Opinion: Remember the vulnerable elderly and those working on the frontline of health and care

The Bishop of Derby, Libby Lane, has urged the county's residents not to forget the elderly. Photo by Pixabay/Sabine van Erp.

But there is also the deeper level of remembering – remembering who we are, why we are here, what our purpose is. Remembering can help us see beyond some of the small things filling our lives, and begin to see what really matters. The deeper level is connected to the everyday though: small daily choices and decisions matter because they lead to habits that form character, influencing who we are and everything we do.

This year, Remembrance Day felt especially poignant as lockdown once again curtailed our freedom in ways unprecedented in peace time. But, the eldest, and most vulnerable to Covid-19 amongst us, have lived with severe restrictions and sacrifices before - rationing, national service, air raids, prisoner of war camps, concentration camps, the loss of loved ones through conflict.

When the physical darkness extends as daylight hours decrease, it is important we remember the vulnerable elderly whose day to day experience is increasingly that of loss. Not just the loss of freedom due to lockdown regulations, but the loss of health, physical and mental capacity, memory and even their own identity for those living with dementia.

As a community, we need to demonstrate our gratitude to all frontline workers serving tirelessly, sacrificially, and compassionately, especially within our NHS and care homes faithfully protecting and defending the elderly.

Our health and care workers are often amongst the most poorly paid in our society, their rewards often in inverse proportion to the value they bring to our communities. I encourage you to join the fight to see all care workers suitably recompensed with a Living Wage.

Knowing their own needs are recognised, valued and being met will remove a great deal of stress and better enable them to attend to the needs of others.

The elderly are often shut away in care homes unseen and forgotten or ignored and patronised in public places. But they are a living reminder that the past is not fixed or separate, it is all around us and still shaping our present.