Today’s date – 23rd March – marks one year since the first national lockdown in the coronavirus pandemic and as a result, Rotherham United will be joining individuals and organisations across the country in a National Day of Reflection.
The past 12 months have provided us with challenges that nobody could have expected them to.
We have lost loved ones. We have faced battles to preserve our mental health. We have witnessed key workers turn up to their jobs day-in-day-out despite the circumstances.
And, although we have been apart, we have been through it all together.
There are still tough times ahead - and whilst The Government’s roadmap has given us all reason to hope and believe that the pandemic as we have known it in the last year is loosening its grip on our daily lives, we must remain vigilant.
This annual day will give us all time to pause and think about the unprecedented loss we have faced and are facing, whilst giving us the opportunity to support each other through grief in the years to come.
As much as there is to look forward to however, we must reflect.
We must not forget the contribution of our amazing NHS and the other key workers who couldn’t stay at home.
We must always remember those who have so sadly lost their lives to this virus and all of their family and friends who have had to mourn their loved ones – in many cases in small numbers and without the beautiful send-offs that would normally take place.
Whilst so much of the last year has been difficult for reasons detailed above, there has been positivity throughout our communities – created by a collective desire to help one another navigate the challenges of the pandemic.
We are so incredibly proud of the strength of community that we have witnessed in the Rotherham region and beyond, which has seen doorstep drop-offs of essential items for our neighbours and old bonds strengthened from road to road.
Friendships have been reignited and have grown stronger as we have connected with one another online. Checking up on a mate we haven’t spoken to for a while has become the norm.
We encourage you to keep looking out for one another, even when all of this is over.
At 12 noon and at 8pm tonight, we invite all of our supporters and everyone in the town to join us in remembering those who have lost their lives, whilst showing our support for those who have lost loved ones.
As part of Marie Curie's National Day of Reflection, everyone is invited to observe a minute's silence and shine a light from their doorstep.
We continue to hope that we can return to a more ‘normal’ world and one, in which, we will once again be able to hear that AESSEAL New York Stadium roar at 3pm on a Saturday.
Stay safe.