'I will listen to the chiming and think of my dad'

"It feels amazing, I feel closer to my dad, I can be here with him and I know he'll be here with me."

Claire Sharpe, 51, is one of hundreds of people, including key workers and representatives of the NHS, who gathered in Queen's Park, Loughborough, to mark the official unveiling of the Hope Bell.

The structure has been built as a tribute to those who lost their lives and as a thank you to NHS staff and key workers.

At a ceremony on Friday, the five bells at the top of the structure rang for the first time after a moment of reflection in the park in Leicestershire.

"It's just a place that I can come to and think of dad and feel close to him, I've watched it being built and being created.

"I work just across the road, so I look straight on to this, for me it's going to be my dad's memorial," she said.

Claire's father, Bill Farmer, died in hospital in 2022 at the age of 83 after he contracted Covid-19.

He was a former police officer in Loughborough who joined the force in 1963 and retired in 1996.

Claire, a massage therapist from Loughborough, placed a bunch of red roses at the new memorial, addressed to her dad, after the official ceremony.

"It's very, very close to my heart," she said. "I will listen to the bells chiming every day and think of my dad, and I can just walk across the road, sit on the bench and just be close to him."

The bell was cast by John Taylor and Co - the UK's last major bell foundry, which is based in the town.

It is part of a 7.5m (24.6ft) tall structure, which features four smaller bells supported by four steel pillars to symbolise people coming together to embrace.

The £560,000 memorial was commissioned by Charnwood Borough Council and paid for with money from the Loughborough Town Deal, which secured £16.9m from the government's Towns Fund to go towards 11 projects.

Councillor Anne Gray, the council's lead member for open spaces, said: "It's a lovely place of reflection, it's going to be really popular.

"Not only have we got the bell to listen to, the lovely flowers to look at, we've also included some sensory planting so people who can't see so well, will be able to hear the bell, they'll be able to touch and smell the plants."

Councillor Jennifer Tillotson, the council's lead member for housing, economic development, regeneration and town centres, said: "This will be a lasting memorial and a place of reflection for residents for many years to come and it has been great to work with Loughborough's John Taylor & Co throughout the process in casting and installing the Hope Bell."

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