Residents are being invited to come together at Lydiard Park next month for a special commemorative service to mark the UK-wide COVID-19 Day of Reflection.
The event will take place on Sunday, 8 March 2026, from 3pm to 4pm, outside the park’s historic 18th-century Walled Garden, beside the sculpture unveiled in 2023 to honour how Swindon united to support its most vulnerable during the pandemic.
The service will offer an opportunity for residents to pause, remember those who lost their lives and reflect on the extraordinary efforts and acts of kindness shown during that unprecedented period.
The programme will include a reading by the Mayor’s Chaplain, contributions from community leaders and a moment of quiet reflection. Attendees will also be invited to tie yellow ribbons onto the sculpture as a symbol of remembrance and hope.
The annual Day of Reflection was established following recommendations from the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration in 2023, which was set up to identify appropriate ways to remember those who died and help the nation mark this significant chapter in recent history.
Councillor Jim Robbins, Leader of Swindon Borough Council, said the day provides an opportunity to recognise the dedication of health and social care staff, frontline workers, researchers and the many residents who volunteered and supported others.
He added that Swindon continues to play a role in the ongoing COVID response, with vaccines still being produced locally at Thermo Fisher Scientific.
The service at Lydiard Park is open to all residents wishing to come together in quiet reflection.
