Statue honouring key workers to appear in Chichester

The statue was made by John Gillespie, a stainless steel fabricator from Singleton, who named the piece 'Unity'.

The sculpture depicts a nurse sitting on a bench, with a two-meter space for social distancing, and is made with keys with the job titles of key workers engraved into them.

Foundations are being laid in East Street today, opposite Barclays bank, and the full sculpture will be put in place tomorrow.

John said: "It is to honour the key workers and there are a lot more of the lesser-known key workers who have worked behind the scenes. Bus drivers, shop keeper, delivery drivers, car workers, there are so many.

"Of the 300 job titles on there, about 250 are people who have asked for a role to be put on there."

John described the response he has received as 'brilliant' and thanked the community for its support.

He added: "It has been absolutely brilliant. The response has been great. It has been overwhelming really. The support that I have received from everyone and the help has just been overwhelming. It is great to be able to get the message out there.

"I am hoping it will help to bring some more tourism to Chichester and that feeds into the local area."

What do you think of the statue? Let us know by emailing [email protected]