5 years on from Covid, the Church is still making a difference

Five years on from the start of the Covid pandemic, Tim Farron MP celebrates how the Church stepped up to serve when it mattered the most. The hope of the gospel continues to light the darkness, he says

This past Sunday marked five years since the world changed. Across the UK, towns and cities paused to reflect on the lives lost, the sacrifices made and the deep scars left by the Covid-19 pandemic. The annual day of reflection isn’t just about remembering numbers on a page. It’s about real people; families grieving an empty chair at the dinner table, and front line workers who gave everything.

Five years on and the numbers still shock us – more than seven million recorded deaths worldwide - and at least 232,000 here in the UK. Michael Rosen captures the bleakness of the time in his poem: “Coughing and coughing, gasping for air. Empty streets, no cars anywhere.”

But statistics alone don’t capture the full story. From the teenager revising for exams that never happened, the exhausted nurse wrapped in layers of PPE, or the security guard at the supermarket door enforcing social distancing rules, Covid-19 reshaped daily life. It interrupted milestones and, in many ways, changing us permanently.