London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
As the fifth anniversary of the global pandemic approaches, emotions still run raw across the UK amid lingering accusations that the then government responded too slowly to the crisis.
Some 240,000 hearts have been painted by hand on the wall, nestled on the banks of the Thames, opposite the British parliament.
Each heart on the 500-metre-long (540-yard) wall represents one of the UK victims of the disease, which shattered and disrupted lives around the globe after being first detected in China in December 2019.
"We put up lights every Christmas, just as a way to reflect and remember those people who are not with us," said Kirsten Hackman, 58, whose mother died from Covid in May 2020.
"For many of us, there is that empty place at the table this Christmas," she added.
The wall is a collective "therapy session," say volunteers.
Since 2019 more than seven million people have been reported to have died from Covid worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. But the true toll is believed to be much higher.
Thousands of messages written on the hearts on the London wall reveal the depth of the emotional toll and scars left by the pandemic on UK lives.
"Mamy, love you forever," reads one, while another says: "Phil, always in my heart".
The remembrance wall was originally meant to be temporary, and was constructed without permission in March 2021 in protest at then prime minister Boris Johnson's handling of the pandemic.
He faced accusations of being too slow to recognise Covid's threat and then taking too long to lock down the country to try to prevent the spread of the highly infectious disease.
The wall is an "outpouring of love, anger, rage", Lorelei King, whose husband died of Covid in March 2020, told AFP.
The 71-year-old is part of the "Friends of the Wall" group, a dozen volunteers who come every Friday to clean the monument, repaint the rain-washed hearts and rewrite the messages.
"It's quite meditative", she said.
The group continues to draw new hearts as Covid claims new lives.
Wall 'comforts me'
But on the Friday before Christmas, the volunteers met for another, more joyful mission: to hang lights along the wall.
They illuminated them on Monday, and the decorations will remain in place until the beginning of January.
Nearly five years after the start of the pandemic, the pain remains the same, said King, adding she was one of many who had not been able to grieve properly.
"We weren't able to have a real funeral," due to lockdown rules, she explained, referring to the severe restrictions put in place on visiting loved ones in their dying hours, and then from holding large gatherings to mourn their loss.
Instead, she focuses her energy on the wall. "It comforts me. And I don't want the people we care about to be forgotten," said King.
"We are all in the same boat", added Michelle Rumball, 53, whose mother died of Covid in April 2020.
She was there on the first day that some hearts were painted, following a social media call by activist group Led By Donkeys.
Over the next 10 days, hundreds of people who had lost loved ones showed up to add their tribute, despite risking arrest for damaging a listed wall.
"I was very angry at that time. It was a demonstration," recalled Rumball.
The group is in discussions with the authorities to make the wall, whose upkeep depends on donations, "permanent" and officially recognised, meaning it could be better protected.
And a few days before Christmas, they had a "very positive" meeting, King said.
According to the WHO, more than 232,000 people have died with Covid in the United Kingdom. By comparison, there have been around 168,000 deaths in France.