from the mayor and his chaplaincy, the Interfaith Contact Group of Brighton and Hove, which brings together people of all faiths and none.
To check out the programme for this very special day, including the exhibitions, services and sessions on offer, please visit the website of the Interfaith Contact Group here.
One of the organisers, the Rev Martin Poole, vicar of St Luke’s Prestonville, said that the day offered a chance for reflection, adding: “I’m hoping that it will be inspirational.”
