In the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, the United Kingdom has been in a police-enforced lockdown since Mar. 23. The government has closed schools, non-essential shops and public spaces, and has prohibited all public gatherings of more than two people.
During this pandemic, the rainbow has become a symbol of support for people wanting to show solidarity with National Health Services’ (NHS) staff working the front line. The trend is thought to have started in Italy, but quickly caught on to other countries. According to the Independent, in the U.K., it was spurred by a nurse “who wanted to create a sign of hope for patients and staff across the country.”
From the confines of isolation, families found a way to spread colorful messages of support and hope, with rainbow images displayed in windows across the U.K. and occupying Twitter feeds under the hashtags #rainbowsfornhs, and #RainbowsForNightingale.
“I believe I first saw it in the newspaper, and I saw some pictures in the village—a couple doors down for me someone had put a rainbow up. I thought it was the marvelous thing.” said Danielle Alexander, who lives in Flintwall Cottage—photographed below. “We didn’t actually draw the pictures, what we did was print them and colored them in. So what I’m trying to do is promote the concept that staying at home will help the NHS. We’ve got a couple of nurses in the village that we really try to show a lot of support for.”
A nurse who lives locally shared her reaction to windows of rainbows, and thank you messages.
“Every time I pass a window with a picture or message of support for the NHS, It makes me so so proud to be able to do what i do, proud to be a nurse and proud to work for our national treasure the NHS,” said one of the local nurses named Sinead Hanton, matron for the Intensive Care Unit at Royal Free Hospital Hampstead, London. “The rainbows in the window make me think about the amazing comradeship of my fellow soldiers – we are at war with COVID, we will beat this.”
If you would like to share your messages and pictures of solidarity and hope to the Free Press, feel free to reach us on social media @nsfreepress, or email us at nsfreepress@gmail.com.
Photography by Ayesha Le Breton
