Reverend David Warner, the Vicar of Mossley, speaks on the way celebration has changed in the country and the brighter future ahead.

Anniversaries, celebrations, so many special days have been changed by the effects of Covid-19 and lockdowns this year. 

So many people have been unable to celebrate things as they would wish (like school leavers, wedding couples and many others), and some harder and more challenging days have been made even more challenging by the events our world has been living through. 

I’ve been privileged to lead many funerals for families, and every one of those services has been unimaginably different from what the families would have wanted for their loved ones.

As we look forward to the next stage of restrictions being eased, and what may be possible, we hold on to the days of challenge and celebration which have marked the past few months.

Maybe we have rediscovered simpler and more meaningful ways of marking special occasions - a garden party alongside friends and neighbours, and at the other end of life, the streets that have been lined with supporters sending funeral families on their way with a very real knowledge of how much they are loved and supported.

It will take a long time to process the events we are living through - but look back we must, at the times that have made us proud, and then we must look forward together to writing the next chapter. 

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