The National Covid Memorial Wall

Stretching along the south bank of the River Thames, facing the Palace of Westminster, the National Covid Memorial Wall stands as an evocative memorial to the UK’s profound loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 500 meters of hand-painted red and pink hearts. now exceeding 240,000, cover the Albert Embankment between Westminster and Lambeth Bridges. Each unique heart marks the life of an individual lost to COVID-19.

Political campaign group Led By Donkeys and the group "Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice" collaborated to create the wall in March 2021 as an expression of grief. Volunteers painted approximately 150,000 hearts in 10 days, transforming that act of public grief into an enduring memorial. Families are invited to inscribe each heart with a name and personal message, a visible testament to their love and loss. One might see a heart bearing a child's drawing, beside a heart paired with a flower and photo, and another with a handwritten poem, each a poignant reminder of a life lived and remembered.

As the elements took their toll, fading the original artwork, a group called"Friends of the Wall" stepped in. Many, having suffered their own personal losses to COVID-19, understood the importance of preserving this space. They continue to maintain and restore the memorial by repainting faded hearts, rewriting dedications, and adding new hearts to reflect the pandemic's ongoing impact, ensuring each person is remembered as an individual, not merely a statistic.

The sheer scale of the sea of hearts, seemingly endless from either end, powerfully illustrates the pandemic’s impact on families across the nation. In March 2023, the Commission for Covid Commemoration recommended the wall become a permanent memorial.