Chelmsford Rivermead Rotary decided that the town’s key workers’ efforts deserved permanent commemoration.
Brian Jeapes, husband of Julia one of the Chelmsford Rotarians, offered to design and make a stained-glass panel based on the simple stylised rainbow.
This panel has been installed above the entrance door to The Hive Café at the Chelmsford City Museum in Oaklands Park and was dedicated by the town’s Mayor, Councillor Jude Deakin.
The Covid restrictions limited the number of people who could be present.
Brian Jeapes, husband of Julia one of the Chelmsford Rotarians, offered to design and make a stained-glass panel based on the simple stylised rainbow.
Councillor Deakin said “I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our NHS staff and other key workers for the amazing job they continue to do as we live through this pandemic.
“The residents of Chelmsford owe a large debt of gratitude to those who care for our sick and elderly, educate our children and keep vital services running.
“I would also like to extend my thanks to all the families of our key workers, we cannot underestimate the importance of their support, which should not go unrecognised. “
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our NHS staff and other key workers for the amazing job they continue to do as we live through this pandemic.”
Artist Brian Jeapes is a retired Essex Police officer who has lived and worked in Chelmsford for most of his life.
Brian has always had an interest and flare for art and design. Whilst he has created several pieces of work, none has been displayed or been a commercial venture.
He said: “The inspiration for the ‘Covid 19 Glass Panel’ was the profound effect that the pandemic had on all the individuals in the club, the people across our country and the world affected by the disease and the measures to curb its progress.
“As a group we wanted to capture the change in our lives and how individuals responded.
“The inspiration was the backdrop of ‘rainbows’ seen in every street and across the media at the height of the fight against the Covid pandemic.
“The blue running through the picture represents Rivermead Rotary.
“The concept was not about producing a complicated or abstract work of art, but about capturing the simple messages of hope and thanks.
“It replicates what in many cases, were the naive pictures, painted by children in lock down and displayed in the windows of their homes.
“It connects and links into the initial feelings of Chelmsford and the nation who came together at a time of uncertainty and crisis.
“The glass panel represents the fears and optimism for what the outcomes might be in strange life-changing times.
“The rainbow symbol conveys shared hope, thanks and gratitude to so many in our public services who risked so much and who are still working to keep us safe.
“It commemorates the people who did not survive and the loss we now feel for them and the life we had before COVID-19.”
