School pupil’s flag to fly over Kirklees town halls on Covid Memorial Day

All schools across Kirklees were invited to design a Covid Memorial Day flag – also known as the National Day of Reflection.

The winner, Bethany Cookson, was chosen by Mayor of Kirklees, Coun Nigel Patrick.

Coun Patrick said: “School children were asked to design a flag to mark Covid Memorial Day and I was asked to choose a flag from lots of wonderful designs.

“It was a difficult decision, but in the end I chose a flag designed by Bethany from Moorlands Primary School, and I was very pleased to visit their school to announce the result of the competition that will see their flag fly from town halls throughout Kirklees.”

Bethany’s flag will fly over the town halls in Batley, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury and Huddersfield on Wednesday, March 23 to remember those lost to Covid-19.

Bethany said: “I thought the world with a mask on it showed not just our struggles and people’s struggles, but everyone’s struggles.”

Describing how she felt about her design being chosen as the winner, Bethany added: “It was quite surreal because I didn’t think it was that good. I saw so many other great ones. It’s quite crazy.”

Becky Freeman, deputy head teacher of Moorlands Primary School in Huddersfield, said: “The children are very proud of winning the competition for the Covid memorial flag.

“They really embraced the inter-school competition and we had hundreds of entries.

“We’re just really proud that we won.”

Covid Memorial Day will allow us all to reflect on the sacrifices we’ve made, thank the heroes of the pandemic and celebrate the togetherness shown throughout.

To mark Covid Memorial Day, the council has worked with residents across the whole borough to create a video entitled “Our Covid-19 journey: People of Kirklees”.

The video – just one way that Covid Memorial Day will be marked – features residents from across Kirklees who share their experiences, struggles and emotions as they reflect on the pandemic and its impact on them.

The video will go live at 8am on March 23 on Kirklees Council’s YouTube channel.

For more information, visit https://kirkleestogether.co.uk/