MEMBERS of the Wee County's Covid Memorial Project were last week invited to the Scottish Parliament to present to a committee.

Project leaders from Resonate Together, joined by some of the team who have been focused on a community co-production and investigation process, were invited to Holyrood by MSP Alex Rowley in his role as a member of the Covid-19 Recovery Committee.

As previously reported, Resonate had been awarded a contract to drive forward the project, an idea by the Scottish Government and Greenspace Scotland, to honour Clackmannanshire people lost to the pandemic and mark what has changed in people's everyday lives.

The project has seen the involvement of 10 mentees from the Wee County, initially focused on community interaction to connect with people.

One of the mentees, Michelle Briggs, explained how she initially disliked the idea of money being spent on a memorial.

However, the process so far has changed her mind and Michelle said: “To begin with, I was quite angry at the thought of money being spent on an art work in response to Covid.

“My thoughts were: Covid hasn't finished yet, the money could be better spent and the pain and loss people went through, well, it was such a difficult time.

“However, knowing that Clackmannanshire had to do the project, I wanted to be involved to investigate the process.

“Along the way, talking with many people, listening to their repeated need for healing from this fragile time in our lives, it became evident that an arts activity would be very beneficial for our communities across the county."

Resonate Together has been working on Stage 1 of the process – the community arts consultation and the next step will see a final report submitted to Greenspace Scotland to determine the shape of Stage 2.

It is understood people in the Wee County would be keen to see memorials within their own communities, with residents directly involved in the creation process.

And for Michelle, an important takeaway is that individuals were hoping for “a legacy, as opposed to a memorial”.

The findings so far are due to go on exhibit in February by Resonate with mentees, partners, communities and 10 local venues which have been taking part invited along.

Angela Watt, who has been leading the project for Resonate, added: “We value the opportunity to discuss our Clackmannanshire Project; the excellent partnership and support from Greenspace Scotland and the network of 10 venues across our county that got involved.

“The community and voluntary sector in Clackmannanshire has enabled co-production to lead this project in our county.”