New Covid-19 sculpture set for city cemetery

A sculpture, which will serve as a place where people can reflect on the impacts of Covid-19, is set to be created in a city cemetery thanks to Derby City Council’s Our City, Our River scheme.

Artist Richard Janes has been commissioned to design the new sculpture, which will sit in Nottingham Road Cemetery.

Young people from the Voices in Action Youth Council, Chaddesden Park Primary School and St Andrews Academy, as well as Friends of Nottingham Road Cemetery, are helping to shape the designs.

At a recent workshop, members of Voices in Action talked to Richard about the challenges of the pandemic, but also the good things that came out of it, before making clay models to represent these positives. These models will be cast in bronze and used in the final sculpture.

The new sculpture will sit alongside other improvements in the cemetery, including tree management and bulb planting.

Everything is being provided by the Our City, Our River programme, Derby’s flood resilience project, as part of its positive legacy for the city.

In total, more than 100 new trees will be planted to fill gaps in the avenues.

OCOR has a history of tree planting, with more than 500 planted to date and a target of over 2,000 by the completion of the project.

Councillor Ndukwe Onuoha, the city council’s cabinet member for Streetpride, public safety and leisure, said: “I was delighted to attend the workshop with Richard and the Voices in Action Youth Council.

“It was great to hear about the plans for the cemetery and the ideas the young people have for this sculpture. I look forward to seeing the plans take shape over the coming months.”

Councillor Carmel Swan, the city council’s cabinet member for climate change, transport and sustainability, said: “OCOR is as much about benefitting communities as it is flood defences and I’m sure these works will become part of the wider legacy of this scheme that has already contributed so much to the city.

“The inclusion of a new Covid-19 sculpture will provide a physical space for people to reflect on all their experiences of the pandemic, both positive and negative, and I’m delighted that OCOR is able to make this possible.”