Hi,
I moved to Nottingham around thirty years ago. It’s a beautifully vibrant city that’s filled with people from different backgrounds, ages, cultures, genders, and sexualities. With two large universities, new folk arrive to keep us old hands on our toes. It’s not quite proper North, but it ain’t Southern in outlook either. It’s a true melting pot both as a city and as a county.
We have one of the most affluent boroughs in the UK (Rushcliffe) and some of the poorest (Mansfield district). Economic history has not always been kind to good folk of Nottingham. But, we soldier on…. and usually with a wry smile and a knowing look.
So it is that the news of people being attacked and killed has truly cut into the city. You may have seen the speeches made by the families, local councilors, and University vice chancellor on the national news. Their grief, words, and their bravery. The silence of the crowds and the quiet acceptance around this terrible news.
I do not know why I am writing this. I cannot make anything better here, far away in this little backwater of the web. I do not know what they are going through, as a family, as a friend, as a colleague.
I do know that I lost my sister decades ago and I still think of her. Feelings I hadn’t had in years came quickly as I listened to the words of the bereaved. I felt their pain, the catch in their voice, and what they shared.
My experience is not theirs and yet, I think those who’ve experienced that loss, that pain, remember. Perhaps even, understand. It feels… wrong, in cosmic sense of there’s a pattern to life, that a child goes before the parent. Or that people are taken from us, not by illness, age, or accident, but by the actions of another.
I’ve said that this other blog is about the good and the bad. To that end, I feel this history, this grief, must be mentioned. I feel to not say something is to somehow ignore how important people are to this city, that they matter, and we will not forget them.
That crime, that is not who we are. We are Nottingham and we are one ❤️
Instead, we choose love, compassion and understanding as our guiding principles. Nottingham will come together as one, to support and comfort those who have been affected and to prevent such senseless acts of violence from tearing apart our city
Nottingham Together
If you can be anything in this world, please, be kind.
L x
Further information on the vigil and support information can be found here.