Chesterfield woman who lost her 'amazing' dad records song for all coronavirus victims

Lynn Collins lost her ‘amazing’ father Tony Thompson to Covid-19 at the height of the first wave of the crisis in April.

Determined her dad did not become ‘one of the statistics that we have all become so familiar with’, Lynn decided to use her flair for writing to honour Tony properly and keep his memory alive.

First she wrote a poem for his funeral and then launched a book of remembrance for people across the country who have lost a loved one to contribute to.

Now Lynn, who lives in Brockwell, Chesterfield, with her husband Jeremy, is one of a group of bereaved family members to have helped write and record a song to honour all those lost during 2020.

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Any money raised will go towards a national memorial for those who have died during the pandemic.

Lynn said: “We all met in a Facebook group called Alone Together, which the founder Liam Meyer set up after losing his own father in March.

“He and I were both part of the British Home Chorus, run by Gareth Malone during the first lockdown, and both realised how music and singing helped to bring people together united through pain, and that is where the idea for the Alone Together Choir came about.

“All of us involved have lost family or friends because of the virus, and through getting involved in the choir have found friendship, laughter and comradeship by writing this song together.”

Lynn, who works as a HR manager at Spencers Solicitors in Chesterfield, admits that writing and recording ‘Thank You’ has not been easy

She said: "None of us have actually met in person or sang together, the recording itself a fusion of our individual recordings after many weeks of practicing via Zoom singing singularly due to the timing issues with the technology.

"When we first heard it, it was even more overwhelming as we had never ever heard each others voices, nor even heard our voices together before!”

Lynn’s dad Tony lived in Derby and worked at Rolls-Royce.

Thank You is available on Spotify and iTunes to download.

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.