'I think an important part of the recovery will involve looking back'

MP for Wrexham

This week is National Carers Week, an annual campaign to increase public awareness of carers and to highlight the important work that carers do throughout the UK. I want to take this moment to thank all carers – unpaid and paid – for the work that they do to provide much needed support to people up and down the country.

As a former nurse, and then a social worker, I know how tough caring is as a role. During the pandemic, many of us spent time caring for others. Some of the most important carers we have in our community don’t even think of themselves as such. They get on and look after family, friends, neighbours, un-asked and often un-thanked, the very embodiment of what makes us a society rather than a collection of individuals. So this week may I say thank you to each and every carer in Wrexham and across the UK.

Recently, I also celebrated individuals and groups across Wrexham that had continued working, or had started new projects, during the Covid-19 pandemic. These ‘Covid Community Champions’ are all individuals who went above and beyond during the pandemic to put others – their communities, their families or complete strangers – first. Like the carers who across the country provide much needed support to those they help and work with, all the Community Champions that were nominated did the same and I want to take this opportunity to thank them again.

As we exit the pandemic and the restrictions placed upon our lives, I think an important part of the recovery will involve looking back, to reflect, to learn and to thank those from across our community that came together to support each other and the causes that they care about. That is also partly why I chose to celebrate Wrexham’s ‘Community Champions’ now and it is also why, , as part of Volunteers Week last week, I was also so keen to celebrate some of the volunteers in Wrexham who went above and beyond help their communities.

It goes without saying that those volunteers and volunteer groups that I showcased throughout Volunteers’ Week represent only a proportion of the plethora of groups across Wrexham that have been working for their community throughout the past year. As such, I want to take the opportunity now to thank everyone across Wrexham that has volunteered over the past year in any capacity. Your continued graft throughout the pandemic will undoubtedly make our recovery swifter and less painful for our community and I am grateful for that.

I have always been proud to live and work in Wrexham – we are a town with pride in our community and a strong sense of care to each other – and I have never been more proud than during the pandemic, despite all the hardship we experienced. This past year saw the community pulling together to help one-another. Let’s keep that community spirit alive once the pandemic is over and let’s utilise what we have learnt from this community spirit to help guide out town during our recovery from the pandemic.

As always if you are resident in Wrexham and need my assistance with any local or national issue, please make contact with me by emailing sarah.atherton.mp@parliament.uk