Father Robert Thompson

PARISHIONERS at a Kilburn church are fundraising to get a statue to celebrate the contribution of black women during Covid.

Father Robert Thompson, the vicar at St Mary’s Church in Priory Road is hoping that people will contribute £25,000 for a black African depiction of Mary and the infant Jesus.

They are hoping to unveil the five-foot sculpture by sculptor Kate Egawa formally in September or October this year.

The statue by Kate Egawa

Fr Thompson said: “I was really aware how there were racial and gender differences in the effects Covid had. Many of our black and brown working-age women work in health and social care or retail and none of them were furloughed or able to work from home.”

He add: “Rather they kept going into work, at some risk to themselves, in order that our communities as a whole could continue to function with some level of normalcy, care and compassion.

“And of course the work that is parenting was also more challenging for many people in our community too as schools were closed and children needed to be home schooled.

“It was really these three things coming together that made the project flower in my head to celebrate black womanhood, motherhood, care, nurture, challenge and divinity.”